The Elevator Pitch

I lump several things into the category of the elevator pitch.  For me, it covers back of book blurbs, ad copy, query letters and author bios.  I would rather spend my day plunging a toilet after a major flood than sit down and write them.

An author can’t avoid them though. They are part of the process, and probably what keeps a lot of great writers from taking that next step in the process, because while it doesn’t seem like they would be, they are the hardest things for us to write. 

I could write a dictionary sized book on the ins and out, why they are necessary, and how to write them.  The concept of them and the format is pretty much the same.  Sell this book or author in 500 words or less.  Include a hook, a brief explanation, and a call to action. 

  I’ve been doing this shit for a few years now, and until yesterday, I had never described the process in this way, but when I did, the idea for this blog post was born.  Essentially, an elevator pitch is just a fancy word for a flash fiction challenge, if you tilt your head, turn the page, and squint real hard.  Right? 

Right!  So, that is what this challenge is.  Write an elevator pitch.  It can be an author bio, a query letter, a book blurb, or ad copy.   Bonus points if you write one of each!  

There’s a catch.  I’ve found that I can read through and rewrite all of these things for someone else with ease. Describing someone else’s work is a breeze.  The struggle is doing them for myself or my own books.  So I don’t want you to pick someone else’s book.  I want you to write it for your own book. Even if you haven’t written one yet.  

Sell me the book you want to write. In 100 words minimum. 300 words maximum.  Include a hook (a single sentence that grabs attention) a brief explanation of what the story is about without giving away the ending, and a call to action that isn’t just “buy this book”.  

Here is mine from yesterday. 

“Neither of them saw that coming. It didn’t really matter in the end.”  

Sondra, a housekeeper with a knack for getting dirty works to keep the bills paid and her son alive after an accident.  Jonathan, a sharp-tongued business man, is her boss. She knows he has little regard for people’s feelings, and she deals most of the time, but this time he’s crossed the line to inhumane. 

Something inside her snaps and she is dead set on making sure he never talks to her, or anyone else, that way again.  When he calls her over to perform her special duty, she turns the tables on him and makes him pay for his words. Deliciously, with a twist that neither of them expected.

Washed Away is the first in the Dark Erotica stories by Lyn LaStorm.  Look for more titles in the Revenge Series coming soon!

I look forward to seeing your work so post them in the comments!  I’m not going to grade them or anything, and it’s an exercise in doing the task, so have fun with it.  

Go!!!