Resources and Encouragement For Pitching Meetings, One Sheets and Book Proposals

Writers conferences are great places to network and pitch your latest book idea to publishing industry professionals. Whether you’re getting ready for our next Declare conference, or are preparing for a pitch meeting at another event, we know how daunting this task can be. We’re cheering you on in this next big step in obedience to God’s call on your life!

To help you make the most of your time, we’ve put together a few resources we hope will put your mind at ease and ensure you go into your meeting with confidence and excitement. You can start with our recent Facebook Live conversation below or simply jump into the content with all the resource links.

THINGS YOU MAY WANT OR NEED:

An elevator pitch is one or two sentences that are designed to describe your book in the time it takes you to ride an elevator. If you only had one sentence to describe your book, what would you say? We recommend making sure you address:

the felt need of your target audience (what problem are they having) and
how your book will help the reader solve it.

A one-sheet is just actually one sheet of paper that summarizes your book idea well. It should include:

a headshot
3-5 sentence author bio
your contact information (including social media handles and your website)
key information about the book idea/concept
total # of words, genre, audience

Because this medium is limited in size, your description must be succinct and address the felt need of the target audience along with the proposed solution the book idea will introduce.

A nonfiction book proposal is a tool used by an author to describe, in detail, their book idea. Ranging from fifteen to 50 pages, the proposal includes information about the author, the target market, comparable books on the market, and chapter outline. It’s typically accompanied by three sample chapters. This information is what Literary Agents and Publishing Houses look at to determine if they would like to sign a client or book deal.

SETTING THE RIGHT EXPECTATION:

It’s not often someone gets signed at a publishing appointment but almost no one gets signed without one. What that means is the BEST place to get your idea noticed and to begin a relationship with a publisher or agent is at a conference like Declare.