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, we give out blog over to a 25-word elevator pitch sent in by authors. Readers of our blog have the opportunity to vote for whether the 25-word blurb makes 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 Black Casket Legacy: Darkest Frost Author: B Hughes-Millman
Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy
___“Every small town has its secrets. In Eastbend, their secrets could kill them. Can five misfit kids save the town they’ve grown to despise?”
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 
I am cautiously curious, but for me, “secrets” and “save the town” are not enough to tell me what I’ll be getting into. Vampires? Aliens? Murder? A pitch might not be the place to reveal all, but I would have probably wanted to know whether I’d be reading a paranormal mystery, a superhero-style adventure, or….
I’m guessing by the title it’s a vampire story? I’m intrigued, but the second line of “their secrets could kill them,” I’m wondering who? That’s very vague. Whose secrets? The townspeople? The vampires? Who?
I think, accepting that short pitches can only fit so much info, I rather like this one. It’s enough to tempt me to want to know more, at least.
I liked the first and last lines. But the middle one – “their secrets could kill them” sounded weirdly melodramatic as well as cheap – I can’t say why, it just felt that way. I felt like you were trying too hard. I do love how it ended though.
Another good one, but I would probably remove the first line altogether and open/change ‘their secrets’ line to ‘In Eastbend, secrets can kill you.’