Pitch Perfect

When you query literary agents, many of them use a system called Query Manager. This is an online form that will have boxes for you to enter the parts of your query into. Query Manager allows agents to ask as many questions as they want (one memorable one that I saw was “what’s your favorite song to sing in the shower?”), so you might have to come prepared with more than just your query letter, synopsis, and sample pages. 

The most common “other question” I saw when querying was “what’s the one sentence pitch for your book?”. 

This takes the synopsis to the next level. That asked you to summarize your book in a single page. This asks you to summarize your book in a sentence. 

What does a pitch look like? 

It packs the characters, the setting, the conflict, and the stakes all into one sentence. Think of the pitch as the “tagline” for your book - what’s the one sentence that would appear on the top of the back cover?

The pitch should include your main character, their conflict, and the ultimate stakes all in one sentence. You can use this template:

CHARACTER faces CONFLICT, and must DO X TO SOLVE IT or SUFFER BAD THING.

How do you make one?

You write a lot of sentences, over and over.

Jot down your characters, setting, conflict, and stakes, and then try to fit them all into one sentence. You’re going to come up with a lot of terrible sentences. But eventually, you’re going to come up with one that makes sense--and that’s your pitch! Again, envision how this would look on a bookseller’s website, or in bold on the back cover of your book. You want to grab readers’ attention, and make sure that the sentence encapsulates the main concept of your book.

Is this the same as a twitter pitch?

Well, it can be! If it’s short enough, this would be a perfect bit of material to repurpose as a twitter pitch, if you’re into that.