Short Publishing Update: Lift Crisis

Since receiving my manuscript back from the editors I’ve been busy implementing the edits and updates. Other than tweeting here and there and continuing to work on the Author Interviews, that’s all I’ve been doing.

That was until the crisis struck!

On Sunday afternoon in a rare few hours of spare time, our tribe met with the rest the family for a meal to mark the anniversary of a close family member’s passing. It was great to see everyone and the perfect way to make sure the day passed with our loved one in the forefront of our thoughts. It also gave us chance to meet one of the family member’s friends, sorry for being vague, but you don’t need to know the details.

So with the meal finished and standing in the car park waiting for the last of the clan to emerge from the building, the friend approached me and out of the blue said, “So what’s your book about then?”

We hadn’t spoken about me or discussed my writing at any point in the meal, so the question took me by surprise, so much so I clammed up. I couldn’t think. I didn’t know what to say and in the end I just said, “Stuff,” nervously laughing as I fumbled in my wallet to pull out one of the business cards I had printed. I stood there while she turned the card over and read the blurb, all the time thinking what an idiot I must have sounded like. I’m supposed to be this expressive, creative thinker and all I can say is ‘stuff’ when asked a simple question about a project I’ve been working on for over nine months.

She must have taken pity as was still eager for me to email her a copy of the manuscript.

So what’s the moral of the story? Have your elevator pitch polished and ready! Know it off by heart, able to slip from your lips at a moments notice.

Taking my own advice, that’s what I’ve been working on when needing a break to recharge my editing juices.

What is an Elevator Pitch?

The idea of an elevator pitch is a succinct sales pitch for your manuscript which gets the key concept and its unique selling point across in the time it takes for a short elevator ride, or lift for us in the UK.

So I’ve given it a go and here is the end result. Let me know what you think in the comments.

A guy meets the end of the world.

The guy falls for a girl.

The world tries to end it.

If I was actually saying this to someone I guess it should be more like:

So this guy meets the end of the world, then falls for a girl, but the world tries its best to end it.

Let me know your thoughts!

I should reference this great post from Harry Bingham on Jerichowriters.com for his great advice on forming the pitch. 

In The End

What if you woke to find the electricity off, the internet down and the streets deserted? What if you were forced to run for your life, no longer top of the food chain? What if the government had no interest in keeping you alive, but you’d found a reason to struggle on, a new meaning to this life, those around every corner intent on hunting you down?

Could you survive the end of civilisation?

Meet Logan. That’s me. The first to believe the world had changed forever. The first to urge our friends to run. The first to kill, but not the first victim. I was the first to see for myself as nature bent before my eyes. With death surrounding, getting ever closer, they looked to me for answers.

This is my story.

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GJ Stevens

I am a Writer. I love to write fast-paced action and adventure thrillers! Subscribe to my mailing list to get FREE books!

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