How to Pitch Your Book
Whatever your publishing plans, at some point in your writing career you’ll need to write some kind of pitch for your book. That might be in a letter to a literary agent you’re querying, back-cover copy or an online description if you’re self-publishing (also called a blurb or jacket copy) – or even if you’re traditionally published, your publisher might ask you to write something they can use internally or for marketing copy.
Your book pitch is one of the most important elements of your novel. If you’re self-publishing, your back-cover copy/book description can make the difference between readers buying your book – and not buying it. When I worked as a publisher, I would often change the online description of books which weren’t performed as I wanted them to – and the uplift in sales and chart position from that one change could be dramatic.
If you’re querying literary agents, your pitch needs to make your book stand out in agents’ crowded inboxes. A good pitch might mean an agent pulls your manuscript out to read first – or it might push them to consider your book more favourably if you can show from this early stage that the book has a strong pitch. Whilst the quality of the manuscript will always be the most important thing, having a clear and compelling pitch shows agents that your novel is saleable – and if they took you on, they would have to sell your book to publishers (and the publishers then to readers).
I have spent many hours crafting pitches for books, and I have many hints and tips to help you! From how to structure it, how many characters to include, and how to start and finish, my How to Write a Book Pitch guide will give you all the info you need to write a really strong pitch, and give your book the very best chance of success.
And the best news? It’s free! Just sign-up to my Substack, and I’ll send the link right over. As a bonus, you’ll get my weekly posts of writing and editing tips sent direct to you – and you can ask me any questions about book pitches or anything else writing-related in the comments section.
Happy writing!
