The Elevator Pitch and Your Manuscript

Your elevator pitch, or simply your pitch, is a very condensed, yet concise description of your story. It can be one to several sentences long; the idea is to grab the publisher, editor, or agent’s attention and interest with the core of your story in the span of under 3 minutes.

The marketing arena’s idea of the pitch is a one sentence calling card – you’re unique selling proposal or proposition.

The idea behind the elevator pitch is to imagine that you get on an elevator and surprisingly you’re there with a potential client, or in the case of writing for children or writing in general, a publisher or agent. You are given just the time for the elevator ride, which was approximated at 3 minutes, to pitch your story. That’s the elevator pitch.

It may also happen that the time you have to pitch your manuscript may be under a minute. Suppose you’re at a conference and happen to get on the elevator at the end of the day with a frazzled publisher or agent. You want that very short span of pitching time to be as effective as you can make it, without annoying or further frazzling your target. It may be the only opportunity you’ll have for a direct, although very brief, uninterrupted pitch.

The one sentence pitch, also known as a logline, takes time, effort, and a lot of practice. You need to condense your entire manuscript into one sentence. Within that sentence you need to harness the soul of your story in a simple, concise, and hooking pitch.

The general writing consensus is to do your best and create one sentence that tells what your story is about. Once you have it nailed, expand it into a few more, adding only the most important aspects of the story. This is excellent practice for tight writing.

This way you’ll have two different versions of a micro pitch. It’s important to always be prepared – you never know when or where you may come upon an unsuspecting publisher, agent, or editor . . .  maybe you’ll have a few seconds, maybe you’ll have 3 minutes.

Here is an example of a one sentence pitch from RockWayPress.com:

Two brothers and their female cousin decide to track down a serial killer themselves, not realizing that one of them may be the very killer they seek.

Here’s another one from the blog at Buried in the Slush Pile:

The Emerald Tablet -- In this midgrade science fiction novel, a telepathic boy discovers that he is not really human but a whole different species and that he must save a sunken continent hidden under the ocean.

And, here’s my own one sentence, 28 word pitch for my children’s fantasy chapter book. The 99 word version of my pitch hooked a contract with a publisher:

Children 7-10 love fantasy and magic and Walking Through Walls has just that; twelve-year-old Wang decides he’ll be rich and powerful if he can become a mystical Eternal.

Obviously, if you have a scheduled pitch you will need to adhere to the publisher or agent’s rules. You may be able to provide a pitch with 100-200 words. But, it’s a good idea to have that one sentence pitch on hand for that you-never-know moment.

~~~~~
Karen Cioffi is an author, ghostwriter, and editor. For more on writing and marketing visit http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com and sign up for her FREE newsletter, A Writer’s World. You’ll get TWO free e-books on writing and marketing in the process.

Promotion: Review of Priscilla Homes and the Case of the Glass Slipper -- The Midwest Book Review

posted by Vivian Zabel

         Appearing on "Katherine' Bookshelf," in The Midwest Book Review for September, is Priscilla Holmes and Case of the Glass Slipper by John Lance and illustrated by Diana Navarro .

Review by Katerine Boyer:


Priscilla Holmes and the Case of the Glass Slipper
John Lance
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond OK 73083
9780982659496 $14.99

John Lance has done it again! He has written an amusing children's book with a new twist in Priscilla Holmes and the Case of the Glass Slipper. There are some curious references to a familiar fairy tale that has to do with a beautiful girl who went to a dance at the palace and danced with the prince, then left in a hurry and lost her magic glass slipper.

Priscilla, the Ace Detective, is called on by the prince to find the beautiful princess he danced with at the ball. So she gets to work. She begins to follow the clues and comes up with 3 clues that she has to sort out to solve the mystery of who the missing princess is. They are:

"1. A pumpkin coach

2. A magical glass slipper

3. A pair of mysterious strangers. One wears the same size shoe as the missing princess."

She follows the clues to Gary the Glassblowers, then to The Magic Bean to talk to Merlin. This leads her to Aunt Mag's house and the two mysterious strangers. Because of her Ace Detective status, she soon puts the clues together and finds the princess just as the prince shows up. Then comes the twist. For this review, suffice it to say that they all lived happily ever after. You will have to read the book to find out what happens that is a little different from the story you may remember from your childhood.

The illustrations, so aptly done by Diana Navarro, as she did with the first book about the ace detective, provide the reader a definite idea of the characters in the book. The background she depicts in her art is also very well done.

John Lance lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two daughters and two slightly-crazed Labrador Retrievers. He enjoys spending time with his family and reading, writing and working in his garden.

Kathleen Boyer
Reviewer



          Priscilla Holmes and Case of the Glass Slipper is now part of the holiday sale found on the 4RV Bookstore.


4RV Publishing website

Promotion: Gunther the Underwater Elephant - The Midwest Book Review

posted by Vivian Zabel 

          The first children's book both illustrated and written by Ginger Nielson is reviewed in the November issue of The Midwest Book Review on Katerine's Bookshelf.


Gunther, the Underwater Elephant
Ginger Neilson
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond OK 73083
9780983274025 $15.99

Ginger Neilson has written and illustrated an adorable book about Gunther, the Underwater Elephant. The story is different from the normal children's books in that Gunther does not get into terrible trouble that he cannot get out of himself, but he does show his courage and intelligence when a tragedy occurs.

Gunther, the little elephant, is accidently separated from his family and ends up floating out to sea where he learns how to use his trunk as a snorkel and meets a creature who helps him return home.

"When the bright morning sun woke Gunther, he found himself in the middle of a swirling sea.

Alone and afraid, he called and called for his elephant family. Suddenly, his tiny island came to life!"

When he gets close to home, he is met by a tropical bird who tells him of a tragedy involving his mother.

Follow Gunther as he figures out how to save the day with some of the things he found on his underwater trip. Children will love this story and stare in wonder at the lovely illustrations that are important in telling his story.

This is a wonderful book to read to your children as a bedtime story and will also be great for any time reading.

Ginger Neilson is a full time children's book illustrator and author. Her home and studio sit at the top of a hill, near the edge of a forest in semi rural New Hampshire. There is a magic wand on her desk and a dragon in her basement. Everything else is nearly normal. She has illustrated over 25 children's books. This is the first one she has written as well as illustrated.

Katherine Boyer
Reviewer


          
4RV Publishing Bookstore
4RV Publishing Website

Book Promotion: 20 Strategies That Will Broaden Your Reach

While most of us already know the book promotion basics, there are also a number of other avenues you can take to broaden your book promotion reach and make your promotional efforts more effective.

20 book promotion strategies you can use to promote to a wider range of potential customers:

1. Make use of your website’s opt-in box. Provide a weekly or monthly newsletter that offers information your reader/subscriber will value. Along with the information, you can offer your books for sale. Building your subscriber list is a key marketing strategy.

2. Use article marketing and social networks to broaden your reach, and be sure to provide links that go directly to a designated landing page for the sale of your book/s.

3. Book virtual book tours with tour services or create your own. Try to get guest spots on sites that are geared toward your target market.

4. Create trailers for your books and post them on sites such as YouTube. You can try your hand at creating a trailer for free at http://OneTrueMedia.com. If attempting this seems a little overwhelming, you can hire someone to do it for you.

5. Create postcards, business cards, and flyers with your book information and cover. Include the link to your book’s site or your author site.

6. Contact your local newspapers and request they do an interview or a feature on you as a local author.

7. Request book reviews from reputable reviewers and ask them to post the reviews on your Amazon and B&N selling page, Goodreads, Shelfari, and other sites that can help promote your book. Post them on your own site/s as well.

8. Enter competition. Winning a contest, or getting second place or mentionable awards is a great way to increase interest in your book/s. Be sure to enter reputable contests. Also, check out your state book lists

9. Put out a request in your groups to be a guest on blog talk radio shows that feature authors. While it’s good to find those that feature authors in your genre, it’s also a good idea to broaden your reach and shoot for shows that are diversified.

10. If you’ve established yourself as an expert in your field, you can give teleseminars or webinars. This is a proven strategy for increasing your subscriber list, thereby increasing your selling reach.

11. Give free or reasonably priced workshops. Again, this is a proven strategy to increase your subscriber list with people who are interested in your topic.

12. Create a how-to-course and offer it in daily or weekly segments through emails. You will easily boost your subscriber list through a course. It also guarantees that those who subscribe for it will open your mailings.

13. Have a 2 for 1 sale and promote the sale through all your social networks and a press release. Everyone loves a sale.

14. Create and publish press releases on a regular basis. You can report on your teleseminars, how-to-courses, workshops, news, sales, etc.

15. You can also look into associations, businesses, groups, schools, and other avenues that may be interested in your book. This is also a great way to sell in bulk.

16. Sell through catalogues. This may take a bit of research, but the benefits may be more than worth the effort. Do an online search for ‘your genre’ book catalogues.

17. Become a part of joint ventures. Publicists may be looking for authors to be partners in their book promotions. You help promote their authors’ books, and you’re listed in their content, usually by offering a free or discounted book, or e-book. There are also different situations. Again, this can be worth the effort.

18. Think about having your book included in book clubs. Again, do an online search.

19. Look locally. If you’ve written a children’s book see if your local toy store, baby store, or children’s clothing store will be willing to offer your book for a percentage of the selling price. If you’ve written a cook book, talk to the local bakery owner or coffee shop. And, don’t forget doctor’s offices, dentist’s offices, beauty salons, and so on. Don’t be afraid to seek out facilities that may not be an exact match. Establishing this type of partnership is a win-win situation.

20. If you have the funds, find out what a publicist or professional book marketer can do for you.

Remember: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

~~~~~~~~~
Karen Cioffi is an author, ghostwriter, and editor. For more on writing and marketing visit http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com and sign up for her FREE newsletter, A Writer’s World. You’ll get TWO free e-books on writing and marketing in the process, and two more free e-books just for stopping by.

Promotion: Review of Priscilla Homes, Ace Detective -- The Midwest Book Review

posted by Vivian Zabel  

         Appearing on "Katherine' Bookshelf," in The Midwest Book Review for September, is Priscilla Holmes, Ace Detective, by John Lance and illustrated by Diana Navarro .

Review by Katerine Boyer:

Priscilla Holmes
John Lance
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond, OK 73083
9780984070879 $13.99

Priscilla Holmes, Ace Detective by John Lance is a very funny, imaginative children's book that calls on many familiar fairy tales, such as the Muffin Man, Cinderella, Rapunzel and others, to tell the story and solve the crime. It will make adults want to reminisce about their childhood and retell their favorite stories.

The mystery loosely follows the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears as they return home and find someone has been in their house. Priscilla is hired by the Bear family to find out who broke furniture in their house and ate their porridge. She begins her investigation and finds the following clues:

"1. Shoeprint (small)

2. Long blonde hair

3. Pink bow"

With just these three clues and her 'greatly honed detective skills' she investigates and solves the mystery. The solution will not be a surprise to those who are up on their fairy tales. However, following Priscilla through her detecting process is unanticipated fun for all ages. The penalty for the perpetrator is one that is in line with the offense.

I really enjoyed the book and Mr. Lance has a great knack for relating fun stories for children. The illustrations by Dianna Navarro are wonderfully imaginative and telling. Children are going to have a lot of fun with this story and laugh at the insertion of other familiar stories and nursery rhymes.

In an interview with Tracy S. Morris, Mr. Lance discussed the origin of this story:

"Priscilla Holmes is one of those rare cases (for me at least) where the character came first. I was sitting in my study one day and looked out the window to see my daughters playing in the backyard and that was when a girl detective popped into my head. Priscilla is smart and determined (like my daughters) and has a distinct dislike for cleaning her room (also like my daughters)."

John Lance lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two daughters and two slightly-crazed Labrador Retrievers. He enjoys spending time with his family and reading, writing and working in his garden.

Katherine Boyer
Reviewer


          Priscilla Holmes, Ace Detective is now part of the holiday sale found on the 4RV Bookstore.


4RV Publishing website 

Public Speaking for the Terminally Introverted Author

by Laurie Boris

I was recently a guest on a “Meet the Authors” panel in New York with ten other women who had been published in the last few months. We spoke about how our books came to be: the initial idea for the story, the publication process, and our marketing efforts.

As each woman took the microphone, the passion for her work came out clear-eyed and full-hearted. How she navigated the publication process clearly struck a chord with the fifty-odd women in the audience, each hoping to see their own work in print or pixels one day.

But as for marketing and promotion, they were less enthusiastic. I heard a distinct note from several of the authors. Marketing and promotion, to them, sounded like a distasteful but necessary chore, like emptying the litter box.

Then one panelist stood up and voiced what many of us had been thinking. “Face it,” she said. “We are writers. Most of us would rather hide in our rooms behind our computers.”

A natural introvert, I could really relate to that. But in today’s literary marketplace, even with social media allowing us to stay at our computers, we can no longer completely hide—not if we want to be treated as professionals. We can’t equate marketing, especially face-to-face marketing, with taking out the trash, either. It’s a vital part of being an author, making sales, and generating interest for your next book. So, what do you do if even thinking about speaking in front of a group of people makes you want to throw up?

1. Forget the clichés about imagining the audience in their underwear. Frankly, depending upon the audience, that would horrify me even more than speaking in public.

2. Remember why you are there. You arranged this event, or agreed to speak at it. You invited these people and they chose to show up. Now, what are you going to do for them? Reframe your presentation and your attitude toward helping your audience. Do you have important information to relate to them? In my case, I wanted to help aspiring authors by letting them know what to expect during and after publication. This took the focus off me and put it on what I could do for them. Therefore, since it wasn’t really about me, I didn’t have to worry as much about what people would think of me.

3. Preparation is the foundation. Yes, you’ve been living, breathing, and sleeping your latest project for years. You’ve memorized your hundred-word pitch. You know everything about your protagonist down to her choice of toothpaste. But don’t, do not, if you’re nervous about talking in front of a group, try to wing it. Write out your entire speech if you need to. Keep within the time constraints you are given, if any. Practice. Practice. Practice again. Ask a trusted friend to listen to your speech and give you feedback. Or practice in front of a mirror. You might not notice a nervous tic that needs taming or a habit of saying “um” between every other phrase. When I rehearsed with my husband, I learned that I needed to slow down and pause between sentences. Revise your script as needed, and practice until you are comfortable looking away from it (audiences like eye contact) or even not needing it, except for a few key bullet points.

4. Get comfortable in your venue. Arrive early, to get a sense of the space and settle into it. Bring your notes. Bring those little items that make you more comfortable. My mouth gets dry when I speak, so I always have a bottle of water and my favorite lip balm. I fidget less if I’m holding a pen, so I bring one. Have whatever you need to keep you settled and to reduce your fears.

And, finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help if public speaking truly terrifies you. Check in your local community for a branch of Toastmasters, so you can practice speaking in a safe environment and getting constructive feedback. Once you get comfortable and know your material cold, there’s no limit to where you can take it!

Are you confident in front of a crowd? What helps you the most? Any public speaking nightmares you’d like to share? (Don’t worry; we’re all friends here!)

-----

Laurie Boris is the author of The Joke's on Me, from 4RV Publishing. She also blogs about writing, books, and the language of popular culture at http://laurieboris.com.

Promotion: Review of The Joke's on Me -- The Midwest Book Review

posted by Vivian Zabel

          Appearing on "Katherine' Bookshelf" in The Midwest Book Review for September, The Joke's on Me! by Laurie Boris.

Review by Katherine Boyer:

The Joke's on Me
Laurie Boris
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond OK 73083
9780982642399 $18.99

Laurie Boris has written a comical book with her first novel, The Joke's on Me. Humor is entwined throughout this book about former actress/comic, Francine Goldberg, Frankie to family and friends, who returns home when she feels that she has been a failure.

"The cherry-red convertible and I bounced down the excuse for a road leading to my mother's bed and breakfast. This was not the most pleasant car trip I'd ever taken, and by the time I got to Woodstock, "bed" and "breakfast" were the only two things I wanted to see, besides a bathroom with a locking door. Unfortunately, when I pulled into the gravel parking lot, there was no room at the inn. The lot overflowed with old Volvos wearing rust spots and bumper stickers like "Free Tibet" and "My Other Car is a Broom".

The catalyst for her return to Woodstock was when the house she was living in rolled down into the Pacific Ocean with all of her worldly belongings, except the cherry red convertible given to her by her former boss. Then the actress she was working for decided to take a hiatus from her work as a famous, well-known actress and didn't need her help. And her mother had a stroke that brought on memory loss.

When she reached her childhood home, she found that her older sister, Jude, had put their mother in a nursing home and started running the family B & B as a holistic health retreat for 'over-the-hill' hippies. She also has ideas for the future of the B & B that will get them back in the black.

Frankie decides to stay and help her sister for the summer. She finds satisfaction in working to save the family business. You will be fascinated by the changes that Frankie undergoes as she sorts out her life.

Some old mysteries, that Frankie was not aware of, pop up as she reflects on her past life and her future. As you read through her memories and the amusing happenings of her former and new life, you will become fascinated with her and her family and friends.

Throughout the summer, Frankie struggles with her future. Should she stay in Woodstock and restore the business her parents had nurtured for so many years or should she head back to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood life? Her decision will be life-changing either way.

Laurie Boris is an award winning freelance writer with a background in advertising and marketing. She has written editorial copy, web articles, press releases, and other marketing materials. She is living in upstate New York working on her next novel.

Katherine Boyer
Reviewer

          The Joke's on Me! is on sale for the holidays: 4RV Bookstore.

4RV Publishing website