Heads up! Pitch Pro Sarah Isaacson has a Query Clinic here PACKED with info to help you escape the slush pile.

The purpose of a pitch is to hook a reader or land an agent.

You must be able to describe your entire passion project concisely and compellingly. But how do you accomplish this effectively without losing the heart of your work? I break it down beat-by-beat in this query clinic.

The Pitch:

Your pitch must consist of the following: the protagonist, setting, conflict or villain. It must display the title in all CAPS (not italics) and provide the genre, word count, and an author bio. Additionally, it is most compelling if it can be done in or around 300 words.

The Hook:

The best pitches also have a hook—a sentence that sums up the entire book in less than 25-words. Kind of like the logline you see on movie posters. The very best of them include irony. Irony is “an action which has the opposite, or different effect than the one initially desired.” Irony is what twists your plot and forces your characters to grow.

 Killer Hook Examples:

Imprisoned, the almighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. —Thor: Ragnarok

(Irony: friends turned to foes)

Set in the South, a crusading local lawyer risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime. –To Kill a Mockingbird

(Irony: a white southerner defends an African-American man, also present: binaries of white/black, law/crime)

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the F.B.I.—The Town

(Irony: the criminal falls for his victim, also a play on Stockholm syndrome)

What goes into the body of your query pitch, beat-by-beat:

• Protagonist and setting—present the main character’s world as it is.
• Catalyst or conflict—the moment where everything changes. The theme is stated.
• But there’s a debate because change is scary—she could gain something or lose everything—tension, risk.
• The plot or journey begins and sometimes the “B” story or supporting character (lover, friend, or mentor) can go here.
• Depending on the story, this is the moment where the protagonist gets what they think they want, or things turn for worse. Because sometimes what we want, isn’t what we need. Either way, it’s tense and uncertain!
• The villains are closing in, all is lost. This is emotional. The bottom. Doubt, fear, or a serious problem arises—it takes everything to regroup.
• Now a shining inspiration (or advice from the “B” story friend/lover/mentor) helps our protagonist realize that what they’ve lost makes way for something new. It’s time to try again.
• Rather than give away what happens in your final act or chapters, end here on a question or statement that circles back to the irony or theme within the hook. Can she? Will they?

Need help getting noticed in the slush pile?

Sarah Isaacson specializes in screenplay pitches, book jackets, and novel queries that pop. Her writing experience spans from movie trailer copy to Warner Bros. She’s worked in TV and film from Indie to Disney and has read more novels than she can count.