There's a great blog post about pitching. But in light of recent blog posts, I must say that this real-life occurrence sums it up quite nicely.
He also runs an "independent satirical web site dedicated to fighting THE ONION's unethical monopoly on reporting the fake news" called THE GARLIC PRESS.
So yesterday....literally two minutes after I post my blog on what I'd like to see in the slush pile, I see a Google IM pop up. This is copied/pasted from the convo:
Brooks: "I have a cyberpunk thriller romance that is set in an anachronistic technologically advanced 1950s NYC, entitled ROBOTO & JULIET. It's a strong first-person narration by Roboto, a 17-year-old cyborg."
Me: **dies laughing at my desk. scrambles for the keyboard.** "DONE! SEND IT!"
Brooks: "In the end, the apocalypse happens. I have one sentence. Would you like to see it?"
Me: **now thinks I should probably stop trying to drink orange juice for fear of dying by choking on liquid** "NOW"
Brooks: "Kathleen was the bossest Betty around. Even for a fullskin. All the other borgboys agreed. But, since she wasn't interested, I set my cybernetic eyes on Juliet instead."
Me: **officially can't breathe...add on to the fact that I can't breath out of my nose because I'm sick and alas...my clients are now agentless because my dead body is just lying there next to my desk.**
Brooks: "I want six figures for this, with a promise to publish my second book, a collection of erotic poems for toddlers."
For the record...I'm holding him to this concept....I want this book. Like...NOW.
**presses the inbox refresh button repeatedly**
This is also, by far, one of the BEST examples of a pitch I've EVER seen!
Short. To the point. I know what the story is about. Only thing missing is a word count (and the fact that the manuscript isn't complete).
Seriously, though, this is exactly what a pitch should be like when you pitch to an agent at a conference. It's NOT a query. Bravo, Brooks. BRAVO!
(Michelle Hodkin also blogged about this.)
~KO
Wow. I would buy that book. Make him write it. Offer him cookies or something. :)
I can see why that works as a pitch. It helps a lot!
lol! Want, want, want! (the novel *and* his pitching skills)
Well, screw the ms. Who is this guy? Is he available to follow me around entertaining me?
Dear god what hath I wrought?
It's infinitely easier to write a pitch/query before the book is written, or early in the process, than to wait and do it after.
In the early stages, you have the bright, shiny idea that made you want to write the book in the first place. All of the characterization and sub-plots aren't there to make you think an agent needs to know about them. There aren't any details to bog you down.
Any time you get a shiny idea, write it down as it appears before you've fleshed it out. With a bit of tweaking to make it coherent to people who don't live in your head, you've likely got your pitch.
What's in the water over at Fine Print?
Oh wait, no need to answer that...
LOL, that is a hilarious and catchy pitch. But I'm not sure it would work for agents who don't have your taste and sense of humor ;)