Your Book: Mastering the Hook, Query, and Pitch

Agents report they're getting more  proposals than ever, and fewer books are being produced each year. How can you break through the noise?

This class will help you step back and see your fiction or nonfiction work through fresh eyes and a business-based perspective. We’ll identify the things that make your work unique, marketable, and irresistible to publishing gatekeepers. Then, with lots of examples and time for practice and personal feedback, we’ll work on verbal “elevator pitches,” the short hooks that also are great for query letters. We’ll cover the structure of query letters, and cover some tips and tricks for getting an agent or publisher’s attention.

This also is a valuable class for self-publishing writers who want to pitch their books so that readers pay attention.

You will:

1. Be challenged to consider your work from a fresh, detached, commercial perspective.

2. Learn how to condense full-length fiction and nonfiction projects into industry-appropriate 1- to 2-page synopses, and identify compelling “hooks” that make great verbal pitches and query letter descriptions.

3. Gain a realistic understanding of what publishers and agents are looking for in new authors, including author platforms, compelling concepts, and connections to existing popular trends

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Instructors or Guides