When Madison Woods asked us if we’d be interested in taking over her hands-down-one-of-the-best-ways-to-get-real-reader-feedback series, “Vote for it”. Of course we said “Yes!”
Every week, Madison gave her blog over to a 25-word elevator pitch sent in by an author. Readers of her blog had the opportunity to vote for whether the 25-word blurb made them curious or not about the book. Would they buy it?
“Authors, what we’re measuring is reader interpretation. What does someone think of your book when they read your short blurb? Does it make them want to buy it or at least read further? Editors and publishers may look at these blurbs differently, but ultimately, they’re readers too.” (Madison Woods)
So what happens now? Read the pitch/blurb below and then vote if you think you’d be interested enough buy the book. Though the voting is anonymous, leave a comment and help the author get a sense of what’s working and what isn’t!
Reminder: Please only vote if you can be objective about the quality of the blurb. Don’t vote ‘No’ because you don’t read or if you’re flat-out not a fan of the genre or type of book.
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Title: The Bad Project Author: Laura Hoopes
Genre: Coming-of-age general fiction
___“Aspiring writer Michelle Wu’s project to be bad starts working, with her college roommate’s help. Then she tries the “sex bad” and finds big trouble.”
Share your thoughts, canaries! Would you buy it?
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If you too want to put your 25-word elevator pitch to the test, send us your blurb (of 25 words of less) to canarypost@gmail.com with the subject line: “25 word pitch.” But be warned, 25 word summaries are tricky little blighters! And surprisingly hard to write.
And keep an eye out for more pitch peckings, to be posted on Thursdays!
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Some more links of interest:
- Madison Wood’s Original “Would you buy it?” series
- Canary Pitch Slaps – for step by step breakdown of pitches
- Fantasy author’s David B. Coe thoughts on writing the elevator pitch
The Book Canaries 
One of the first things to put me off a story is the main protag being a writer … I don’t know, there’s just something about a writer writing about a writer that doesn’t grab me … On the other hand, I’m a little curious about this “being bad” thing. It suggests a fun read full of mischief. I’d need to read a fuller blurb to make the decision to part with cash, though.
I thought the wording was confusing – “she tries the “sex bad” went right over my head. Maybe it’s just me. I did like the being bad thing, so that part seems to be a keeper. Also big trouble was good, although I did conjure up thoughts of Little China…can’t help it. I love that movie. That’s probably just me as well, feel free to ignore.
I also like the idea of learning to be bad, but I think there needs to be something different to hook me into wanting to know more. How does she plan to learn? And maybe a little more about what the ‘sex bad’ means… could be experimentation with things like bondage, orgies? No telling but that could be a definite way to pique interest if a little more detail was given.
I’m confused about “project to be bad.” I don’t know what that is/means. Is it the name of a project or is it a goal? What is “being bad?” for her?
Oops. I put an extra “?” in my comment above. Sorry! 🙂
To me, “sex bad” sounds immature. I didn’t get what other people got, that perhaps she was trying orgies or BDSM, just sex in general. The “sex bad,” “big problems” and “project to be bad” all suggested a very young voice, and maybe an overly simplistic tone. I was thrown to hear she was in college– I would have suspected middle grade. So, my suggestions would be: make the language more advanced and give us more detail!
This was confusing for me. It started out with “Aspiring writer” so at first I thought the “project to be bad” was a book she was working on. I had to read it a few times. I think she’s trying to be bad? And the “sex bad” confused me too. What is “sex bad?”
I just assumed “sex bad” meant going out for one-nighters, rather than being a good little only-with-a-steady-boyfriend girl … Yes, perhaps there is room for more specifics. Everyone interprets these things differently! Hard to do in so few words, though.
The comments above echo my thoughts on the matter. But, with the canaries’ help, it will soon hook us. The book seems to have potential because most of the gals seem to like a bad boy and the guys love a bad girl. The story line reminds me of the writer who went to work in a strip club after college to gain worldly experience and broaden her perspective as a writer. All that to tell the writer not to take these comments in the wrong way and to encourage her to put the effort into her project to make it grab the reader by the proverbial throat and take her or him on a thrilling ride.
The sentences weren’t clear enough. I couldn’t understand what the author was trying to convey. If I don’t understand a sentence of the pitch I wonder if I’ll understand what I’m reading in the novel. The novel’s name is more intriguing than the elevator pitch. Find a way to make it clear & concise.