Agents report that they’re flooded with more queries and proposals than ever before, even as publishers cut back the number of books they produce each year. How can you break through the noise and get your project noticed? 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, and then with lots of examples and time for practice and personal feedback, we’ll work on verbal “elevator pitches,” the short hooks that are also great for query letters. We’ll also cover the structure of a query letter, and some tips and tricks for getting an agent or publisher’s attention. This is also a valuable class for self-publishing writers who want to pitch their books so that readers pay attention.

3. Last year:
300,000+ books traditionally
published

5. You’re applying for the same job
as 10,000 other people

7. Large Publishers
Smaller Independent Publishers

8. Use the available resources:

9. Reverse engineer:
 What are your comparative titles?
 Who published those titles?
 What are those publishers looking for?

15. Science fiction Memoir Self Help Action
Romance Poetry
History Health
Picture Fantasy
Travel Thriller
Spirituality Art
Young Adult Essay

16. In one sentence:
What makes this book
different?
Goal:
“Tell me MORE!”

17.  Premise?
 Unexpected twist?
 What’s at stake?
 Contrast?
 Solution?
 Tone?

18.  Themes
 The ending or solution
 Secondary characters or subplots

19. “Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of
Galilee, Ana yearns for a pursuit worthy of her life, but
finds no outlet for her considerable talents. Defying the
expectations placed on women, she engages in furtive
scholarly pursuits and writes secret narratives about
neglected and silenced women. When she meets the
eighteen-year-old Jesus, each is drawn to and enriched
by the other’s spiritual and philosophical ideas. He
becomes a floodgate for her intellect, but also the
awakener of her heart.”
Sue Monk Kidd, The Book of Longing

20. “In April 2015, my husband and I, laden with
backpacks and nerves, walked out of a
cathedral in the historic village of Le Puy,
France, down a cobblestone street, and turned
west. We were bound for the Atlantic Ocean,
over a thousand miles away. Did I mention
that we didn’t speak French, and that I thought
a hike was a three mile walk around the urban
lake near my apartment?”
Beth Jusino, Walking to the End of the World

21.  Hook: The Cormoran Strike detective novels introduce a down on his luck PI
who lost a leg in Afghanistan and his fiancé just yesterday.
 Problem: In the first book, A Cuckoo’s Calling, he’s living in his office when a
barrister arrives, claiming that his supermodel half-sister’s suicide wasn’t really
a suicide at all, but a murder.
 Promise: The case plunges Strike into a world of multimillionaire models, rock
star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and uncovers a few of his own hidden
secrets on its way toward the truth.
Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo’s Calling

22.  Hook: “I’m writing a cookbook that’s full of deliciously modern
recipes for outdoor adventurers.”
 Problem: “There are plenty of cookbooks, but none that take into
account the challenges of day trips, car camping, or especially back
country hiking.”
 Promise: “Dirty Gourmet offers a tested set of recipes, from snacks to
meals to cocktails, all designed to be made and enjoyed in the great
outdoors.”
Mai-Yan Kwan, Emily Nielson, and Aimee
Trudeau, Dirty Gourmet

23. A contemporary novel set at the intersection of two seemingly disparate events-a
massive Ponzi scheme collapse and the mysterious disappearance of a woman from a
ship at sea.
Vincent is a bartender at a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver
Island. On the night she meets Jonathan, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the
lobby's glass wall: "Why don't you swallow broken glass." Months later, high above
Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Jonathan runs a Ponzi scheme, moving
imaginary sums of money through clients' accounts. When it collapses, it obliterates
countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan's
wife, walks away into the night. Much, much later, a victim of the fraud is hired to
investigate a woman who seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship
between ports of call.
This is a novel of unexpected beauty and hidden landscapes: campgrounds for the near-
homeless, underground electronica clubs, international container ships, the service
corridors of luxury hotels, and federal prisons. The Glass Hotel is a portrait of greed and
guilt, love and delusion, ghosts and unintended consequences, and the infinite ways we
search for meaning in our lives.
Emily St. John Mandel, The Glass House

24.  Excessive back story or setup
 Scene-by-scene descriptions
 Names
 Solutions/resolutions

27.  Previous publications
 Professional credentials
 Endorsements
 Awards
 Education
 Membership
 Existing audience

28. Your Turn to Pitch! Remember the Blocks:
 Title
 Genre
 Hook
 What sets your book in motion?
 Promise
 Culture trends
 Audience size
 Why should I trust you?

29. Remember the Blocks:
• Title
• Genre
• Hook
• What sets your book in motion?
• Promise
• Culture trends
• Audience size
• Why should I trust you?

30. 1. Is it a good idea?
2. Are you the right author?
3. Is this the right time?

31. Dear Agent…

32. 1. Is it a good idea?
2. Are you the right author?
3. Is this the right time?
4. Why is this the right publisher/agent?

34. http://bethjusino.com
bethjusino@gmail.com
Check your email for a link to
this slideshow, and the Hugo
House class evaluation!
Most photos in this slideshow courtesy of
Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/