Your Book In One Sentence

I'm taking a break for the summer, but in the meantime I'll be reposting some of my old articles you might have missed. Here's one from last April.

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When someone asks you what your book is about, it can be a very difficult thing to sum up in a line or two.

Even after you’ve finished it, capturing the essence in a way that does it justice can be more frustrating than writing it in the first place. I usually end up rambling like I have no idea what I’m talking about.

Not only would it be very handy in social situations, but also professionally. A clear concise way to tell people about the book in a way that lets them know what it’s about, but also hooks their interest in some way.

So how do you do that?

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Your Book In One Sentence Pt 2

The recent post I did (HERE) on condensing your story into a line or two received some interesting feedback so this follow-up post will take a deeper look at the techniques involved in summing up the story into  something short, easy to understand and yet interesting. And the pitfalls along the way.

Bear in mind the idea isn’t to come up with a beautifully crafted slogan that makes people want to rush out and buy the book on the strength of the logline alone. Your job isn’t to invent bubblegum that tastes like a three course meal. If people want to experience those flavours they should just eat a three course meal.

This will be more about telling somebody what the story's about, whether they be an agent or your mother.

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Query querying

Week 3 of the Blogorama is a query contest where advice, suggestions and comments are sought on query letters. Anyone can share their opinion on the following pitch for my WiP Lickety Split. Please feel free to tell me what you think, vague or specific, no need to hold back (I'm sure agents won't).

I've taken onboard people's comments  and this is my second draft:

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