I am preparing for the Oklahoma Writers' Federation Annual Conference. It is to be held next weekend in Oklahoma City. I'm not on the program, buuuutttt I do hope to meet agents and editors. For those meetings I am working on my one sentence pitch.
A one sentence pitch is one sentence you use as a 'pitch' line to see if editors or agents are interested in your writing project. Salesmen use something similar. I once heard this tool described as an elevator pitch, where it is only long enough for someone to go from the first floor to the third. Your information has to be to the point and interesting enough another person would want to know more.
And as I learned early on, it is important to know how to write and use a one sentence pitch, most especially when pitching a book. Wait, you might say. I can't tell my entire's book's plot in one sentence. Then head back to the drawing board and start over. You don't want to be excused like I was years ago.
I had an appointment with an agent. I knew for months about this and heard about the importance of a one sentence pitch, but I felt the plot for my book was too complicated for only ONE sentence.
I went into the appointment, sat down, and the agent (who shall remain nameless in this blog) asked me what I had. I started telling him about the book. He stopped me, told me to tell him about it in one sentence. Nervously, I tried, but still more than 'one sentence' was used.
After a few ramblings, he looked at me and said, "Until you can get your book's plot down to one sentence, you're not focused enough and this meeting is over." I got up and left. There was nothing else to do.
That was 15 years ago. Today, when I go in to appointments, I'm ready. You need to be too.
Work on those pitches.
Til Tomorrow~