Wait! There’s More: “Pitch”!

SO, are you are plotter or a plodder, willing to do whatever it takes to market your book?

Well, here’s another bite of the sandwiches I’ve been offering, my experience with much-vaunted ploys. Let’s explore the Pitch.

This is not baseball nor is it tar 😉 This is a ploy to garner attention. It may be written, it may be verbal. A large portion of the latter relies on your smile. Remember that nothing great ever happened without enthusiasm!

DO develop your logline, which those in business have long-referred to the elevator speech. I’ve been coached to do this before I write, a 20-30 word effort that encapsulates and captivates.

You can further refine this to a premise line which removes all of the accoutrements and quirks you bring to provide punch to the elevator speech. This would be a second sentence, one that reduces your sales pitch to the emotional core, the theme, the premise from which you write/wrote.

DON’T blather overlong with an agent’s or potential reader’s time. Capture their interest in succinct and clear prose immediately, and then pause. Allow questions and answer… This requires forethought. You can do that.

DO be a relentless, yet courteous, bloodhound to follow-up, allowing time to pass so you don’t pester an agent, radio host, or newspaper/magazine. Remember everyone is as busy as you, so don’t be a pest. DO check your spam filters that entrap emails. You misplace phone messages despite good intentions, so allow that others do, too. An ideal follow-up serves an expansion, something related to the original that enhances it, as well as a reminder that you already sent information. DON’T become enraged or indignant that you don’t rise to the top of another’s to-do list.

Especially not if that person is a media influencer… these people are in the communication business, and word gets around. Don’t be a sauerkraut, a crusty hot dog!