Wow! Last week’s post on What I Learned at RWA certainly had people talking. And I loved it! Believe it or not I read through all of your posts and was really impressed. Some of you nailed the five word pitch making me very confident that you’ll be able to nail the book as well. Others will need some work. Keep in mind that pitching the book in five words not only sells it to an agent, but is also the way the agent will sell to the editor, the editor to the publisher and eventually the publisher to the readers. Those five words can make a big difference and just to prove my point I have another little exercise for you. Pitch your favorite book. Not one that you’ve written, but one that you read and loved. If you don’t have a favorite pitch the most recent book you’ve read. In five words, no more than one sentence, I want you to make our other blog readers hungry to pick this book up. And to keep in challenging don’t reveal the title just yet. Let those commenting guess for a while before making the reveal.
I can’t wait to see what you have to say and just to start things off...
Can an Earl’s daughter save her servant from murder charges while preventing herself from falling in love?
--Jessica
From a book I read on the plane on the way to Dallas for RWA:
ReplyDeleteA rape victim and a wounded cop find love and the power to heal in a small California town.
If you don’t have a favorite[,] pitch the most recent book you’ve read.
ReplyDeleteAren't you afraid you'll get fifty bazillion pitches for Harry Potter 7?
*ahem*
Bickering witches fight tyrannical elves.
A woman spends months searching for a daughter that wasn't hers.
ReplyDeleteA former slave is haunted by the ghost of the daughter she killed in an effort to bring her freedom.
ReplyDeleteSaving the world, one horcrux at a time.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I have too many favorites to chose from, so I had to go with the most recent. :D
"A love story in the land of fairies, witches, ghosts and Stardust." I read this before I gave it to my nephew's 10 year old daughter. I shouldn't admit to reading love stories. I might get my "man-card" revoked.
ReplyDeleteBefore that was "Climb a giant redwood and discover another world 600 feet above the ground." That was Richard Preston's The Wild Trees.
A Duke's son must choose - to see the future and rule the universe or an ordinary life with the woman he loves.
ReplyDeletePossessed tools of murder terrorize a small lakeside town.
ReplyDeleteI'm still thinking of a pitch, but have to respond to yours, Jessica, as I'm in the middle of reading it right now and I'm LOVING IT:
ReplyDeleteThe Leopard Prince, by Elizabeth Hoyt.
Yes! My pitch worked. Thanks Michelle I'm glad you recognized it. I really loved it too.
ReplyDelete--jhf
"To Kill a Mockingbird Meets Anne Boleyn."
ReplyDelete"If Scout Finch were an Earl's Daughter."
D'oh, I thought we were supposed to get the provided pitch down to five words.
ReplyDeleteI misunderstood.
Now THERE's a first...
How about the pitch David Mamet used to get 20th Century Fox to greenlight the script for his "killer grizzly bear" movie, The Edge.
ReplyDelete"Jaws with claws."
Doesn't get much more basic than that.
"Guard reluctantly executes innocent healer"
ReplyDeleteA book I was SO excited to pick up at RWA:
ReplyDeleteSoccer mom fights demons from Hell and her past.
Robert is that Green Mile?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Tammie! Shouldn't I get some kind of prize or something?
ReplyDeleteYea!
ReplyDeleteI think I gotta redo mine. Too blah.
Child commanders defeat an alien invasion.
ReplyDelete"Child commanders defeat an alien invasion."
ReplyDeleteThis is a book? It sounds like my kids, every time I try to get them to pick up their rooms!
When a demon and an angel fall in love, they must destroy each other, or their love will destroy humanity.
ReplyDeleteChild commanders defeat an alien invasion.
ReplyDeleteEnder's Game by Orson Scott Card.
Btw, mine was Whispering Rock by Robyn Carr, part of the Virgin River series. Love that series!
ReplyDeleteFactions battle to rule a kingdom while a greater enemy threatens their lands.
ReplyDeleteJDuncan
After learning to rely only on herself, a young woman must choose between two unexpected loves--the boy she adored years ago or the lover who promises the moon, but is keeping dangerous secrets.
ReplyDeleteWith a gun in his hand, an abuse victim takes revenge while giving another victim a way out.
ReplyDeleteStockbroker's life destroyed by politics.
ReplyDeleteA banished champion returns to save his young queen, to do so he must find the blue flower held captive by a troll.
ReplyDeleteA brain implant for internet access allows hackers to replace you.
ReplyDelete