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What agents want to see from your pitch

What agents want to see from your pitch

Hone your elevator pitch with our experts this week 

We’re back with our popular Slushpile Live webinar this week with a special focus on the US market, so now seems as good a time as any to review our elevator pitches. How do you condense an entire book down into just a few short sentences? Let’s find out! 

WEBINARS: Slushpile Live – US edition (Become a member to join) 

18 March. Ever wondered what a literary agent thinks when they open your cover letter? Want to get live feedback on yours? Now is your chance to hear from top US literary agent, Alice Fugate. The submission deadline has passed but it’s definitely worth coming along and learning from real examples.¬†

MEMBERS – REGISTER NOW¬†

NON-MEMBERS – FIND OUT MORE

At Jericho Writers this week:

WEBINARS: Writing your elevator pitch (Become a member to join) 

20 March. Back by popular demand – bring your elevator pitch along to share in this webinar, and Harry Bingham will give his feedback on as many as he can in the hour, with advice on how to hone it.  

MEMBERS – REGISTER NOW¬†

NON-MEMBERS – FIND OUT MORE¬†

BLOG: How to write an elevator pitch for your book  

Before heading into Harry’s fast-paced webinar on Saturday, read his advice on creating an elevator pitch and why it’s useful. 

READ NOW 

Take the Community survey for the chance to win £100! 

We’re redeveloping the Jericho Writers online community and we’d love your input. The survey only takes a few minutes and you‚Äôll be entered into a prize draw for a top prize of ¬£100 and two runners-up prizes of ¬£50 in Amazon vouchers (or your currency equivalent). ¬†¬†

TAKE THE SURVEY 

But what do agents want to see from your pitch?

Let’s face it – with COVID and social distancing, you’re unlikely to be riding in an elevator with a publisher any time soon. But short and exciting pitches are important things to have in your artillery, whether it’s to explain to your Aunt Mildred why you’re always working all the time or to capture the attention of a literary agent in your query letter.  

There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for writing a pitch. What agents want to see is a short description of your book that explains why they should be excited to read it. For some books, this could be done in just a few words. For example, the Alex Rider Series is: “A young James Bond”. Four words, and we have a pretty good idea of what these books are going to look like, and how they might have an exciting audience ready-and-waiting.  

Other books might have a harder time condensing to so few words ‚Äì and for agents, that’s usually fine. You want to ensure you‚Äôre not going over two short paragraphs if you can, and you focus only on the things that are most important/exciting about your idea. If you‚Äôre not sure what this is ‚Äì think about what made you so excited to write it in the first place. Maybe it was a character, or theme, or place? And if you‚Äôre still not sure ‚Äì ask your Aunt Mildred to read it instead and kindly tell you what your book is about. Sometimes, a more distanced view can offer us much-needed clarity on this stuff!¬†

So – what does the pitch in your query letter look like? Are you having trouble getting to the bottom of what makes your idea exciting? Share and help each other in the Community here.  

Sarah J x 

Plus, don’t miss: 

Agent 1-2-1 sessions for March and April (10% discount available for members)  

Bag yourself a fifteen-minute call with an agent or a book doctor to talk exclusively about your work. Now booking through March and April.  

Agent Submission Pack assessment (10% discount available for members)  

Getting rejected without feedback? Our expert editors can give you advice on your entire submission package to help you pinpoint what’s not working.  

Manuscript Assessment (10% discount available for members) 

Our most popular editorial service matches you to your dream editor and gives you tailored feedback on your work. It doesn’t get better than that.  

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