Pitch vs Query

Do you know the difference? Everyone has their own opinion and approach it seems. I know when I attended my first conference, where I was fortunate enough to get an agent pitch, I panicked. I know, I know. I seem like a very level-headed person… well or not. Either way I still panicked. Why? Because everyone seems to like to make the query and pitch seem like it is mysterious. It isn’t. Writing them well might be, but the objects themselves are not.

After years of stressing out here are the basics:

The Query – Think of this as the resume to your book. The formal letter that should be professional and concise. This should be 1 page max and will contain an intro paragraph, a pitch paragraph, and an author bio. I suppose I should mention the header and closing too. That’s all folks.

A Pitch – The verbal delivery of the pitch paragraph from your query. You might even have to shorten your delivery up a little, which then might lead you to realize your pitch paragraph is not doing the right job. The pitch needs to be quick and to the point. You may have heard of the elevator pitch which is slightly different. That’s a one to two sentence pitch of your book – short enough to be delivered on an elevator. These are two different things.

PubRants

So how about you? Have you struggled with the correct approach to the pitch or the query?

If you toil over the query your pitch should be smooth sailing – or so they say.