The Best Pitches Have These 5 Things…

Your pitch might be well-written and beta reader approved, but does it hit these five chords?

1. A one-breath tagline (so agents can speak it to their teams).

     a) "You gotta read this monster school friendship story!" 

     b) "We need to sign this steampunk vampire comedy!"

2. An elevator pitch (aka a log line) at the top.

    a) Example: "MUSTACHE BOY is a 50k-word MG novel in which a late-bloomer tricks his classmates into believing his glued-on mustache gives him superpowers in a hilarious attempt to avoid getting bullied."

3. A 4-beat book summary featuring (in this order):

    a) Setup 

    b) Catalyst 

    c) Journey 

    d) Stakes 

4. 300 words (or less). 

5. Sample pages with a killer first sentence (we like it short, eyebrow-raising, maybe weird).