Imagine you are in the elevator at a conference or writing event. In walks your DREAM AGENT. *GULP* You have about ten seconds to pitch. And it better be good.
If you get the chance to corner a literary agent you only have a short window to sell your story. I took a query course recently, with NYT Bestseller CJ Lyons. Great class. Here is what I learned.
ELEVATOR PITCH: Quick. Easy. Memorable. This is not a summary of your entire book but what type of read it will be. Uses pop culture references/universal images.
The DaVinci Code: Indiana Jones meets Murder She Wrote.
Twilight: Beverly Hills 90210 meets True Blood
A Walk to Remember: Terms of Endearment meets Grease
For my first MS:
By Grace Alone: The Notebook meets Brothers & Sisters
What do you have for your novel? Let's see what ya got and chat about it. You just might get an agent with the perfect pitch.
The Last Summer- Titanic meets Pretty in Pink
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Charli!!
ReplyDeleteKEY TO THE KINGDOM - Braveheart meets The Tudors :-)
ReplyDeleteKris, what I learned in my class was to be careful what genres you mix together. Yours, like mine mixes time.
ReplyDeleteThe Notebook takes places between the present and WWII. Brothers & Sisters in very modern. So, my blurb is actually this: The heart of THE NOTEBOOK meets the family dysfunction of BROTHERS & SISTERS.
So, with THE TITANIC meets PRETTY IN PINK I am curious. Time travel meets HS Angst? Both the TITANIC have affluency vs. poverty. One has a tragic disaster which thrusts the characters together, where the hero dies. The other is about fitting in, being yourself, getting your heartbroken. So, draw out your comparison's a little more clearly. Like I did. Can't wait to read, I am super curious.
oh time travel...hmm...ok...so it has the tragedy of titanic meets the coming of age of Pretty in Pink...is that too vague?
ReplyDeletethis is a cool process. Whenever I start to query I was wondering how I was going to pitch my story, now I kinda have an idea..:)
Aj- for sure yours if braveheart meets the tudors...it's what i was thinking when I was reading it:)
Coming of age is too vague, yes. Is the Pretty in Pink bit, angsty at all. People love ANGST.
ReplyDeleteI am loving this, what fun.
so the tragedy of Titanic meets the teenage angst of pretty in pink?
ReplyDeleteDrop the teenage, PIP is a teen movie and I think you got it!
ReplyDeleteOh Yes, Tudors meets Braveheart indeed!
ReplyDeletePerfect post just before the Central Coast Writer's Conference that I'm attending AND the Muse Conference! I'll have to think hard and come up with something good, like everyone here has been! Thanks Charli!
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