Pitching for Pitching’s Sake:
- lolik1234
- May 19
- 4 min read
Writing a 30 second pitch between waffle lights
As a homeschooling family, our schedule varies. Some days are slow and relaxed. Those days I get a lot of writing down in between homeschooling, chores, and keeping up with the endless to-do list. Days like today when we have to be out of the house early and won’t come back until late afternoon, my writing time is condensed. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even worth it to start, but like the workout I’ve been putting off– I know after I do it, I’ll be happy I did. So today I will write however and wherever I can.
Because I have to wake the kids up early, I’ve decided to make waffles, their favorite, to soften the blow. During the first round of waiting for the waffle light to turn green, I folded one pile of laundry, made blueberry sauce, and fed the cats. Now standing in the kitchen with my computer on the counter, I am typing this blog while I wait for the next batch of waffles to cook. My goal is to work on my 30-second pitch for The Writer’s Bridge Live Only Pitch Platform with Literary Agent, Jessica Berg and Allison K. Williams.
What is a thirty second pitch you ask? It is condensing the essence of your book, and its major plot line. Most articles talking about pitch say the ideal word count is under 50 words. The less, the better.
Why is a pitch/logline important? I love my story. I’ve dreamed my story, I’ve imagined a movie or tv show being made about my story. Suffice it to say, I know my story in and out. Yet, when someone asks, ‘What’s your novel about?’ I mumble, “It’s set a thousand years in the future where a weather predictor lives underground in a peaceful community that has evolved past today’s current social issues. A close-call with a lightning strike causes her to freeze and puts her and her co-worker’s life in danger. Then…”
I won’t torture you any more. My above response is why a pitch is important. It concisely sums up a novel while grabbing a reader’s interest. I spent many, many months working on mine, even attending online sessions like the free logline workshop with Ready Chapter One, which got me closer to a good pitch.
Then, I volunteered at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference (I strongly recommend anyone interested in writing to attend either as a volunteer or as an attendee.) At the conference I had the pleasure of volunteering for Joey Garcia’s masterclass, Presence + Pitch + Platform: Develop Your Personalized Path to a Writing Career. She was kind enough to help me refine my pitch. Instead of weather predictor, she suggested using storm tracker, because it sounded more exciting. Now I’m wondering if I should change my character’s job title throughout the book from weather predictor to storm tracker, but back to the pitch; I had it! → After a close call with a lightning strike a storm tracker spirals into nightmares and family secrets.
I came home, inserted the sentence into my website, then promptly forgot about it for months as life took over. Well, this morning I realized, like the now-red waffle light, the pitch was on but it wasn’t ready.
The above is a 5-second pitch which means I need to expand, but first I pour my final round of almond flour batter into the waffle maker. Then, I grab a crispy, hot waffle, and smear a thin layer of honey on it. A small scoop of cream cheese, a handful of blueberries, and a steaming cup of peppermint tea, and my breakfast is complete. I move my workspace to the dining table.
My character believes the severe anxiety she suffered from as a child, combined with her infatuation with a 1,000-year-old mystery involving an ancestor is the source of her nightmares. This is the main plot that drives the first half of the book. The plot that pushes her to evolve. But how to condense it with clarity that matches the 5-second pitch?
→ After a close call with a lightning strike, a storm tracker spirals into nightmares, family secrets, and a thousand-year-old mystery leading her to an impossible choice: learn the truth about her past, or save her mother.
I like this, but I don’t like how the mother is introduced out of nowhere and a bit like an afterthought. Plus this specific session is asking for a 30 second pitch, and the above is only 12-seconds. This gives me space to add more.
→ After a close call with a lightning strike, a storm tracker spirals into nightmares, family secrets, and a thousand-year-old mystery. As she closes in on the truth behind her nightmares, her mother goes missing, leaving her with an impossible choice: learn the truth about her past, or save her mother.
At 50 words, the above hits the max of the recommended word count. It only takes 15-seconds which is under The Writer’s Bridge 30-second guideline. So I added one more line.
→…With Twister-style tension, After End is Silo meets the hopeful tone of Becky Chambers.
This gets me to 25-seconds, and 68 words. Does it talk about the dislike to love romance, the LGBTQIA+ themes, or her anxiety? No. And it definitely doesn’t introduce the major reveal at the end of the book that the main character never sees coming… And that’s okay. It is to be expected. The purpose of the pitch is to elicit excitement, and to get the reader, the agent, the publisher to want to know more.
My breakfast is finished. I need to get dressed, brush my teeth and wake up the kids. Did I succeed in writing a pitch? Yes. Is it good? To be honest, I have no idea if this pitch would grab an agent’s attention, but that’s why I do the free workshops, to practice, and improve. I am pitching for pitching’s sake.
Update: I was unable to share my pitch live as I had to leave to take my kids to another class, but I did paste the logline into the chat. Allison said it was a good pitch. (Yay!) She also asked, what did my character want? I am done with pitch writing for now, but how to add what my character wants is food for thought for tomorrow.
In case you are interested:
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