People love to hear a good story or a good joke. Whenever someone says to my brother-in-law, “I’m going to tell you a joke,” he starts laughing. He’s already primed for the punch line because, as they say, “we are wired for story.”
Once upon a time (now I’ve got you!) my husband and I put our home on the market in Arizona. My husband took lots of photos of both the interior and exterior of the house as well as outdoor pictures of the property. And then we selected a photo of the front of the house, as most homeowners do, and posted it as the main picture for our property on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).
Some months went by with no sale and very few showings. Our house was lovely but nothing special to look at from the front, just one more burnt-adobe ranch with no outstanding architectural features, a typical southwestern home. And though I loved our house, whenever I looked at that picture, I thought that if I were a potential buyer scrolling through photos of homes for sale, I’d see this one and say, “Next!”
That picture told no story, and looking at it was like looking at a brick wall. It did nothing to invite you inside or show you the views or encourage you to come relax here for a while. But there was one photo of our in-ground spa with sparkling blue water surrounded by lush green grass, nestled under the gently waving fronds of a palm tree, that did exactly that. We switched the photos, and three weeks later we had two offers, one of which we accepted.
This article is not about how to sell a house, but it is about the importance of story. When you pitch your novel, you don’t need to talk about the structure or all the elements of the plot; you don’t even need to mention all the major characters. You just need to put forth something, preferably in one hundred words or less, that will interest agents, editors, and publishers in the story and entice them to ask to see more.
When it comes to writing fiction pitches, I abide by the law and “tell the truth and nothing but the truth,” but I do not always tell “the whole truth.” Yes, of course, you should include the category, title, setting, main character, antagonist, main conflict, resolution, and theme, but unless you write with passion and wit, these elements may not be enough. Sometimes less really is more and it’s better to leave out some of these “mandatory” elements in order to convey the overall sense of the story—the magic and mystery and romance of it all.
Take, for example, this sample pitch I wrote for John le Carré’s novel, The Mission Song:
Call me Salvo. Born of an Irish father and Congolese mother, my heart belongs to Britain but my soul to the Congo. It is, then, with great hope that I, London-based interpreter of African languages, accept HMG’s challenge to join a secret mission to broker peace in my native land in spy novel THE MISSION SONG. But puffed-up pride and youthful zeal ill prepare me for the treachery I discover among my employers. My honor has been assaulted; my integrity, threatened; my trust, violated. I am half white. I am half black. I’m a zebra with hyenas at my heels.
This 100-word pitch does not contain all the recommended elements for a novel pitch, but it should evoke emotion in its readers, causing them to feel concern for Salvo, who is evidently in danger, and therefore prompt them to want to find out how this story ends. The purpose of the pitch is to get the reader to “buy into” the story and to want to see more.
Yes, be concise in your pitch, but remember to be passionate as well. Let your one hundred words reflect the humor, the pathos, the love in your story. Don’t let your pitch be merely a boring recitation of the facts of your plot. Make it inviting for your readers so they’ll want to come in, sit by the fire — or swing in the hammock — and read for a while.
PHOTO NOTE: I could not find the exact photo to which I refer in this article, but the one shown above is of the same area of our once-upon-a-time backyard and, I think, conveys the same idea.