Pitch

On December 7th, I get to attend a "pitch" event in Seattle. I was invited by Amazon to hear speakers, and then meet with a couple of editors to pitch my book.


I had to research what a "pitch" is. A pitch is a sales pitch for your creative work. There are some rules that I read up on, and one that came through loud and clear was that authors must have a single sentence synopsis that tells what the book is about. The key word, though, is "urgency." The pitch must create a sense of urgency in the plot. Apart from that, there are four things this pitch sentence must include:

1. the setting
2. the main character
3. the conflict
4. why this book is different from others (the hook?)

All in one sentence.

Here's what I've got so far:

• Seattle detective Holden Morris must protect a witness to a break-in at a computer research lab, a case which will pit him against government assassins, and lead him to question the nature of reality as a strange, experimental computer alters the physical universe.

I also broke the rules a little, and added a question at the beginning:

• Does saving one life matter when the world may be ending? Seattle detective Holden Morris must protect a lovely young witness to a crime, a crime she may be party to, and which will pit him against government assassins, and lead everyone to question the nature of reality as a strange, experimental computer alters the physical universe.

I'm not sure that this pitch event isn't just an Amazon pitch for their editing and promotional services. If so, I hope I get a good dinner out of it, because Seattle's a long drive. Still, it will be interesting to meet other independent authors, and to hear what editors have to say.

I am about 100 pages into the sequel!