Pitch perfect, the way to woo a traditional publisher’s heart …

Quite often I’m asked by writers tempted by self-publishing, how to get their work in front of traditional publishers. Those people who are not there to massage your vanity but to get down to the hard-nose business of literature. Here are a couple of tips from my own experience…

Writing has been very good to me …

But then I have been good to it, working hard to grow as one of its motley crew and learn something new every day, a way to manipulate language for instance.

But mainly how to make my writing disappear from the reader’s mind, so there is only the story itself left.

Moving on though, a good half of my career has been as an Editor, sub-editor, rewrite sub (I was one of few trusted to rewrite Chapman Pincher, for instance).

I am now very good at what I do and I’m not looking for work. (I will, though, work with somebody who I believe has talent and can go places).

Today I’ve been asked how to present work to a traditional publisher, a true venue where you will be rewarded for your talent and helped to realise your dream.

The first step on the road to a publisher’s heart is of course a query letter. Treat it as your first publicity event!

As an Editor I have received many query letters – and some ‘queerer’ than others!

And let me say, most Editors won’t countenance a strange query letter, basically because we’re a busy breed.

The next publicity ‘stunt’ is the pitch!

My own book, The Boy in The Ravine, which I am about to launch at traditional publishers, is about 175,000 words and my pitch is waiting for a short promo film to be completed.

Then, I hope it will explode over the world!

The touch paper is its dedicated pitch focused on an identified marketplace and a target reader. And it’s backed up with a review of the success of similar products, an edifying covering letter, log lines, ad lines, plot line, a reader base in excess of 100,000, publicity opportunities through my shows on TV and radio, Roku and Netflix.

I have a 200 word query mail, a short sharp 300 word description of the book, 50 pages from the book, including the first two chapters.

And a follow-up project.

The reason is I want a good contract with good film rights and a good advance.

And that’s the only way to do it!

And one more point while talking about strange pitches and query letters … amateur self-published writers often try to excuse their dalliances with over writing and over describing by calling it experimental writing. And, don’t get me wrong, experimental is good.

But there is an old adage – ‘to live outside the law you must be honest’.

In writing it reads ‘to live outside the rules you must be brilliant’.

Writers need to discover the laws before they can complete the task they were put on this earth to carry out.

OR you need a good editor who understands what you are trying to do and will work hard to make it happen.

#writing #editing #self-publishing #vanitypublishing #realwriting #author