All kinds of information online for writers focuses on getting a deal, how to query, and hooking an agent. When I work with clients, I no longer offer services related to pitching without some history of working with them on their novel. Here’s why: pitching a novel that isn’t ready is an exercise in futility.
What if, instead of focusing so much on what agents want, how to write the perfect query letter, and whether the genre you write in sells anymore, you focused on writing the best book you are capable of writing?
We’ve all heard the stories of novels that “break the rules” but still got an agent and a deal. Novels that don’t fit into neat genres that become breakout hits. While I am not saying that luck doesn’t matter, it certainly does, and timing, and lots of other things, but most of the time, those novels are also REALLY GOOD. There are exceptions, of course (50 Shades, I am looking at you…), but most of the time when a book breaks out, breaks the rules, breaks genre conventions, it is a well written book. The story holds together, the characters are round, the line level writing sings.
What if you flipped the script and focused on the BOOK instead of the Pitch?
Outlining is a valuable tool at any point in the writing process: just getting started, revising your novel, or writing your summary to query.
Get your free copy of the Beats of the Heroine’s Journey with examples here.