This is a great article, very helpful and I'm glad I found your substack! I'm about to dive in and see what else I can learn from your writing, thank you!
Super helpful, thanks. I’ve had mild success pitching, especially to hyper-local media in advance of book events, but I’ll use these tips to expand my reach. Also, I smiled to see my old friend Tiffany Dufu moderating that panel! She’s an inspiration.
A translation question... if you were primarily pitching conferences, medical departments, Common Read programs, or other academics, is there something you would sub for the compliment? Or is the goal pretty much the same (to demonstrate you have a finger on what they've been up to and applaud them for it, building goodwill)?
I was a bit disappointed by this book list. I should have anticipated (since it's from a VP of Merchandising) that it would just be the *same* list of books I'm seeing everywhere... my mom has just read several of these with her suburban Illinois book clubs, which tend to be in step with the "hot" books of the moment.
To the Belle Burden conversation, I guess I'd love to see more curated suggestions for books we haven't heard of or might have missed out on but that are equally as deserving of our reading. It did occur to me that you might have interesting "post-mortem" views on some books' publicity arcs and why things went right and yet the book didn't catch on, or the opposite?
It’s my list and I’m actually over marketing! This is genuinely what I’ve been reading. There are LOTS of people with different recs than mine you can find, but this isn’t a sales pitch from me— just the last books in my stack that I’ve loved dearly. Very genuine, though I understand the feedback. Plenty of my coworkers would offer different POVs
A little more offbeat, but I finished The Long Road to a Strange and Angry Planet last night and LOVED it, it’s a bit older but it’s sat with me more than anything I’ve read in a while.
I know it’s your list and I do trust that you actually love them! It’s just the exact list of books I’m seeing everywhere and I guess I was hoping someone at your spot in the industry would have been entranced by something I hadn’t heard of that needs the shout out. (As you can guess I am an author whose book got acclaim but is didn’t make it to the kind of buzz these books have.) 😊 but, I appreciated this added book rec. I haven’t heard of it and will look it up!
I’d love to hear your insights on books-to-streaming. I have two books that have been repeatedly optioned by major studios and smaller production companies (constituting a significant portion of my writing income over the years), but never made. With the insatiable demand for streaming IP, I hope one of them, or one of my other, not-yet-optioned books, will find a home.
Love that tie on your son. You brought him up right! He would have been (and no doubt would still be) a hit in the South. And most of the galleys I got were as plain as yours. The only difference I can see between yours and Knopf’s is that Knopf’s were blue with a prominent Borzoi colophon on the cover.
Thank you! My department at the time really loved when he came to work with me. Those were the days when galleys were plain and ARCs were for the big books.
Thank you for an extremely interesting and VERY helpful article. It's the most I've ever learned about pitching (I've never done one because I never had the confidence to submit any of my books (except one) to a traditional publisher. That book was immediately accepted (no pitch, just the intro.) and it was an academic book, but I was told I'd need a massive peer review which might take 6 years! I was already 80! So I went to a POD publisher (sigh). I'm still writing. THANK YOU for your help.
I appreciate the pitching insight, as well as the summer reading recommendations. Even just reading your descriptions of what a good summer read does to you, demanding your focus like you are a kid sneaking after lights out, got me excited to dive back into voracious reading for pleasure.
Speaking of hooks, you had me at the "more on that soon" regarding the streamers optioning books. I'm so intrigued about that process lately. It makes me want to write more books, just to try and pitch them. Anyway, very juicy newsletter! Quality over quantity any day. :) Congrats to your boy.
Olivia - obsessed with your recos!
Don't you have an upcoming webinar on Positioning Your Book?
It already happened.
Thank you for featuring my picks— this brought so much joy to my day!!
Thank you for giving me the picks!
This is gold for authors, thank you!
This is a great article, very helpful and I'm glad I found your substack! I'm about to dive in and see what else I can learn from your writing, thank you!
Super helpful, thanks. I’ve had mild success pitching, especially to hyper-local media in advance of book events, but I’ll use these tips to expand my reach. Also, I smiled to see my old friend Tiffany Dufu moderating that panel! She’s an inspiration.
Thanks for this pitching guide.
A translation question... if you were primarily pitching conferences, medical departments, Common Read programs, or other academics, is there something you would sub for the compliment? Or is the goal pretty much the same (to demonstrate you have a finger on what they've been up to and applaud them for it, building goodwill)?
Goal is the same.
I was a bit disappointed by this book list. I should have anticipated (since it's from a VP of Merchandising) that it would just be the *same* list of books I'm seeing everywhere... my mom has just read several of these with her suburban Illinois book clubs, which tend to be in step with the "hot" books of the moment.
To the Belle Burden conversation, I guess I'd love to see more curated suggestions for books we haven't heard of or might have missed out on but that are equally as deserving of our reading. It did occur to me that you might have interesting "post-mortem" views on some books' publicity arcs and why things went right and yet the book didn't catch on, or the opposite?
It’s my list and I’m actually over marketing! This is genuinely what I’ve been reading. There are LOTS of people with different recs than mine you can find, but this isn’t a sales pitch from me— just the last books in my stack that I’ve loved dearly. Very genuine, though I understand the feedback. Plenty of my coworkers would offer different POVs
A little more offbeat, but I finished The Long Road to a Strange and Angry Planet last night and LOVED it, it’s a bit older but it’s sat with me more than anything I’ve read in a while.
I know it’s your list and I do trust that you actually love them! It’s just the exact list of books I’m seeing everywhere and I guess I was hoping someone at your spot in the industry would have been entranced by something I hadn’t heard of that needs the shout out. (As you can guess I am an author whose book got acclaim but is didn’t make it to the kind of buzz these books have.) 😊 but, I appreciated this added book rec. I haven’t heard of it and will look it up!
Look at the Pulitzer list for memoir. It’s on their website.
I do try to read them every year. 😊
I love writing pitches. I wish there were more media to send them to.
I’d love to hear your insights on books-to-streaming. I have two books that have been repeatedly optioned by major studios and smaller production companies (constituting a significant portion of my writing income over the years), but never made. With the insatiable demand for streaming IP, I hope one of them, or one of my other, not-yet-optioned books, will find a home.
Love that tie on your son. You brought him up right! He would have been (and no doubt would still be) a hit in the South. And most of the galleys I got were as plain as yours. The only difference I can see between yours and Knopf’s is that Knopf’s were blue with a prominent Borzoi colophon on the cover.
Thank you! My department at the time really loved when he came to work with me. Those were the days when galleys were plain and ARCs were for the big books.
There’s plenty to learn here, even if you pitch for a living!
Thank you!
Absolutely fabulous book reviews! My TBR is bursting now!
Thank you for an extremely interesting and VERY helpful article. It's the most I've ever learned about pitching (I've never done one because I never had the confidence to submit any of my books (except one) to a traditional publisher. That book was immediately accepted (no pitch, just the intro.) and it was an academic book, but I was told I'd need a massive peer review which might take 6 years! I was already 80! So I went to a POD publisher (sigh). I'm still writing. THANK YOU for your help.
I appreciate the pitching insight, as well as the summer reading recommendations. Even just reading your descriptions of what a good summer read does to you, demanding your focus like you are a kid sneaking after lights out, got me excited to dive back into voracious reading for pleasure.
This made my day, thank you!!!
Speaking of hooks, you had me at the "more on that soon" regarding the streamers optioning books. I'm so intrigued about that process lately. It makes me want to write more books, just to try and pitch them. Anyway, very juicy newsletter! Quality over quantity any day. :) Congrats to your boy.