The Anatomy of a Pitch

Also: Summer Reading picks from the VP of Merchandising at Books-A-Million

Hello!

I bet you thought I’d write a piece about Strangers. I’m sitting this one out because I don’t have anything to add, except this: Let’s start reading other memoirs—especially ones written by diverse authors. You can start here by reading “Firstborn Girls” by Bernice L. McFadden. If you want to read Bernice’s fiction, start with the phenomenal book, “Sugar.” I was Bernice’s first book publicist, and her writing deserves a wide audience.

In other news, my eldest graduated from the University of Delaware on Friday, and I am super proud of him. He also turned 22 yesterday, which I can hardly believe. When he was little, he occasionally came to my office at Atria (Simon & Schuster), where this outfit got an A+ from my staff (those red things are galleys—we used to send the plainest looking ones):

If I’m being honest, I’ve been very “blah” about writing the newsletter lately because Substack is so noisy. I keep a list of topics handy, but none of them are inspiring me at the moment. It happens, especially when people in my orbit are writing about the same thing. There’s a lot I can say about AI, memoir, and literary fiction’s pseudo-demise (it is not going away), but I know when to hold my cards. One thing I’m obsessed with: Streaming. Specifically, the fact that streaming platforms are optioning books like crazy, and what that means for the industry. I’ll write about that soon.

For now, I wanted to give you something useful, so let’s talk about pitches.

Writing a pitch for a book is a skill publicists hone over their careers. Since my career started in the olden days of 1996, before the dawn of email, I used to type scripts for myself before I called journalists to pitch them. I should have been terrified, but one of my jobs in college was “pharmaceutical telemarker.” I used to cold-call medical offices, convince the receptionist(s) to get a specific doctor on the phone, and pitch them a dinner event that centered around particular drugs, most of which are now over-the-counter. I read from a script and used the name “Claire” (I picked it because of The Breakfast Club, IYKYK). The goal was to fill at least 10 spots at the dinner, and 90% of the time, I hit that goal. Because of that job, I felt less terrified phoning media people.

When email became the predominant way to pitch media (stop thinking that we call people these days—it rarely happens), it required me to think about how to write an effective pitch with a good subject line. As I moved through the ranks in publishing, my pitches got stronger. My weakness was that they were too long, so I’ve worked on making them short and succinct, which should always be the goal. In order to increase the chances of a response, two elements are necessary: 1) a great hook (I will get to that) and 2) an excellent subject line. If you simply write the title and author of a book in the subject line, chances are that your email will get deleted. And while a good subject line doesn’t guarantee coverage or an interview, it can sometimes mean the recipient saves your email and searches for it when needed. A couple of weeks ago, I received a response to a pitch I sent in 2024. Yes, that’s right, two years later. I don’t fault journalists for this: we all have heavy workloads. I reread my pitch and looked at the subject line. It is a really good pitch, and they interviewed the author.

In my “Positioning Your Book” webinar, I take authors through the pitching process step by step. This is a very abbreviated version of that.

Let’s begin with the subject line:

1. Subject Line (under 60 characters)←This is non-negotiable. Keep it short.

Lead with the angle, not your name. Make it a no-brainer to open your email.

SAMPLE

Guest pitch: Why most first-time founders quit at month 14

For [Show Name]: a memoir about caregiving — and the policy gap no one talks about←You don’t have to add this part.

2. Greeting

Hi [Host/Editor/Journalist/Producer’s First Name],

Opening — Specific Compliment (1–2 sentences)

Reference a specific recent episode, article, or segment, and what it made you think about. No generic flattery.

SAMPLE (I always advise clients to listen to/watch/read whatever the recipient has recently done)

Your recent episode with [GUEST NAME] on [TOPIC] was [INSERT PHRASE]←BUT NOT GENERIC. THEY WILL THINK IT IS AI. Make it warm + personal.

3. The Hook — Why Your Topic, Why Now (2–3 sentences)

State the specific angle and why your book matters to THEIR audience right now.

SAMPLE

I’m the author of THE QUIET QUITTERS (Penguin, June 2026), a reported book based on 200 interviews with people who walked away from successful careers. With Gallup reporting employee disengagement at a 10-year high, I think your listeners would find the data — and the surprising patterns of who recovers — useful right now.

There is no denying that the hook is the hardest part of a pitch. There are a lot of authors who think they don’t have a hook, but I’d bet my bank account that they do. Recently, I wrote several pitches for a book and realized I wasn’t digging deep enough into the hook for people to respond. Since my guiding principle is “make it easy for them to say ‘yes’,” I spent a couple of hours reworking the pitches, and what do you know: they worked.

If you’re a fiction author, this can work for you, too. Think about your book’s origins, your background, or even the poetry award you won in 8th grade. The mistake I see in some publicists’ fiction pitches is the lack of a hook. It’s hard to say “yes” to the description of a book. I mean, if it sounds interesting, I might want to read it eventually, but tell me why I should talk to the author.

Let’s continue:

Three Talking Points←You do not have to create 3 talking points, but a couple would help.

Make the recipient’s job easy. Offer 3 distinct angles they can pick from.

SAMPLE

1. The 14-month wall: the predictable point at which most quitters break.

2. Why high performers leave first — and what their managers missed.

3. The 4 recovery archetypes (and which one predicts a comeback).

Credibility — Why You (1–2 sentences)

Bio in one breath. Include credentials, prior media, and any ties to their audience.←It is VERY important that you understand the media outlet’s audience, AND the recipient’s audience. The latter is especially important if you are pitching newsletters. Do not paste a long bio in a pitch email!

SAMPLE

I’m a former McKinsey consultant turned journalist; my work has appeared in The Atlantic and Fast Company, and I’ve been a guest on WorkLife with Adam Grant and The Daily Stoic.

[OPTIONAL ADD-ON IF APPLICABLE: My work has been featured in [OUTLETS], and I’ve previously appeared on [PODCASTS / SHOWS].]

The Ask + Logistics

Be direct. Offer dates, formats, and remove friction.

SAMPLE 1

Would you be open to having me on the show this summer? I have a professional home studio, am available across time zones, and can record on short notice. I’ve attached a one-sheet with bio, headshot, and links to past interviews.

SAMPLE 2

Would you be open to having me on the show this [SEASON / MONTH]? I’m based in New York City, have a professional home recording setup, am flexible across time zones, and can record on short notice.

I’ve linked a one-sheet below with a bio, headshot, sample interview clips, and an advance copy of the book, available on request.

After this, you can use a valediction. Try to avoid “Sincerely,” “Yours Truly,” or “Yours.” I tend to use “All my best.” Make sure your contact information is in your email signature, along with your social handles and a link to your newsletter. Don’t make anyone ask for those things. Remember: make it easy for them to say yes.

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SUMMER READING RECS from Olivia McDaniel, VP of Merchandising from Books-A-Million:

I asked Olivia about her idea of a great summer read:

I think for a long time, a great summer read was called “chick lit,” or a “beach read,” and was dismissed. But that was never true-- to me, a great summer read is anything that makes you feel like a kid again. It's a book you refuse to close, one you want to sit with all day and do nothing but read. Where your laundry might be stacked sky high, but you couldn't care less. It's the feeling of staying up all night reading Harry Potter with the covers over your head, but as an adult-- where you don't check your phone, you eat dinner with your book open, and you want to spend all day doing nothing but reading. ALL of these books gave me that-- where I wanted to sob when they were finished, immediately drop off a copy to my best friend, and where life ceased to interfere with the magic of reading.

Here are Olivia’s summer reading picks:

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

GAH, this one absolutely took me down. I was so reluctant to read this book because it’s so far outside my comfort zone, and I absolutely could not put it down — I read it in one sitting on the plane; I didn’t even hear the flight attendant asking me if I wanted a Diet Coke. I have had more people call me over this book, text me over this book, scream over this book. It’s so thoughtful, so well written, so twisty. What a talent for an author to write such unlikable, horrible characters and then force you to see yourself in them and keep reading. Even if you don’t think it’s for you, I so truly believe it’s for everyone.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Bring tissues. Sybil is one of the most beautiful characters I’ve ever read about in my whole life — one of the most devastating and honest and delightful. She feels so real: this older woman going blind, holding on with both hands to letter-writing and a life that never went the way she begged it to. She’s so beautifully tough, so frustrating, and just one of the best and most complex female characters I’ve ever read.

Furybound (The Wolves of Ruin Book 2) by Sable Sorenson

Just trust me. This one is sneaky because it’s the sequel to Direbound and you absolutely have to read that first, so this is a two-books-in-one deal. But let me tell you: as a forever romantasy girlie, you just need to commit your time to how good this is. We LOVE a powerful female main character, enemies-to-lovers, and stories that really challenge us.

Daggermouth (The Heart Duologoy Book 1) by H.M. Wolfe

What a fun, wonderful ride. HM Wolfe, you are magic. This book is WHY people should read. The slow burn you’ll lose sleep over, the most twists I’ve ever encountered in any book. I was biting my nails and screaming, and you can NEVER know what’s happening until the very, very last moment of the very, very last page. It’s such a good romance, but there’s this huge undertone of what it means to claw back everything that was taken from you — and that’s what got me.

A Parade of Horribles: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 8 by Matt Dinniman

I want to be extremely clear: if you haven’t read Dungeon Crawler Carl, stop what you’re doing. Call in sick from your job, skip your wedding, change your induction date to next week — I genuinely don’t care. The whole Dungeon Crawler Carl series was my favorite thing I read in 2025 and potentially my favorite book series of my life, and I don’t care that I’m telling you the 8th book is a must-read for the summer, because the other 7 are must-reads for your life.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

The movie is out, and somehow the book is even better than ANYTHING the movie portrays. It’s hard for me to know what to say about this book because I read it years ago and have gifted it so many times since — get ready for an octopus to make you question your whole life.

Wombat Waiting by Katherine Applegate

There is huge importance in being an adult who loves children’s books — adults don’t need to lose the love of reading and magic and comfort that children’s books provide, and Katherine Applegate has forever been the queen of that. This book made me ugly cry, because haven’t we all held on when the rest of the world burnt down around us? Haven’t we all stayed to see how it all turned out? The themes meant for children are so often the exact same things our grown-up selves need to hear.

London Falling A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe

I hate this book because it reads like an incredible thriller, all while you have to sit with the knowledge that this is real. What this family felt — their pain and their questions — is all real. It’s not a work of fiction or an episode of Law & Order. And you can’t look away — you can’t stop reading or flipping the pages or feeling EVERYTHING. It’s so incredibly well written, gutting, and intriguing all in the same breath.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Look, I don’t care that this book came out last summer, and I apparently totally missed the buzz on it. I read it and opened it right back up to the first page again. Taylor Jenkins Reid puts MAGIC in her words — she forces you outside of what you thought you wanted to read and makes you ACHE for characters so hard you forget they aren’t real. This book is everything a book should be, such a heartbreaking journey. I’m jealous if you get to read it for the first time.

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie

This one is for the nerds. This is a huge saga of a love story, where we start in the early two thousands and just keep going through the next ten years of two people’s lives. And it’s a rare author who can make me hate and love characters at the same time — they’ll make you SO mad, and you’ll want to reach through the book and swat them both, but they’ll sneak right into your heart, and you will see so much of yourself in all of it.

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EVENT: Please join Women’s Media Group (I am on the board) for the following:

Thursday, June 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET

Penguin Random House, 1745 Broadway (between 55th & 56th Streets), Cerf-Lane Room, NYC

$20 for WMG members and partner organizations; $25 for non-members; $10 for active Scholars

Join Women’s Media Group for a bold, interactive program that brings leadership principles off the page and into practice. Elaine Meryl Brown and Rhonda Joy McLean, co-authors of The Next Little Black Book of Success, will be joined by Penguin Random House associate publisher Porscha Burke in a conversation expertly moderated by Tiffany Dufu.

A follow-up to the widely influential The Little Black Book of Success, this new work reframes leadership for today’s landscape by centering ownership, intention, and bold decision-making. This program will go beyond discussion: attendees will participate in guided exercises drawn directly from the book, designed to help assess their current path, sharpen their voice, and activate their next move.

REGISTER HERE