Margie Lawson

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Potent Pitches and Brilliant Blurbs

Wowza!  Your book is done. Congratulations. You’re ready to put your fabulous story out there into the publishing world. One of the best ways to get your work in front of agents and editors, is through pitching and querying.

But to pitch and query you need to distill your amazing book down to a few intriguing paragraphs or lines or Twitter for pitches, even just words.

In this intensive, hands-on, two week class, you’ll learn the basics of a hook-an-agent/editor pitch/blurb.

This intensive, hands-on, two week class offers you the most important opportunity: feedback.  We will revise, fine-tune, and re-work your pitches and blurbs, all while working to maintain emotion and your voice in a hooky, can’t-wait-to-read pitch/blurb.

Yes, it’s possible. You can do it! Distill your story to a pitch/blurb that will hook agents and editors and make them want to read more.

Sign up and learn how to create a potent pitch and brilliant blurb.

What You Will Learn

  • how to hook an agent
  • how to pitch to an editor
  • the finer points of creating a short pitch
  • techniques for writing a long pitch
  • how to write a back cover blurb
  • dos and don't for pitches and blurbs

Who Should Take This Course

  • authors getting ready for pitch season
  • authors writing query letters
  • those looking to self-publish that are in need of a stellar back cover blurb

Course Overview

Lesson one: creating a short pitch

  • Learn what a pitch is and is not
  • Learn about the various kinds of pitches
  • Explore the various pitch templates available
  • What is a logline?
  • Create your own short pitch
  • Receive experienced feedback on your pitch
  • A chance to revise and submit for more feedback

Lesson two: comps can be fun

  • Learn the whys of having comparison titles in your pitch
  • Learn where to find comparison titles
  • Analyze several examples of comparison titles
    • Have fun writing your comparison titles
    • Receive experienced feedback on your comps and helpful tips

Lesson three: composing a longer pitch

  • Learn how to compose a longer pitch
  • Learn about the plot catalyst and how to add it to your pitch
  • Learn from analyzing several examples of the longer pitch
  • Create your longer pitch
  • Receive experienced feedback to improve your pitch

Lesson four: more on writing a longer pitch

  • Learn how to grow your longer pitch
  • Learn how to add your setting
  • Learn how to add your antagonist
  • Learn how to highlight the uniqueness of your story
  • Create your own even longer pitch
  • Receive experience feedback and always the chance to revise

Lesson five: revising and refining your pitch

  • Learn the importance of revising and refining your pitch
  • Analyze several examples
  • Another chance to submit and receive feedback on your pitches

Lesson six: creating your brilliant blurb

  • Learn the difference between the various types of blurbs
  • Learn the key elements to a brilliant blurb
  • Learn from various examples of brilliant blurbs
  • Create and craft your own brilliant blurb
  • Receive experienced feedback on your blurb

Lesson seven: researching blurbs

  • Learn the importance of researching blurbs and what you can learn
  • Learn several places where to find blurbs for research
  • Another chance to revise and resubmit your blurb for feedback

Lesson eight: learning from a bad blurb

  • Yes, you can learn from a bad blurb
  • Learn from example
  • Learn how to analyze a blurb
  • Another chance to revise and resubmit your blurb

Lesson nine: dos and don’t for pitches and blurbs

  • Learn the dos for potent pitches
  • Learn the don’ts for pitches
  • Learn the do’s for brilliant blurbs
  • Learn the don’ts for blurbs
  • And another chance for more feedback on your pitch and blurb

Teacher

suzanne purvis

Suzanne Purvis is a transplanted Canadian living in the Deep South, where she traded “eh” for “y’all.” An author of long, short, and flash fiction for both children and adults, she has won several awards including those sponsored by the University of Toronto, RWA, Bethlehem Writer’s Roundtable, and Women Who Write. You can find her work in print anthologies, magazines, ezines, and ebooks.

Visit her at www.suzannepurvis.com , www.suzannepurvis.blogspot.comFacebook, Amazon Author’s Central.

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Schedule

Reviews

Amazing

Rated 5 out of 5
March 31, 2021

I took this class for my first book in 2020 and found it incredibly helpful for this first-time self-published author. Suzanne was amazing to work with. I'm working on book #2 and can't wait to take this class again.

Avatar for Ronni Robinson
Ronni Robinson

PItch Perfect

Rated 5 out of 5
February 28, 2020

Condensing an eighty-thousand word novel into one succinct sentence is, to me, one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to produce. But, Suzanne made the process easier than I ever imagined. I’m so grateful for her expertise and patience. She’s one in a million. Thank you, Suzanne.

Avatar for Danys Castillo
Danys Castillo

Hard Word that Pays Off

Rated 5 out of 5
February 19, 2020

Man oh Man do you work in this class. But the feedback and the re-writes -- from the Suzanne but also from the classmates -- is INVALUABLE!

Avatar for June A Converse
June A Converse

Makes pitching so much easier

Rated 5 out of 5
February 19, 2020

When I signed up to pitch a couple of editors at a local writers conference, I had no idea how to do it. Suzanne's class broke an overwhelming process down (who can summarize a novel they spent years developing in one sentence?) and made it easy. The most helpful part by far, however, was her feedback, which polished my pitches and made them shine shine far more than they would have otherwise. Perhaps the highest compliment I can give is that at one point I thought, "Hey, this is actually kind of fun!" Not what I expected in learning to pitch.

Avatar for Meredith Walters
Meredith Walters

Pitch Perfect

Rated 5 out of 5
February 18, 2020

Don't know about you, but I used to hate it when someone asked me what my book was about. If you're a serious writer, you know the importance of condensing your work into interesting snippets to share on book covers, on blogs, and answering that inevitable question: What's your book about?

Suzanne is a master chef when it comes to boiling down your masterpiece into bitesize morsels. And she is a gifted teacher who can teach you how to write your own potent pitches and brilliant blurbs.

Avatar for Sandra Tilley
Sandra Tilley

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