The Perfect Pitch

Pitching isn't how most books are sold, so it's not surprising that there isn't a lot out there. But it's worth doing if you're going to be at a conference and the timing, etc., work for you, because a) you never know, and b) every bit of practice you get counts.

Nephele Tempest has words of wisdom.

Author CJ Lyons on pitching.

This book talks about how to pitch.

I've heard you're supposed to start with an "It's like The Italian Job with clueless teenagers instead of experienced criminals"

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This is old hat now. The day of the "It's Bambi meets The Towering Inferno"-style pitches, as seen in movies like The Player, is over.

The current preferred pitch buzzword formula is "It's a {genre} that {different-genre author who is not JK Rowling or Stephen King or Dan Brown} readers will also love."

"It's women's fiction, but its high-tech military setting will appeal to Tom Clancy readers as well."
"It's a Western, but the amount of gratuitous sex will make Laurell K. Hamilton fans happy, too."

Okay, those are hideous examples, but you see what I mean.

Still, I'd avoid using pitch buzzwords/formulae and just talking about your story.

Try starting with the hook--whatever makes your story stand out from all the other similar stories (and it's not necessarily the plot).

And especially, know what the story is about. I think that's one of the hardest things to figure out, and it'll take a lot of work to get it right.

You should also be able to do this comfortably off the cuff and not wander around babbling (like I did at my first pitch session!). You want to be ready in case an unexpected opportunity arises. Even if an agent doesn't rep your genre and they ask that question, pitch your book to them. I did that with a non-fiction agent, and he gave me a referral for another agent in his agency. If nothing else, it's practice.

I start with a brief summary of how my heroine got into the mess in the first place - Stonehenge being remodelled by the Victorians, altar moved, she's on the REAL site of the ancient druid altar when the sun strikes at solstice etc. Then I talk of growing up on the site of a medieval castle, the village with Elizabethan courthouse and stocks. Then some interesting facts about that period and why I find it necessary and very rewarding to write about it.

I don't have any actual advice, sorry, but one time I stumbled upon [url="http://www.annemini.com/]Anne Mini's[/url] blog and it has a ton of entries on pitching.

Work out a one-sentence encapsulation of the book. "I have a [genre] book about a ____ who [has this problem] but [does this about it]."

I did about 50 of these until I could say it in my sleep.

Practice it. I tried out mine in situations with family, friends, even casual acquaintances. Practice makes perfect.

Try to know something about the editor or agent you're talking to. They're very helpful and generous people, but unless your book has some connection to them, you could get a polite brush-off.