Crafting a Good Sentence Book Pitch Sentence

One element of a good book pitch is a brief sentence that describes your book. Imagine someone asking you what your book is about. What would you tell them in one sentence. That is your book pitch.

It is not a synopsis of your story and should not go into plot or character detail. It is more of a marketing device that you should use to entice people to want to learn more.

It's sometimes difficult to find a pitch on the actual book, so movies are an easier place to look for examples. Let's take a look at a few examples:

Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.

Luke Skywalker leaves his home planet, teams up with other rebels, and tries to save Princess Leia from the evil clutches of Darth Vader.

American classic in which a manipulative woman and a roguish man carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

By now, I'm sure you get the idea. A book pitch should strip your book down to its bare essentials. It is the core thought or sentiment that ties your book together. For some, this core thought may have been the inspiration for writing the book, and finding the pitch is easy. For others, it will take hours of whittling down thoughts to get to that core statement.

Either way, a pitch is not only important for selling the book to agents and publishers, but it is often at the core of the marketing approach taken to promote the book to readers.