Even though we have a writing chamber, I figured I'd ask this here since the traffic flow is a more regular one. Last week I finished a new book, a novella, about 130 pages long...and I've finished two other novels before but this is one that I really feel confident enough to send out to a publisher or an agent or something. Now I'm trying to figure out what the sales pitch should be, and I thought I'd ask around here for a few opinions. Of course it'd be easier if I could explain the whole story, but you can't do that in a summary, so this would be like if you saw this book and got curious enough to read the inside flap:

The name of the town is Stetson, and 15-year-old Alice Vole considers it to be the most boring town on the face of the planet. But this sleepy little town is harboring many secrets, and Alice is hiding her own share of them; who is the mysterious older boy she brings to her home as a guest and puts in one of the rooms upstairs? Why can't any of the neighbors ever recall seeing him before? Why have they gone to great lengths to cover up the mystery of how they first met? Just as the town's theatre is preparing to celebrate their centennial anniversary with the biggest stars in the state; magic, chaos, mayhem and attempted murder jerk awake the sleepy little town in one night of startling revelations.


That's all I've got so far, I don't know if I'm overly critical of my work or critical enough, in my opinion it probably sucks but it's the best I've been able to come up with so far without spoiling the story. What's everyone think? If you saw this on the inside flap of a book, and I would like to point out it would NOT be marketed as a romance, I don't know about everyone else but that's MAJOR points with me, would you be curious enough to see what it was about?

Supernova wrote:

Even though we have a writing chamber, I figured I'd ask this here since the traffic flow is a more regular one. Last week I finished a new book, a novella, about 130 pages long...and I've finished two other novels before but this is one that I really feel confident enough to send out to a publisher or an agent or something. Now I'm trying to figure out what the sales pitch should be, and I thought I'd ask around here for a few opinions. Of course it'd be easier if I could explain the whole story, but you can't do that in a summary, so this would be like if you saw this book and got curious enough to read the inside flap:

The name of the town is Stetson, and 15-year-old Alice Vole considers it to be the most boring town on the face of the planet. But this sleepy little town is harboring many secrets, and Alice is hiding her own share of them; who is the mysterious older boy she brings to her home as a guest and puts in one of the rooms upstairs? Why can't any of the neighbors ever recall seeing him before? Why have they gone to great lengths to cover up the mystery of how they first met? Just as the town's theatre is preparing to celebrate their centennial anniversary with the biggest stars in the state; magic, chaos, mayhem and attempted murder jerk awake the sleepy little town in one night of startling revelations.


That's all I've got so far, I don't know if I'm overly critical of my work or critical enough, in my opinion it probably sucks but it's the best I've been able to come up with so far without spoiling the story. What's everyone think? If you saw this on the inside flap of a book, and I would like to point out it would NOT be marketed as a romance, I don't know about everyone else but that's MAJOR points with me, would you be curious enough to see what it was about?

Absolutely. And if you felt like posting a larger synopsis of your novel in the Writers Chamber, I'd read it.

Since I am a fan of mystery It would intrigue me enough to probably want to buy it. Now I want to know who the boy Alice brought home is.

I'm trying to study how to write query letters. You'd be surprised how you gotta pitch your ideas. Not as easy as just writing a nice summary. Wish it were, believe me.

IDK if I'd read it or not. Would likely need more.

No kidding, three years I've been reading through Writers Market and still I can't even find out where to send my work to because my stories don't fall under the usual categories for genre.

Supernova wrote:

No kidding, three years I've been reading through Writers Market and still I can't even find out where to send my work to because my stories don't fall under the usual categories for genre.

lol It's frustrating. I'm still trying to figure out the best places to start looking for agents.