Posts tagged ‘Elevator pitch’

Oct 22

Write a pitch for your work-in-progress: the sooner the better

This weekend, I attended the Surrey International Writers Conference in Canada. It’s one of my favorite conferences and a wonderful, supportive environment to pitch your manuscript to potential agents and editors.

I didn’t feel like pitching my memoir, so I decided to practice-pitch my work-in-progress, an urban fantasy novel, because that’s the project I’m really excited about right now. Problem was–I didn’t have a pitch for it.

I did have my original idea and an overall grasp of my story so I spent half an hour throwing my pitch together before bed Friday night. In other words, I winged it. (Shhh…don’t tell). Read more

Sep 28

Is your elevator pitch missing this key component?

These days, authors need to be writers and marketers. Two professions diametrically opposed to one another. There are definitely aspects of both that I least like. In writing, it’s the first draft (I prefer revision—to me it’s where the magic happens). In marketing, it’s the verbal pitch that gets me trembling like a hamster on methamphetamines.

Pitching to a total stranger who could potentially change my life scares me more than an elevator full of zombies.

I’ve read articles, blog posts, and books on pitching but I always felt as if something was missing (from my pitch, not the information). Maybe it just takes me longer to “get it.”

Fortunately, a recent article by author and professor Luke Williams in the Atlantic magazine helped me realize what I was missing: the turning point. Williams quotes master storyteller and screenwriter Robert McKee who says that, “turning points have to surprise, increase curiosity, and present a new direction.”

If you want to sell yourself and your ideas, make sure this element is part of your pitch.

Read the full article here.