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Windup for the (Story) Pitch
by Mia Zachary
No matter how good a story you’ve written, it will never see the light of day unless you catch an editor’s or agent’s attention. In order to do that, you’ve got to become good at the art of the Pitch and, honey, I don’t mean baseball.
You might have about two minutes to dazzle an editor with your premise. These are people who’ve read thousands of manuscripts and they’re experts at getting to the bottom line – is this story marketable?
So, how do you convince someone with the power to get you published that you’re worth their valuable time? Give them the High Concept, a description of the situation from which the story develops, the overall premise combined with tried and true marketing hooks to create an intriguing blurb.
- The premise or setup is the situation at the opening of the story.
Some sample premises: job promotion as reward for illegal act; discovery of dead body; a family secret; unexpected pregnancy; imminent revelation of a lie; a threat or assault.
- The characters need to be briefly introduced by means of their occupation, goal and conflict. For example, a police veteran counting the days until retirement gets a new rogue partner.
- Hooks and buzzwords are phrases that stand for a concept as well as the actual meaning. Some familiar hooks: marriage of convenience/ fake engagement, secret identity/mistaken identity, best friends to lovers. Some common buzzwords: reunion, affair, revenge, danger, murder, deal/agreement.
- You won’t have time or room for a detailed explanation of what is keeping the characters from reaching their goals or falling in love, but there should be a hint of conflict in your blurb.
An example using my first novel, RED SHOES & A DIARY:
“Alex is more than happy to take Meghan to his bed, but into his heart is another matter. Hot on the trail of a money launderer, his mission comes first.”
Here’s the teaser I used in my cover letter for RED SHOES & A DIARY: “Meghan Foster wants a wildly passionate affair, like the ones she writes about in her diary. Alex Worth is the kind of guy fantasies are created for. But the ideal man isn’t always what he seems. Especially when he’s using her own imagination to seduce her!”
Again, this has hooks- an affair, diary of fantasies- and some buzzwords- wildly, passionate, fantasies, seduce. In this teaser you find out a little more- Meghan wants a fling, Alex is a stud- but I also raised some questions- what is Alex’s secret and how did he get hold of her diary?
Once you have a marketable blurb that you’re happy with, think of some ways to use it. The first way is in a query letter to an editor or agent. Since the standard letter is only one page long, this is a great place to use that power paragraph.
The second way is during a face-to-face meeting. Write your blurb on an index card for reference during the appointment. If you get nervous, it’s short enough to simply read aloud. Other places to use your teasers include business cards, books marks, flyers, email signature lines and postcards.
Think of your pitch as the back cover copy of the story. Read some of the book jackets on your shelf to get a feel for how much information to put in and pay close attention to how the style of the blurb echoes the tone of the story itself. Your blurb should be a power paragraph that contains an opening hook, an interesting setting, believable characters, a compelling situation with realistic motivations, and a cliffhanger ending that will make the editor request the manuscript.
AGENTS & EDITORS
- 60 Calls for Submissions in June 2021 – Paying markets
- Agents: Knowing When To Hold One and When To Fold
- Getting Offers from Multiple Literary Agents
- Literary Agents List
- Preditors and Editors
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Tips for a Successful Editor Appointment
- Want More? Here’s How to Get It
- What NOT to Do When Beginning Your Novel
- Windup for the (Story) Pitch
- Write the Perfect Book Proposal
CALLS FOR SUBMISSION
- 2023 MAR Calls for Submissions
- 2023 FEB Calls for Submissions
- 2023 JAN Calls for Submissions
- 2022 DEC Calls for Submission
- 2022 NOV Calls for Submission
- 2022 OCT Calls for Submission
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- 2022 AUG Calls for Submission
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- 2022 JUN Calls for Submission
- 2022 MAY Calls for Submission
- 2022 APR Calls for Submission
- 2022 MAR Calls for Submission
COMPUTER TIPS
- ASCII Characters
- Building Your Web Site and Doing It Right
- Don’t Be a Victim-Scams, Identity Theft, Urban Legends
- Don’t Spread Scams
- How to Annoy Your Website Visitors
- Knowing Your Target Audience
- Stopping Viruses from Propagating Through Your Email
- The Top 10 Email Errors
- Word Processors Through Time: Before MS Word & Google Docs
FORMATTING & GRAMMAR
- Achieving 250 Words / 25 Lines Per Page
- And Sammy, too? Oh, No!
- Changing Double Hyphens to EM Dashes in Word
- Edit Easier
- High Hopes–Avoiding Common Mistakes
- Misused Words
- Navigating In Your Novel
- Proofreaders Marks
- Research Links
- Rules for Writers
- Slang and Jargon Souces
- Tightening Your Manuscript and Trimming the Word Count
INSPIRATION-MOTIVATION
- A Dream Realized
- Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work
- Finding Time to Write
- Five Ways to Promote Yourself
- Fun Inspirations 1
- Fun Inspirations 2
- Fun Inspirations 3
- Fun Inspirations 4
- How Not to Procrastinate
- How to Quit Writing and End up on the Bestseller Lists
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Making Time for Self-Care While Running a Business
- Moving Up the Rejection Ladder
- Pop Quiz: Who Are You?
- Rules for Writers
- The Art of Being Rejected–475 Words
- The Juggling Act
- The Literary Food Chain
- Write Better Naked
- Writer’s Conferences Do You Really Need To Attend?
- Writing By Moonlight
MARKETS
- 35 Online Work Ideas to Earn Good Money Whilst Studying
- Copyright Primer, Know Your Rights
- EBooks-Fears to Possibilities
- Finding Markets Fiction and Nonfiction
- Freelance Writing 101
- How To Be a (Shiver) Reporter
- How To Market Your Book After You’ve Written It
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Magazine Links
- Making Money As a Corporate Freelancer
- Market News–All Genres
- Newspaper Writing Resources
- Path to Self-Publishing Success
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Science Writing Organizations
- Selling to Children’s Markets
- Submission Tracking
- Submitting to UK Markets
- Syndication 101
- To Specialize, or Not to Specialize?
- Why E-Books?
- Writing Groups List
- Youth Writing Markets
PUBLISHING
- 60 Calls for Submissions in June 2021 – Paying markets
- Copyright Primer, Know Your Rights
- How To Market Your Book After You’ve Written It
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Making Money As a Corporate Freelancer
- Path to Self-Publishing Success
- Publishers Websites
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Submission Tracking
- The Great Limbo Mystery Question
VIDEO & STREAMING LINKS
WRITING TOOLS - APPS
- Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work
- Free AI Tools That Can Be Used In Business Writing
- Helpful Books
- Knowing Your Target Audience
- Magazine Links
- Newspaper Writing Resources
- Reconsider Hand Writing
- Research Links
- Slang and Jargon Souces
- Unblocking Your Muze
- Word Processors Through Time: Before MS Word & Google Docs
- Writing Groups List
WRITER'S LIFE
WRITING CONTESTS
WRITING CONTESTS
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• ALL WRITING CONTESTS
- 2023 MAR Contests, Workshops, Webinars
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- 2022 DEC Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 NOV Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 OCT Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 SEP Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 AUG Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 JUL Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 JUN Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 MAY Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 APR Contests, Workshops, Webinars
ABOUT WRITING CONTESTS