What's your pitch?

Also: I'm in the office RIGHT NOW

I took this terrible photo at my kids’ sports day last week, but it represents how I felt by the end of the day — blurry and confused. Five hours standing in the hot sun (with a brisk walk in the middle to go for some lunch) was not ideal. They had a great time, though, and I’m SO happy I was able to go for almost the whole thing.

Last week I really treasured having some down time for myself and for the kids, because this week…

Plotting: While this email comes to you…

I’m finishing up my first day in the office. NO of course I am not faffing about on Substack on my first day!!! Past me scheduled this in. Thanks, past me.

I originally planned to pause these emails for a few weeks while I bedding into the new job, but instead I decided to:

• Create a mini series (talking through the different questions I ask in a marketing plan, part 3 of which is below).

• Batch create that content so that these mini series bits are written in advance.

This leaves me the easy bit (Plotting, aka what I’ve been doing, aka this section here, and populating the ‘Currently I’m…’ section) to fill in each Friday.

Once that content all runs out, then I might need to take a break. Or maybe I’ll come up with another mini series and batch write that instead.

If you’re heading into a busy time where you’re juggling lots of things, is there anything you can do in advance to keep those balls in the air?

(Also: if you want to set any of those balls down, that’s fine, too. I just really love writing this newsletter, so if I can keep it going every week, that’s what I’ll be doing!)

Spotting: What’s the hook?

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve looked at two big foundations for your book marketing: setting clear, useful goals, and getting to know your ideal reader. This week I’m going to ask you to think about how you pitch your book.

Creating a sales pitch sounds a bit sleazy (you’re a writer, not a salesperson, I hear people argue already), but all this means is having an immediate answer to the question ‘what’s your book about'?’ without waffling on for ten minutes. It should be a few short sentences long and make people actually want to read it.

Going back to your ideal reader work, your pitch needs to match the person you think will love reading it.

For example, if you’ve written a historical romance, you could focus your pitch on the story of the relationship, you could focus on the historical setting and depth of research you undertook, or you could weave the two together. Each of those pitches will appeal to a different type of reader.

Who do you think will enjoy the book most? Who is most likely to give it a 5 star review and pass it on to their friends? Focus on that reader and direct your pitch to them.

Where will you use it?

The sales pitch will be useful for your website, when you put yourself forward for podcasts or media interviews, on sales pages like Amazon or Waterstones, or when pitching to influencers or event organisers.

It could also be used when you introduce the book for the first time to your social media and newsletter audience, and shared from time to time in the run-up to publication.

It should not be the only thing you say about your book. Next week I’ll come to talk a little bit about how you can expand the ways you talk about your book so that you are building trust, connection, engagement and more.

Need help with your pitch?

If you’re struggling, dive into your comp authors again. How are they positioning their books in the first line of their Amazon description? What are they saying about it on their cover taglines? What lines are they using in their subtitles? What are readers saying about it in their reviews? These spaces can all give you ideas for different ways people are describing those books.

James Spackman, who wrote a top tips post, linked below, has also written a book all about pitching. This was written for in-house publishing teams, but could also be incredibly useful for authors.

Paid subscribers — for Office Hours this week, why don’t you ping over your pitch in an email? I’ll get back to you by Friday with some ideas of how you could make it stronger (if needed!).

Related:

Currently I’m…

Reading: The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. Honestly everything Lucy Foley writes is pure joy for me. Thanks to the HarperFiction team for letting me swipe this copy when I was in the office recently.

I finished A Court of Frost and Starlight and I’m afraid I AM still hooked on this series and will be reading the next one.

Watching: Gossip Girl and Parenthood. These shows are many series long, so I may be here for some time.

Listening to: In The News This Week. From some of the creatives on the Have I Got News for You team (ie: not Ian or Paul). So funny, as you’d expect from the team behind HIGNIFY.

Eating: Cherry breakfast cake. I made this up, so can’t really share a recipe but it was delicious and I will attempt to remake it soon.

Enjoying: This desk fan. I usually cope with the heat pretty well, and apart from my bedroom (loft room, soap has literally melted in my bathroom in a heatwave), the rest of the house is reasonably cool. Not this year! I feel very overheated very quickly. I bought these for the kids and they are great so bought one for myself, too. I also got a neck fan for the tube, I’ll let you know how that one goes…

Also SUPER enjoying our local lido in this season. It’s unheated, so I’m not a year-round swimmer, but at this time of year, the water is just the right temperature and it’s an incredible way to start the day.

Next week, I’ll be talking about how to talk about your book beyond the sales pitch, so that your marketing isn’t just shouting ‘I WROTE A BOOK AND IT’S ABOUT THIS!’ over and over again.

How was your week? What’s a book, TV show or podcast you’ve been loving recently? What do you struggle with when it comes to coming up with your sales pitch? Answers in an email or in the comments!