How To Pitch Your Novel: The Dos, Don'ts and Several Examples
can you sell your novel in 280 characters? | This is a 9-minute read.
Hello and Salam alaykum friends,
How are you and how has your week been?
Before I go into this week’s letter, I would like to inform you that this will be the last newsletter until the end of Ramadan, so expect the next letter on the 26th of April, in shaa Allah.
For those who don't know, Ramadan is the blessed lunar month in which Muslims have been ordained by God to fast in order to obtain God-consciousness. It’s a month known for several spiritual benefits, and one we aim to increase our good deeds in due to all the blessings which come with it.
I take creative breaks during this month in order to have more time dedicated to worship. Since we’re fasting most of the day, I’m quite cognisant about conserving energy, which is also why I try to reduce my responsibilities during this month.
🎯Writing A Pitch
Have you ever found yourself reciting a 1000-word essay when you told someone you’re writing a book, and they ask the famous question: what’s it about?
Or you stumbled on the several #pitchwars which take place across Twitter, and you have no idea how to summarise your 50000 words novel into a 280-character tweet?
This among several other reasons is why it’s important to have a pitch for your book. Although it’s not essential when querying an agent, it is beneficial in the long run because it follows you through all the stages of publishing – albeit in varying forms.
When you finally sign with an agent, they need to have a pitch ready when they submit your book to editors. If an editor loves your book and needs to convince their team to invest in it, they need to pitch it. When your book has finally been bought, edited and ready to be published, the pitch comes in handy for the marketing team and so on.
🤯 What is a Pitch?
A pitch, sometimes referred to as an elevator pitch (you can say it in the duration of a trip in an elevator), is about 50 words, and can be said in 20-30 seconds.
It is not a summary of your book – the job of the pitch is to capture the essence of your story and help you identify its unique selling point in order to intrigue the reader or listener.
A pitch should hone in on what your story really is about. It’s like having a thesis before writing an essay. But bear in mind that it’s not set in stone and can be changed as you edit and tweak your novel.
Pitches always come in handy especially when you find yourself in events, meetings or spaces where you’re required to talk about your book. I also find that the more I work on my pitch, the tighter my story usually is. It allows me to have a focal point while I’m writing my synopsis as well as drafting my novel.
Back in 2021, when I took part in the All Stories mentorship, Amina Youssef, Senior Commissioning Editor of Children and YA books at Simon & Schuster gave a masterclass on writing a pitch for your novel. It was one of the sessions I found most beneficial.
🤷🏾♀️ How do you write a pitch?
Amina states that your pitch essentially answers the question: “Why should I read your book?” and a good pitch is one which makes your book memorable.
A pitch usually focuses on the hook and unique selling point of your book, but can also include details such as readership, age, genre and comparison titles e.g. Perfect for lovers of Pride and Prejudice and Criminal Minds or Pride and Prejudice meets Criminal Minds in this YA thriller.
I’ll be sharing the various versions of my pitch and the stages it went through, but here’s Amina’s example for a well-known book (see if you can guess which one):
When a young orphan boy is unexpectedly enrolled at a magical school for witches and wizards, he soon discovers he carries the mark of a notorious dark sorcerer.
In this example, the hook is ordinary boy in an extraordinary world, and the book is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
How to not write a pitch:
While the idea of summarising an entire book into 50-words can be daunting:
Don’t be tempted to include every last detail, character and subplot
Focus on the core of the story and what makes it stand out from other stories
Don’t overcomplicate with unnecessary information
Don’t use generic or overused comparisons unless you’re adding a twist
The Journey of the Pitch for my YA novel*
During the masterclass, Amina encouraged us to write a pitch for our novel and share it with the group for feedback. The pitch below was my first attempt:
Pitch Version 1
A Black Muslim girl is sexually assaulted by a religious family friend, her mum doesn’t take her word for it and he continues to show up at the house every weekend. Will she find the courage to stand up for herself or suffer in silence? Contemporary YA set in London, perfect for fans of Saints and Misfits, The Poet X, and Netflix movie, Rocks.
When I shared the above pitch with Amina, she commented that it contained too much detail and doesn’t properly hone in on the conflict of the story. She also suggested a different way to present the comparison titles.
After implementing her feedback, I ended up with:
Pitch Version 2
The Poet X meets Saints and Misfits in this powerful YA story about finding your voice when society wants you to stay quiet.
A Black Muslim girl is sexually assaulted by a religious family friend, but her mum doesn’t believe her and orders her never to broach the subject again. Will she find the courage to stand up for herself or suffer in silence?
The final pitch is barely different from the pitch above, but I really wanted to slip in Rocks because it captured aspects of my story that the two books didn’t. I also wanted to fit the pitch into one paragraph due to the structure of my query letter (I’ll be talking about this in the future), so I ended up with:
Final Version
A Black Muslim girl is sexually assaulted by a religious family friend, but her mum doesn’t believe her and orders her never to broach the subject again. Will she find the courage to stand up for herself or suffer in silence? Perfect for fans of Saints and Misfits and The Poet X as well as the Netflix movie Rocks.
After I signed with my agent, I worked on some edits based on her feedback, and once she felt the book was ready to go on submission to publishers (story for another day), we worked together on another pitch.
If you look at the pitch we ended up with, you’ll notice it’s quite longer than the previous versions and includes a bit more detail. I love this version more than the one I came up with initially because it captures who my main character is, as well as the tone of the story. Although the book touches on dark themes, the voice is quite light-hearted and there are several joyful moments in the story which my initial pitch didn’t take into account.
My Agent’s Version
Sumayya: she’s 16, she’s clever, she’s funny, and like most teenagers she just wants to fit in. But with her mum nagging her over wearing the hijab, her best friend ghosting her and her lechy ‘Uncle’ Mustapha refusing to leave her alone, it feels like everyone wants a version of her that she can’t live up to. A story of finding the way through Big Issues and coming out gloriously on the other side.
*This novel is currently parked to side, but I hope to revisit it and write a new draft. I’ve been getting bursts of ideas but I’m letting them simmer before rushing into it.
📚 On my reading list:
I’m reading a million things at once, as usual, and here are a few of them:
Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller: First and foremost, this man can WRITE. My goodness, and when I discovered he has a blog, I went down a rabbit hole. I don’t think my words can do him justice, but I’ll share an excerpt from this post which moved me:
“Look…it’s not that I don’t want to say the Most Important Things – but that it takes so much bloody effort. We have to watch our tone; we have to create an ‘out’ so people don’t feel personally accused; we can’t ever seem too aggressive or angry or accusative; we have to tell our stories in the most circuitous ways. We can never just tell them straight.
A black writer has to consider how his or her words might fall on white ears, because if those ears decide to close or to tune out it might mean one less sale, and the economy of publishing subtly tells us that some ears are more important than others.”
Black Women Writers At Work edited by Claudia Tate: This gem was previously out of print and recently reissued. I found out about it last year, when I was desperately searching for exactly this, and even before it relaunched, I shared it with almost every Black woman writer in my life. And I will continue to shout about it. My copy arrived on Friday last week, I started it on a long train journey on Saturday, and I cannot tell you how intrigued, inspired and challenged I have been by the phenomenal women featured in this book. You should see my copy, filled with notes in the margins. They’ve got a 40% discount going for women’s month, and they give you a complimentary copy of the ebook when you purchase a physical copy (talk about generosity!). I’m also super excited for the relaunch event which I’ll be attending tonight in shaa Allah!
Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson: Quite a few people have recommended her to me and I only just got around grabbing a copy from my local library app. I’ve read the first three stories so far, and my goodness, I’m really loving the twists and turns. She has me clutching my chest and holding my breath. If you’re looking for good examples on how to withhold information without annoying your reader or causing them to lose interest in your story, you should definitely check her out!
What’s on your reading list?
If you found this beneficial at all, please shout about it to your family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances!
Till next Friday,
Suad