The pitch is the promise of your story, the core of your text. It’s the most concentrated form of your narrative. The publisher must be able to grasp your pitch immediately to spark their desire to learn more and read your first pages.
You only have a few seconds to convince. Every word counts. And it is at this stage that the structure and strength of a story emerge.
To emerge in a few words, to spark the desire to read
Publishing professionals will instantly detect a quality pitch, which also sends a strong and engaging signal about the author.
The pitch needs to be catchy, spark interest, arouse curiosity, and truly reflect the strength of what your manuscript offers.
A clear, effective, and engaging pitch is easy to remember and share. When well-crafted, it can generate word-of-mouth buzz.
A pitch should convince a publisher instantly, just as it will subsequently convince everyone else in the book industry: sales representatives, booksellers, and readers.
Faced with the thousands of pitches swirling around in the minds of everyone involved in the book industry, only the most effective stand out. If it takes four pages of explanation to convince someone, the battle is already faltering.
Your pitch also helps the publisher convince foreign publishers through agents, as well as producers for audiovisual adaptations, right from the start, even before your book is published in France. This is how bestsellers are born, like Julien Sandrel’s *The Room of Wonders* , which has been translated into more than 30 languages and for which some foreign rights were sold even before its French publication. The TV adaptation followed soon after. It’s the pitch that immediately convinced all the professionals and that works flawlessly with readers.
Three tips for pitching and effectively using 400 characters on Edith & Us
400 characters are all you need to convince and give good stories the best chance of being noticed. Here are three important rules to make the most of those 400 characters that can change a life and captivate thousands of readers.
– Use the full 400 characters: the more complete your pitch, the more information the recommendation algorithm will have to send it to the right publisher
– Do not repeat your manuscript title, keywords, or chosen categories in the presentation: publishers already have access to all this information. Focus on the substance of your story, its promise.
– Pay close attention to spelling and typography: we can’t stress this enough, an unproofread submission jeopardizes your chances of being read by publishers. A few words can reveal a lot about the story that follows.
Method and examples for building your pitch in 400 characters
Here’s a formula for creating your dramatic pitch in one or two sentences, ideally. Try using this formula to summarize your stories. It will force you to extract the essence of your narrative. Your promise will emerge from the vital elements of your text. This minimalist dramatic pitch will be less than 400 characters. You can then expand upon it, confident that you won’t forget anything important by following this approach.
Dramatic pitch formula
In such circumstances, following such a triggering incident, such character(s) fight(s) against such obstacles to achieve such an objective.
As an example, with The Room of Wonders , here’s how to transform a back cover blurb into a 400-character pitch to present your manuscript on Edith & Us .
Back cover
Louis is twelve years old. This morning, as he tries to tell his mother, Thelma, that he’s in love for the first time, he can see she’s thinking about something else, probably work again. So, angry and disappointed, he takes off on his skateboard and speeds across the street. A truck hits him head-on. The prognosis is grim.
In four weeks, if there’s no improvement, they’ll have to take Louis off life support. Returning home from the hospital, distraught, Thelma finds a notebook under her son’s mattress. Inside, he’s listed all the experiences he’d like to have someday: his “wonders” list. Thelma makes a decision: one by one, she’ll do these wonders for him. And tell him all about them. If Louis hears about her adventures, he’ll see how beautiful life is. Maybe it will help him come back. But it’s not so easy to live out a teenager’s dreams when you’re almost forty… »
Short pitch in 400 characters
“Twelve-year-old Louis leaves his house on a skateboard. A truck hits him. The prognosis is grim. In four weeks, at the hospital, his ventilator will be disconnected. Thelma, his mother, finds a notebook among Louis’s belongings. Inside, he has listed all the experiences he would like to have. Thelma will carry them out for him and tell him about them. If Louis hears, he might come out of his coma.”
Here’s another example of a pitch: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Short pitch in 400 characters
“On his eleventh birthday, Harry Potter, an orphan raised by an uncle and aunt who despise him, sees his life turned upside down. A giant comes to take him to Hogwarts, the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry where he has always been awaited. Flying on broomsticks, casting spells, fighting trolls: Harry Potter becomes a powerful wizard. Will he defeat the one who threatens the brotherhood?”
It’s often thought that an author’s success is a matter of luck, that signing with a major publisher only happens to others. In reality, it all happens to those who strive to create the right conditions for success. The pitch is the first key, and Édith & Nous is the perfect place to practice. Professionals share the word and come to draw from these sources of inspiration. Your pitch might be the next big thing. Be good; you’re already in the right place.