Transcripts
1. Introduction: [MUSIC] You've written a book, now it's time to get
your novel published. But first, you'll need to
write a killer pitch that will catch the eye of literary
agents and editors alike. Most literary agents receive thousands of manuscripts a year. In order to standout
from the crowd, you'll need a creative
elevator pitch and query letter to peak interest and
make your reader want more. My name is Crystal Cestari. Becoming a published author
was my lifelong dream. It took a lot of research and trial and error to figure
out how to get there. After lots of rejection and figuring out how to
fine-tune my pitch, I finally landed an agent and kickstarted the
career of my dreams. You can do the same thing too. This class will challenge you
to think like a marketer, to get your books sold. You'll learn how to; write a query letter
and an elevator pitch, sell your story using simple
book marketing techniques, and use tips on pitching to
literary agents and editors. This course is
suitable for yet to be published aspiring
writers who have finished their manuscripts
and are looking to get signed by an agent
and sell their story. I'll walk you through
the actual pitch I used to get signed, breaking down each
section for you to use as a template
for your story. Get started by downloading the book pitch
template included in the class resources
to get a head start on your query
letter draft. Selling your story
is the first step in becoming a
best-selling author. Get out of the
slush pile and get your novel published with this step-by-step
writing workshop. Are you ready to see your
book on the shelves? Let's get started. [MUSIC]
2. Thinking Like a Marketer: [MUSIC] One of the hardest parts of getting published is that
it requires writers to lean into a skill set that may
or may not come naturally, which is marketing
and self-promotion. After spending months
or years crafting compelling dialogue,
memorable characters, and engaging world-building, aspiring authors have
to suddenly switch gears and figure out how
to sell their work of art. If this makes you nervous,
you're not alone. It's a common struggle
for many creatives. In fact, it's something
that I still struggle with, and I've been doing
it for years. But if there's one
thing I've learned, it's that if you want
to take a Word doc on your computer and turn it
into a book on the shelf, you have got to
switch your focus. You're no longer the
person who wrote the book, you want to think
about the person who wants to buy the book. At its core, marketing is just a different kind
of storytelling, and all books lean on
marketing to draw in readers. Think about your
browsing patterns at the library or bookstore. What books do you
pick up and why? It likely has nothing to
do with the story itself, but the way the
book's been packaged. The marketing is what
initially pulls you in. A book's jacket is
responsible for this. Beyond the cover image, the book's tagline, synopsis, and excerpt, tempt the reader with a sneak peek
of what's inside. This copy quickly communicates
the basic premise, genre, and tone of the story. Hopefully, speaking to those who would enjoy the story most. Tempting readers
is what you need to do with your book pitch. Agents can receive
hundreds, if not thousands, of manuscript
submissions a month, and unfortunately, there's just not enough time for
them to read them all. Instead of reading
the entire story, an agent will read what's
called a query letter. A formal document that
quickly introduces your story and entices
agents to want more. If they like your pitch, they'll move on to
reading your story. But if they don't,
you'll get tossed aside. It sounds harsh, I know. But the good thing is, no one knows your
story like you, putting you in the
best possible position to write your pitch. It does require you to
look at your story from a practical unemotional
viewpoint so that you can nail down what
makes your story unique. Obviously, you love your story and think it's worthy
of publication. But you'll need more than your passion to get it
across the finish line. Becoming an author
is a career move, and you'll need to approach
the process accordingly. Looking for an agent is not
unlike looking for a job, in that you'll need
to put your best foot forward in order to get noticed, get chosen, and
get that contract. If all this sounds really
outside your comfort zone, don't worry, we're going
to break it all down.
3. Query Letter Overview: [MUSIC] If you've ever written
a cover letter for a job, a query letter
isn't too far off. It's all about hyping up the reader to get
to the next step, which in this case is falling
in love with your work. Query letters should be one page and contain four basic sections. An elevator pitch, a quick two sentence hook that
draws readers in, a story overview, a slightly broader
synopsis that builds upon your elevator pitch,
your background, a paragraph about
who you are and your experience and finally, your contact info, all the ways to get
in touch with you. Simple. We'll go
through the steps for each part of your pitch but here are some overall tips
to keep in mind. Remember that this is a professional document so you don't want to sound desperate
or get overly cocky, the point here is to celebrate your work to
the best of your ability. It's also important
to stick to one page. Remember that agents
don't have a lot of time, so sticking to the format
here is really important. The most important thing to remember is you should
only be pitching a manuscript when it is
completely finished. Submitting your book
before it's done can get you into a sticky situation, especially if you do get an agent's interests and they want to see
the whole thing. If you're not done yet, that's going to make them
feel like you've wasted their time so definitely only start this
process if you have a complete manuscript
that's ready to go. Following submission guidelines
proved that you've done the research and you are serious about getting
to the next step. The last thing you want is
for an agent to pass you up just because you
strayed outside the lines. It's time to get
started on your pitch. Download the query
letter template in the class resources
so you can take notes and start
drafting your pitch. I'll be walking you through
the query letter I used to land my agent
for my first book, which is called The Best
Kind of Magic published in 2017 by Disney Hyperion. [NOISE] Here's my letter. Don't worry about reading
the whole thing now, we'll be breaking
down each section. As you can see, it's
only one page long. I should also note that
when I was querying, my working title is Amber Sand, which happens to be the
main character's name. I'll be giving you
instructions for each section as I compare
it to my personal example. We're going to start with
the most important part of the entire process, which is your elevator pitch.
4. Elevator Pitch: [MUSIC] You know how movie trailers reel you in with two minutes of
action-packed excitement? Your elevator pitch needs
to do the same thing, except not in two minutes, but two sentences, at max. The term elevator pitch comes from a scenario
of being able to describe an idea in the time it takes to
ride an elevator. If you only had 60 seconds
of someone's time, would you be able to sell
them on your concept? An elevator pitch is a short, intriguing overview of your story's most
distinctive elements. This hook explains
what your book's about without giving
too much away, grabbing the reader's
attention and leaving them wanting
more. No pressure. Studies show you only have 8-12 seconds to grab
someone's attention. With so much media
filling our lives, we now have an
attention span that is shorter than a goldfish is. Imagine if you were
trying to tell a friend the plot of the first Harry
Potter book like this. Well, it's a story of a boy whose parents
die when he's young, and he has to live
with his relatives who don't like him very much. One day he discovers
he's a wizard, and then he goes to a
special wizarding school. Once he's there, he finds out, hey, are you still listening? You've lost me. Instead, you could sum it up much
quicker with something like, an orphan boy who discovered
he's the chosen one in a world where magic
is real and evil awaits. Much quicker. For
your elevator pitch, you need to break down
your story to its core, focusing on your main character, their biggest conflict,
and your unique worldview. It's time to get laser-focused
on what makes your story different than any other and
why someone should care. Let's start with
your main character. Now, when someone reads your entire
manuscript, obviously, they'll get to know
a well-rounded, multifaceted
character who goes on an interesting journey
of growth and discovery. We don't have time to
convey all that just yet. Instead, let's pull out a defining trait or issue
that defines them early on. Ask yourself, what makes
your main character special? What is their biggest conflict? What is one thing that separates
them from their peers? Focusing on the uniqueness
of your character is one approach for
an elevator pitch. It's what I did when I was
writing my query letter. My book was about a
magical matchmaker who was an outcast from
her family of witches. Here's my elevator pitch. Amber Sand is not a witch. As a matchmaker, the Sand-family magic somehow
leapfrogged over her, but she did get one highly
specific magical talent : she can see true love. If your protagonist
is dealing with something that is truly
outside the norm, highlighting that struggle is a great approach for
your elevator pitch. Now, maybe what's
most special about your book isn't necessarily
the lead character, but the main problem faced by a group or society as a whole. Ask yourself, what's
going on in this world? What are the
significant obstacles? Why is life about to change
for this cast of characters? Plot focus pitches are another great way to
reel in a reader. Some examples of this could be, what if AI in your phone
started talking back to you? Or what if you got a second chance with your
childhood sweetheart? No matter which
approach you choose, an elevator pitch
should create intrigue, introduce drama, hint
at your story themes, but still keep it short. One to two sentences
is the maximum here. You don't want to
give it all away. Remember, you want your reader to keep on
going with the letter. You notice that with
my query letter, I start off right away
without any flowery language. There's no time for
pleasantries here. We got to hook them
before we lose them. You don't need to
start off with, once upon a time, or this story is about, no. Cut to the chase, jump right in to the good stuff. Now, maybe you're thinking there is just too much to my story. I can't possibly
narrow it down to one or two sentences.
Don't worry. The next section of the
query letter gives you more opportunity to build
upon your story details. The thing is though, your reader won't get there if they don't
like your hook, so you need to focus
on this section first. Pause this video and
take a few minutes to brainstorm some ideas
for your elevator pitch. Jot down any adjectives
or phrases that immediately come
to mind about what makes your story special. Once you have your
elevator pitch started, we're going to move on to
the next section where we talk about building
out your synopsis.
5. Synopsis: [MUSIC] This next section is going to be the
bulk of your pitch, building upon your
hook while folding in some important
industry details. Here's what you'll
need to clearly state in your synopsis. Your title. Don't worry, working titles are okay. Your total word count. Make sure you're within
the given range for your genre, for example, if you're writing a
high fantasy novel, those books usually clock in the hundreds of
thousands of words. So if you only have 50,000, you may want to add
on a little bit more before you
start submitting. You want to make note of
your genre and noting any sub-genres as necessary, for example, paranormal romance would
be a sub-genre of romance. You want to note some
comparable titles, which are also known as comps, which we'll go into in a second. Plus three to four
sentences that elaborate on your hook.
Let's get into it. Adding your title, word count, and genre, that's
pretty straightforward. But what about comps?
What's that all about? Comps illustrate where your book would ultimately be shelved. They are titles that are
close enough to yours, to help somebody understand who the ideal reader
of your book would be. Comps are like the bottom of any web page when you
are shopping online. If you liked this book, you might also like this one. Comps should be relatively
recent releases to show that your book is
marketable to today's audiences. Try to stick within the last
three years, if possible. It's important to have at
least one comp in your pitch. But two is ideal. Comps can be popular
books in your genre, or authors who write
in a similar style, or even TVs, movies, or podcasts within your genre. How do you find comps? Start by going to your
favorite bookstore or library and browsing
through your genre. Ask a bookseller
or librarian for their recommendations based
on your book's themes. Talk to fellow writers, or if you sent your
manuscript to beta readers, ask them for their ideas. You can also scan
bestseller lists, but don't ever list a comp for a title you haven't
personally read. Just because it's
a popular title doesn't mean it's a match for you and you may be setting
yourself up for failure. There are many ways
to slide comps into your synopsis section, such as, my title will appeal to readers of this book and this book, or in the tradition
of this popular book, my book is about blah blah blah. When including comps,
be sure not to disrespect the other titles
you're referring to. While you want to make yours
book seem extra special, sliding other people's work in the meantime is not
going to get you far. Saying things like, while similar to Harry Potter, my book is on a whole
different level, is going to turn
people off right away. You want to set your book apart without stepping on
other people's work. Now that we've nailed down
those unnecessary details, it's time to showcase more enticing elements
about your book. The rest of your synopsis
should highlight anything else an agent would need to know when considering
your title. In 3-4 supporting sentences, you can describe
your book setting, themes, tone, conflicts, supporting cast, subplots, unique worldview
or anything else, then encapsulates
what a reader would experience when
picking up your book. Let's take a look
at my synopsis. I'll highlight all the
different sections for you. Amber Sand is a 65,000-word
young adult novel set in an urban Chicago where
witches are more interested in making
sales and spells. Part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, part Veronica Mars, this lighthearted contemporary
fantasy will appeal to readers who long for magic in the real world
and want a strong, self-assured female protagonist
who believes in love, but is more sass
than saccharine. With a 99.99 percent
success rate, the other 0.1 percent
just wouldn't listen. Amber is confident she's seen every kind of happy
ending there is. But when an unexpected
matchmaking session proves to be outside
her expertise, she discovers how a
love story begins. It's time to start
working on your synopsis. Start by writing
down the easy stuff, like your title, your
genre, your word count, and then start brainstorming some ideas for some comps and the other exciting details
that you'll want to include. The second half of your
pitch will be way more straightforward and will
require way less effort. I promise. Let's start talking about your
writing background.
6. Your Writing Background: [MUSIC] We've spent
the first half of this pitch focusing
solely on your book but this section
is all about you. It's time to talk about your
writing experience and why you are the best person
to write this story. Here's some things
you can include in your writing background. Any professional
writing experience, education or training, any special awards you've
won for your writing , and any blogs, social media or
podcasts about writing books or your books
subject that apply. This section should be
about 2-3 sentences long. This section is like a
mini cover letter for you to focus on any
accomplishments that you have. Do you have an MFA? Let's shout it out. Do you have a popular
social media following? Let's note that here. Anything that is relevant
to your writing or the subject of your book
is important to note here. But what if you don't have
any writing credentials? That's okay. I personally had nothing to my name when
I started submitting. Instead of focusing on
my writing background I talked about my inspiration for the book and why I wrote it. If you don't have any
notable writing experience give more insight as to
who you are as a person. You can talk about your
storytelling influences or inspiration or any personal connections to your story's material or just in general why
you wrote this book. Let's have that
passion show through. Here's what I wrote about
myself for my query letter. My all-time favorite
authors, Roald Dahl, his masterful way of
weaving magic into seemingly everyday
circumstances has had a lasting effect on the kind of stories I love to
read and write. Amber is not a
stereotypical matchmaker, though her world is certainly filled with mystical elements, she's also dealing
with the realities of high-school and
personal acceptance. Yet no matter what, she believes love is a strength that
should be celebrated. An impassioned but
not desperate account of why you wrote the book is a great way to
help agents get to know who you are and
what you're all about. Take a minute or two
to write down some of your writing credentials
or personal motivations. Next we're going to
wrap this whole thing up with your contact info.
7. Your Contact Info: [MUSIC] This section is by
far the easiest because all you need to do is list your contact info
and what else you've included in addition to your query letter based on the agent's submission
guidelines. This final section
of your pitch will include your contact info, writing sample details, and a note of gratitude
and a sign off. When you send a query letter, you may or may not also be including a sample
of your story. Every agent has different
guidelines for querying, which will be clearly stated
on their agency's website. They may ask to see only your query letter or a query letter plus
a writing sample, which may be a set number of pages or a set
number of chapters or they may want to
see your query letter and the entire manuscript
at the same time. In each case, the query letters still reign supreme
as they will read that document first
and only move on to samples if they
like what they see. It's very important to follow
an agent's guidelines. You don't want to submit more or less than they asked for. Remember, you don't want
to get passed up by someone just because you didn't follow their
instructions. Agents will reach out to you if they are interested
in reading more. This is why it's
crucial for you to have a complete manuscripts
before you start querying. If someone inquires
about your book, but you only have the
first few chapters done, they are not going to wait for you no matter how great
that sample maybe. As a yet to be published author, you need to go the extra mile in proving you can get a
story to the finish line. My sendoff is simple. Amber Sand is the first work for which I am seeking
representation. Below are the first
three chapters. Upon request I'm prepared to send the complete manuscript. Thank you for taking the
time to consider my work. I look forward to
hearing from you. Your send-off should be
concise and professional, letting them know that
you appreciate their time while you are respecting
their instructions. I'm confident you can handle
this section on your own. Let's go ahead and wrap this
up with some querying tips.
8. Querying Tips: [MUSIC] You got
your query letter. You are all set to pitch, so how do you set yourself up for success
during this process? Here are some tips I used
while I was querying. When you're looking
for an agent, it's important to find people
who represent your genre. If you write thrillers, don't submit to someone who
primarily reps romance. Agents will list their
preferred genres and age groups on their site. But how do you even find
agents in the first place? Most authors, myself included, will thank their agents in the acknowledgment
section of their books. Skim through some titles
you enjoy in your genre. You can also use online agent databases
to narrow down by genre, age group, and whether or not they are accepting submissions. I use a site called
QueryTracker. There are also books such
as writers market that lists out agents and
literary opportunities. We touched on this before, but following submission
guidelines is crucial. Read through agent guidelines
to see what they want, including whether or not they are currently accepting queries. Many agencies have a no from
one is a no from all policy. Pick the agent with the strongest connections
to your genre. Also, getting a response from an agent may take
weeks or months, but don't reach out asking why they haven't gotten
back to you yet. Remember they are getting
countless submissions a day so respect the process
and wait your turn. When you do get a response, make sure you vibe
with this person. Your agent is your partner so you need to feel comfortable asking questions and talking openly about your career goals. An agent should offer constructive feedback
but anyone who tries to dramatically change
your story from its original vision
is not a good match. Also, reputable agents will never ever ask for
money upfront. They only get paid when you do, so don't get pulled into a scam. Most importantly,
don't forget to believe in yourself
during this process. There's no way around it. Querying is grueling. You will get more
nos than yeses. For me, the process
to query the book took just as long as writing it. I got 39 rejections
before number 40, my agent said yes. Remember, it only takes one. If you're struggling with
staying in a positive mindset, I invite you to check out
my class and how to find your creative mantra
so you can stay strong and optimistic on
your way to publication. You've taken an
important first step on your road to
publication today. Once you've nailed down
a solid elevator pitch, I'd love for you to share it in the class projects section to inspire others and spread
the word about your story. I'm also happy to answer any questions you may
have and give feedback. Shoot me a message through Skillshare or through
any of these methods. Good luck future author, I can't wait to see your
book up on the shelf.