JULY Challenge – Elevator pitches

So… I’m doing something different this month. I’m going to try and write a total of 15 elevator pitches… for books I’ve not yet written.

I will do my best to make sure they are no more than 3 sentences each. I am aiming for one or two sentences! I’ll even time myself to make sure each takes less than 30 seconds to present. I will write pitches for several different genres, maybe. OR I might stick with picture books. I won’t know until I’m writing them!

I need to brainstorm and I think writing pitches is a good exercise to get the creative juices flowing.

Yeah, yeah. It’s crazy… but it just might be crazy enough to get me started with several new ideas. Fifteen pitches… that’s one every other day.

I’ve already written a couple of drafts for my first one. Remember, the idea is not yet polished, but writing these are helping me brainstorm, thus the variation in the pitches…

Plato, Ignacious and Graham don’t like BBQ – and they especially don’t like it when they are the main ingredient. 

The three little pigs aren’t so little anymore and their keen negotiating skills have helped them build a tofu-taco empire. But when their arch-enemy returns to town with plans for a chain of new BBQ restaurants and vies for the “business of the year” award, the pigs must fight, yet again, to save what is rightfully theirs…including their hides.

OR

In my picture book, BACON, the three little pigs, Plato, Ignacious and Graham, aren’t so little anymore and have used their savvy negotiating skills to build a vegan-pizza empire, but when the wolf’s daughter returns to town with revengeful and devious plans for a chain of  breakfast restaurants and challenges the three brothers for the “business of the year” award, the pigs must fight, yet again, for what is rightfully theirs… including their hides.

 I won’t bore you with any of my other pitches, but I would love to have some of you join me in the challenge! If you’d like to join in the challenge, just comment below and let me know you are in.

And if you want some good examples AND a helpful, handy guide on writing pitches, check these links out: http://www.writersconferenceguidelines.com/getting-your-pitch-right.html  and http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2009/01/elevator-pitch.html

If I get at least 20 participants, I’ll put your name in the hat for a prize of some sort. But I HAVE to have 20 participants. So spread the word! And I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but it very possibly might be a digital copy of the Emotion Thesaurus! I can give it as a gift through online retailers…and believe me… it is a fabulous resource! You can find out more about the Emotion Thesaurus here: http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/p/emotion-thesaurus.html

So if I get 20 participants by July 15th, I’ll post the rules for winning the Emotion Thesaurus. But if I don’t get 20, then the prize is off the table.  At least we are all getting some good practice writing pitches!

And don’t worry if every pitch isn’t fit for the Major Leagues, my buddy Laura Renegar & I will be doing some back-to-school pitch makeovers in September. More details as they come available!

So… who’s with me??