PITCH-ILICIOUS BLOG HOP CONTEST
I joined in a blog hop contest called Pitch-ilicious.
Pitch-ilicious? Yes.
This is where we write a “pitch” for our novels. In about 3 sentences.
This is more difficult that it may seem at first glance. How does one sum up a 90,000 word book in 3 sentences? Well, I’m going to give it a try. Whether I’m successful or not, you will have to decide and let me know.
OK, Pitch-ilicious. Here goes!
Tragedy threatens to destroy Beth Worthington’s life–more than once. It takes a trip to Switzerland, a lot of prayer, a determined faith in God, delicious home-baked goodies from her landlady, Mrs. Maloney, and a man named Andrew to help her overcome.
Well, there it is. I hope you will comment and let me know what you think. Or if you have any suggestions for improvement. I can always use those. And thanks for checking it out.
By the way, the book cover in the photo is only a mock-up. I have several different ones. Maybe you could comment on that as well. I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
Hi Diane, You should actually make it three sentences. :0) But let’s take a look.
1. In your first sentence, I would be specific about what the “tragedy” is. It will give us a sense of tone, as well as a better visual. Also, how does it destroy her life? Try to avoid being too general.
2. As for the second sentence, you have a sort of laundry list of things that help her change. Break it into two sentences. Another issue is that your pitch gives away the end. You want to tempt us into finding out more. I wrote a rough example (though I don’t really know the details), just to get you started.
Beth Worthington’s mothers dies of lymphoma, leaving her destitute and alone. When the chance to travel to Switzerland arises she XXX, especially since XXX and XXX. As XXX, Beth XXX, becoming XXX.
I hope this helps.
Thanks, Heather. Actually there are several different tragedies in Beth’s life so it would be difficult to describe that in one sentence. And it doesn’t actually destroy her life. The story is really about her struggles to overcome these circumstances through her faith in God and her victories through the process. I’ll give it some thought on how to fix it.
It sounds like an interesting book, but I agree about the laundry list. I’ve seen agents and other publishing/book people say that when you have a laundry list of events in a pitch or query, it reduces the overall effectiveness. It’s important to focus on maybe two or three major events instead of assigning equal importance to everything.
Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comment, Carrie-Anne. I appreciate your input. I’m going to give it some serious thought over the next couple of days. I didn’t have much time yesterday to stick with it for long. I’ll post it once I come up with it. Have a great weekend.