Happy Wednesday Scribblers and Happy Pride 2025! I hope you’re all having a wonderful week. Today I wanted to talk to you about something we authors don’t always do well; explaining our novels to potential readers. When we talk to someone about our book or books, we want to tell them the entire story. We want to explain the characters and the nuances. We are so excited to engage with someone about our novel that we ‘info dump’ on them. And that’s the best way to kill a potential buyer and turn off a potential reader. The sad truth is we all do this. I can’t count the number of times I start to explain my book to someone (including my husband) and I see the glassy look and vacant expression form. In Brittney’s words, ‘ops, I’ve done it again.”.
There is a solution.
The Elevator Pitch.
Every author needs to describe their book in one sentence (this is not a compound sentence either). You need to sum up your novel in as few words as possible. A group of us were at a book event this last weekend and we went around the group and asked each other to describe their books in one sentence. If someone struggled, we helped them. Here are some descriptions we came up with to help sell each other’s books:
Sapphic Nancy Drew mystery thriller with fade to black romance.
Contemporary historical Italian family gay drama
Mother Nature kills humans in thirty short stories
MM college roommate summer romance
Historical French steam punk novel where the French Revolution doesn’t happen
Dungeons and dragons meet AI
And the list goes on, but this should give you an idea of what I mean when I say, Elevator Pitch. Are these descriptions perfect? No. But what this information does, or should do, is peak the potential reader’s interest. The goal is for the reader to get enough information to want to ask more about your story if they’re interested. If they aren’t interested, you didn’t ‘info dump’ on them to where they will never ask you about your writing or your books again.
If you still aren’t sure what an Elevator Pitch is, this is how Harvard University, Writing and Communication Center (learn more here) defines a general Elevator Pitch:
What is an Elevator Pitch?
An elevator pitch is a compelling introduction about who you are, what you do, and why it matters. It is a teaser that lasts 60 seconds or less to begin a conversation and make meaningful connections with confidence when meeting new people.
Why Do We Need an Elevator Pitch?
First impressions matter. Impressions about people are formed immediately after meeting them.
I hope this helps. Now go write an Elevator Pitch for each of your books and practice that Elevator Pitch with your family and friends until next time have a great week and a great Pride 2025.