Loglines & Elevator Pitches
I have it on good authority – i.e., dozens of literary agents’ blogs and self help books – that if I am to successfully pitch my book/memoir to the intimidating, ambition-withering and soul-crushing publishing industry, I will need the following:
A “logline” – a short, pithy statement using an iconic story to indicate the genre, audience, and theme. Examples from lit agent Amy Collins include: “Imagine if STEPHEN KING wrote and directed a reality TV show” and “It’s for fans of TESS GERRITSEN who also love the SAW movies;”
And, an “elevator pitch” – a short statement that tells someone what your book is about in just ten seconds, fifteen max (if spoken out loud). In other words, roughly the length of an elevator ride. Because these days, in this culture, that’s about how much time you can expect to get of anyone’s attention. (If you’re lucky.)
I spent a few hours stressing over these items last night before deciding to sleep on them (literally, as I actually fell asleep on my notepad), then revisit what I’d written in the morning with coffee nearby – either to drink or plunge my head into.
Here’s what I came up with, and I want to know your very candid thoughts (see below).
Logline:
Imagine if “MAID” and STRAYED were in a café with NORA EPHRON – readers will say, “I’ll have what they are having!”
[Explanation: “Maid” being the Netflix series based upon Stephanie Land’s memoir of a house-cleaning welfare mom; Strayed, of course, refers to Cheryl Strayed, author of “Wild;” and nobody needs an explanation as to who Nora Ephron was or that she wrote When Harry Met Sally, which included that famous restaurant comment voiced by director Rob Reiner’s mother. I love that Maid & Strayed rhyme, which is why you have a mash-up of a book title and an author name.]
Elevator Pitch:
The true story of how one woman inadvertently created a 30-year career in the world of documentary films with just a $20 investment – at a time when she was an unemployed and borderline impoverished young mother of two.
It’s a story of improbable and ironic film experiences, many of which changed the circumstances of her life. It’s the story of being rejected, getting fired, getting divorced, then being fired again.
It’s also the story of how films saved her each time, got her back on her feet and inspired her to try once more.
And yes, there is hiking involved.
Now here’s where this post gets interactive: if you and I were in the elevator together, and I told you this was what my book was about…
Would you read it?
Please comment below and you will have my undying appreciation, and who knows, perhaps one day – if the publishing gods are willing – an actual copy of “A Storyboard Life” in your hands.
[Top photo by Sammy Fong; bottom photo by AnneMarie Davidson]
How fun this is, and no doubt stressful to cull the very idea of your memoir down into pitch-worthy essence. Tall order indeed. I do believe you are asking for feedback and I often find that my first response is the one called for, not a response I think about or craft with diplomacy.
Logline: I loved Maid, Strayed and Nora Ephron at some point in the last three decades, and experienced them each about a decade apart. My concern is wide relevancy to your target audience and the logline doesn't land well if the content is not easily recognized (& mentally characterized) on first read. I didn't recall the title of Maid until you defined it. Cheryl Strayed had the benefit of a name that worked amazingly well as a title of her life experience and also, a verb. And Nora Ephron might be more famous for feeling badly about her neck, Heartburn or being married to Carl Bernstein than the When Harry Met Sally line. My point is these are three "stretches" when it comes to instant recall about them. Moreover, using the walking into the bar scenario with a TV show title, a book title and a person's name is another stretch that, let's face it, strains the joke. ALL that being said, I would read this book because I have a frame of reference for all of the above but my concern is that I'm in your niche market, not the broader audience I would want your book to reach.
For the elevator pitch - I was taken aback by "inadvertently" in juxtaposition with a 30-yr career. Maybe you mean unintentionally? I'm not nickpicking, I just felt my trust betrayed by those two thoughts in one sentence. "Borderline impoverished" also made me a little suspicious that I was going to get the real vulnerable truth, or just another "she got lucky" story. I love the next paragraph but I'm not sure you need "got her back on her feet" after you just said films saved you - the salvation idea is much more powerful. I wonder if you could use "hiking involved" a little more cleverly, as in was it the hiking or the films that saved you? Or something stronger than merely "involved." I like the teaser hiking ending, just want to give it a bit more punch.
Goodness I hope this is helpful. Feel free to delete this comment if not. I woke up today wearing my editor/critic hat and I have been tipping it all day!
I'll pre-order it and make my book club take it up as our book of the month as soon as we have it in our hot little hands! The log line is epic and needs no explanation.