I’ve seen new authors look a little shocked when they figure out they’re going to be pitching their books the entire remainder of their career. Most everyone thinks (and I did, too) that once you get an agent, your pitching days are over. Au contraire. But writers aren’t the only ones who have to pitch.
First, let’s define terms here. When I say pitch in terms of a writer, what I mean is a short dialog about a book that piques the interest of the listener. This is most commonly known as the “elevator pitch.”
Some of the elements of a good pitch is it has an easy, effortless quality for the listener – meaning it’s clean and without verbal clutter. It should be packed with emotional hooks that engage the listener. And at the end it should be tied up with a neat concept that's memorable and universal. All this has to be done in a few sentences, I suggest three, so it’s easily deliverable in an elevator at a length of 1 to 2 minutes or less.
Now, the reason writers never stop doing this is because if they succeed, they are going to be eternally faced with talking about their work in an effective way to people they don’t know: book store owners, librarians, people in readers groups, potential fans at book signings, and even people they meet while shopping.
