How to pitch your novel in under a minute
One of those things every author needs to learn to do at some point or other is give what’s called an “elevator pitch.” This pitch is so named, because should you be in an elevator with someone you’d like to read your book, there wouldn’t be any time for a ten-minute synopsis. You would need to pitch your idea to them in a matter of seconds, catching their interest while you still had them trapped in a small space, forced to hear you out.
Most elevator pitches aren’t actually given in elevators. They’re given at networking events, in bookstores, to friends and family, and basically whenever anybody asks “so what is your book about?” Usually the person you’re speaking to won’t be waiting for the doors to open so they can escape, but the ability to quickly spark someone’s interest in your story is invaluable.
Your “elevator pitch” should easily answer the explicit question: “so what is your book about?” and the implicit question: “and why should I want to read it?”
A good elevator pitch has two elements: the one-sentence description and a few comparable titles. These should work together to tell interested parties exactly what they need to know in as little time as possible.
The One-Sentence Description
The goal of the one-sentence description is to lay out a clear premise that’s able to pique a perspective reader’s interest. Which is actually two goals. You need a clear, simple premise that more or less describes your entire book. And you need to make that simple premise engaging.
Some advice on crafting your sentence:
Start by identifying your protagonist
Follow only one story thread
Limit it to 25 words max
Focus on the protagonist’s central conflict
Now this sentence probably isn’t going to describe your book to a T. It shouldn’t describe your book to a T. But your book should have some central idea that you can distill all of the intricacies of the plot down to.
To be engaging, your sentence must (1) show what is specific/original about your premise and (2) contain an inherent question. This means that your sentence can’t be “an 11-year-old boy tries to save the world.” While this may describe your general story, it describes it far too generally. This can be any of hundreds of books. How does he try to save the world? Which world is he trying to save? Who or what is he trying to save it from?
“An 11-year-old boy tries to save the world from his brother’s evil goldfish,” only answers one of these questions, but it’s a much more engaging sentence. It draws out what is probably the most interesting, original element of this hypothetical book’s premise to draw a potential reader in.
As for the inherent question, this will come from your central conflict. Usually this is: ‘does this person succeed?’ Sometimes it’s: ‘do they get together?’ It may be: ‘but is he really the murderer?’ If a reader can’t ask a question at the sentence’s end, your summary hasn’t properly engaged them (and you haven’t properly identified the central conflict.)
Examples:
A boy wizard begins training and must battle for his life with the Dark Lord who murdered his parents. (Source)
A young English nurse searches for the way back home after time-traveling from 1945 to 1743 Scotland. (Source)
A young man learns that destroying his magic ring is the key to saving his world from the Dark Lord. (Source)
Multiple One Sentence Descriptions
Sometimes you don’t have to pitch THE high concept idea of your novel. Sometimes you’ll want to tailor your pitch to a particular reader.
War and Peace is a slow-burn love story between Natasha and Pierre. War and Peace is about the effect of the Napoleonic wars on Russian high society. War and Peace is about the search for a life of meaning and purpose set in 18th c. Russia.
A war historian won’t like War and Peace for the same reasons as a reader interested in romance, and a reader interested in romance won’t like War and Peace for the same reasons as a philosopher, but they will all like the same book.
When pitching, it’s important to pitch your story to a specific audience. Draw out certain elements of a story according to certain reader’s tastes (if you know them). Have a few one-sentence descriptions that emphasise different elements of your story for every type of reader you come across.
When pitching your book in 25 words, you’ll need to aim the arrow straight at the heart.
The Comparisons
The dreaded “X Meets Y” pitch. Once you’ve neatly summarised your story, it’s time to compare it to something. You don’t necessarily need to follow the “X meets Y” format to a T, but you do need to mention a few comparable titles.
Your comparisons can be a short-hand for style, tone, and all the sorts of things that can’t possibly be described in a sentence, no matter how long. They also serve to show your book’s potential place in the market, suggesting the sort of readers who might be interested in your book. This means you'll typically want to use comps that are in the same age range and genre. Try to pick books that aren’t the most popular books in their genre, but that the person you’re pitching to should be familiar with.
Some formats you can use instead of “X Meets Y”:
In the vein of X and Y
Would appeal to fans of X and Y
Like X but [concept]
The Combination
Combining your one sentence description and your comp titles will give you your completed elevator pitch.
The elevator pitch for my WIP is:
A girl inherits a book of spells and tries to fix the problems of her small town with its magic. [TITLE] will appeal to fans of Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service and Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.
If I keep these two sentences in my back pocket, I have everything I need to grab a likely reader’s attention.
Even if they’re only going from Floor 1 to Floor 2.
Sources:
The Art of Writing Copy
PubCrawl Podcast “X Meets Y” Pitches
How to Pitch Your Novel
Twitter Pitching Like a Pro
Nail Your Pitch
One Sentence Summary Clinic
Writing a One Sentence Summary
One Simple Way to Sharpen Your Pitch
Pitch Tips
On Good and Bad Book Pitches
