Hello, dreamers. Well, I did it. This past Wednesday I sent out my first ten queries. I am officially a querying writer.

From here, the waiting begins. During my brief test round this past spring, most of the agents I’d queried quoted response times. This time around, most did not (several flat-out stated they just wouldn’t respond if they weren’t interested). Realistically I’d expect to wait at least a month before I hear anything. And as I’ve mentioned before, in the early stages of querying no news is good news. More than likely, it means at least most of the agents I’ve queried gave my materials a cursory glance and decided they’d at least hear me out.

However, now that I’ve established myself as a querying writer, I no longer have the luxury of just sitting idle and waiting. I need to keep raising my profile, keep my name on people’s lips. I need to look for ways to promote my work. I’ll be looking for more pitch events, maybe even a few contests. And I need to be looking for new ways to show off my novel: mood boards, agent guides. Beyond that, I’ll need to refine my “elevator pitch”. What’s that, you say?

The “Elevator Pitch”

In the modern literary market, it’s all about how quickly and clearly you can communicate the key points of your novel that make it stand out. One key tool for every modern writer is the elevator pitch. Named for the idea that it’s a summary of your novel that could be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator, the elevator pitch is (ideally) a single sentence conveying the key aspects of your book. Ideally, this includes the major characters (not necessarily by name), the basic premise, and the stakes.

That’s a lot to do in one sentence, and it can feel daunting. You thought a query letter, which only gives you around 350 words, was tough? Try doing it in ten words. Or less. But for the modern querying writer it’s crucial. As with a query letter, the key is to find a way to inject tension rather than simply summarize the plot.

For instance, consider this hypothetical elevator pitch for Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, first novel of the Expanse series:

A burnt-out police detective and a guy who works on an ice hauler find themselves following the same trail leading to an evil corporation doing experiments with an alien technology on humans.

So it gets the point across, sure. But it doesn’t really grab your attention, does it? Now, consider this one:

A detective obsessed with his last case, a space captain who lost everything, and the alien menace that threatens to destroy mankind.

Now that’s better. As one of my best writing friends would say, that snaps. It doesn’t divulge as much of the plot, but that’s not the point. The point is to grab someone’s (ideally an agent’s) attention. To make them want to ask more questions. To make them feel like they need to know more.

I like to think of the elevator pitch as the tagline of a movie: if your novel was adapted to film, what would be written at the bottom of the movie poster? It should tell the audience about the movie, sure. But it also needs to be buzzy. Remember the tagline of the movie Alien? “In space, no one can hear you scream…”

Every time I do query prep, I always miss something. And this time around, when several agents asked for a one-sentence pitch, I realized mine needs work. I sincerely doubt this round of queries will end with an offer of representation. I remain hopeful, obviously; I wouldn’t have done this if I’d been certain I’d fail. But I also know from watching other authors’ querying journeys that this does not happen overnight. And as I’ve said before, it’s good practice to refine your query after each round. Because if you fired off a bunch of queries and they didn’t work, obviously something is wrong.

So rest assured I’ll be putting in some time working on my elevator pitch in the coming weeks and months. Because in today’s publishing world, it’s not just about what you say; it’s about how well (and quickly) you can say it. – MK