This Is How to Sell Your Book in 20 Seconds by Guest Sharon Goldinger

The elevator pitch is soooooo hard. Mine is “well it’s kind of err sort of errr maybe a bit like errr” – would live live love some help!!!

I have a hard time with the elevator pitch, but I am working on it! Posts like this one help me break it down further.

I love elevator pitches–they nicely lend themselves to tweets and Facebook posts–but I’ve been struggling to grasp the finer points of creating them. This post has been very helpful–and I like the idea of having a 50 word follow up, too!

Excellent! You explained this so well and The examples are so helpful. Still, I find a short elevator pitch hard to write. As Mark Twain said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead!” Thank you.

Sharon,

Great post. I found out purely by accident how easy it is to see a book in 20 seconds (or less). I took my favorite author’s book (I don’t have a book of my own as of yer) to a musical in Charleston, South Carolina. We had a front-row seat and extra time before the show began. I set the book on the stage and started taking photos in various locations on stage. What followed was astounding; many people wanted to know about the book. I passed the book around, and everyone that read the back cover of the book wrote the name of the book and author down. Others asked me the name of the book and author and wrote the book information down. It was electrifying.

So, yes, from experience I believe books could be sold in under twenty minutes. Most authors have street teams which could do so much for the authors book sales by carrying an ARC with them. Everyone wants to know what everyone is reading, and are not timid to ask outright.

Sincerely,
Donna

I would love help fine tuning what my pitch is – to go to Amazon or to see someone in the street and be able to say what my book is, exactly, in 20 words. To feel confident in what I’m going to say. Sometimes stuck in who my book isn’t for that I forget who it IS for and how to tell them. How to be the person who believes in their own product when they speak to others about it.

The elevator pitch is the absolute hardest thing for me. But I do know how essential it is!

Great post! I myself have trouble with the ole elevator pitch so reading this was enlightening and refreshing. It doesn’t say not to panic or freak out but more or less plan before hand so you don’t panic or freak out. These 20 secs could make or break your pitch. Very well put together!

I’ve read a lot of articles about how to craft an elevator pitch. This one does the best job of conveying what needs to be communicated. It’ also gives an easy method to craft a pitch, whether fiction and nonfiction. Thanks so much for writing this article! I’m sure I won’t be the only one helped by it.

Sincerely,
Dana Lemaster

I definitely haven’t quite “nailed” my own elevator pitches for my books, but I’ve been on the receiving end of some horribly stilted conversations at writing conferences where other authors really struggle to be concise and compelling. Thanks for the great reminder how important this is!