Chirp! We are going to start the new year off with some brand new pitch slapping and fit tossing. In our Pitch Slapped series, we take a book blurb or a book pitch, and then proceed to pull it apart and stick it back together – all the while answering those pesky questions like: What works? What doesn’t work? What could be done differently? Why?
Here are a few of my favorite from last year:
- Selling the Story without the Blurb
- Building the Blurb, Setting the Story
- You only get 3 seconds to make a first impression.
A pitch slap! In tiny, tiny text.
I have a few pitch slap requests lined up, but I am always looking for more.
Do you have a pitch or synopsis that you’d like to send to the sacrificial altar? Or do you know an author who does?
Email it our way to canarypost@gmail.com with “Pitch Article Submission” in the subject.
The Book Canaries 
Yay! I was hoping you’d bring it back. Are you also going to help with writing pitches as well?
That could be an interesting couple of blogs to do too. What would you want to read about the writing of pitches – general thoughts, or would you want to read about specific issues?
I guess both. I’ve read so much on how to write a good pitch, but it’s hard. Actually, I’ve learned more from your site when you break it down. I guess the question is, what to include and what to keep out? I always end up with a synopsis rather than a pitch!
Definitely! A big thing too is deciding who you’re writing to – a back-of-the-book blurb is a different kind of beast than that pitch you’re sending to your editor or agent. And then when you add the extra difficulty of being the writer and having to take that step back from your baby…
That sounds both rewarding and horrifying!
Will you publish the results, or keep it between you and the author?
For the pitch slapped series, you can see the results on our blog under the pitch slapped tab! We’ve definitely done one-on-one editing in the past, but that was separate from the slapping. 🙂
I can’t wait!