September 19, 2025 • 33 mins
Ever wondered why some books get noticed while others gather dust? The secret might be simpler than you think: a powerful elevator pitch.
In this eye-opening episode, Penny and Amy reveal how one author transformed her fortunes at a writers' conference by crafting a compelling elevator pitch – going from zero interest to landing both an agent and a publishing deal for the exact same book.
The hosts break down exactly what makes an effective elevator pitch, walking you through the essential components. They tackle common mistakes authors make, from drowning pitches in unnecessary details to relying on generic descriptions like "it's about love and loss" (cue the buzzer sound!).
Through before-and-after examples across fiction, romance, business, and memoir genres, Penny and Amy demonstrate the dramatic difference between mediocre and magnetic pitches. They offer practical exercises to help you create your own winning pitch, including recording yourself, testing on strangers rather than supportive friends, and creating tailored versions for different audiences.
Whether you're pitching to agents at a conference or marketing directly to readers, this episode provides the tools to make your book stand out in seconds. Ready to transform how you talk about your work? Your perfect elevator pitch awaits.
📱Text Penny & Amy: send us your show feedback, burning marketing questions and new topic ideas!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips
and Author Success Podcast.
This is Penny Sansonary, I'mAmy Cornell, and we are really
excited.
We are so, so, so close tohitting that 100 mark.
Maybe even when this show dropswe'll have hit our 100 ratings
and reviews, which we have.
You guys, we've asked and ourawesome listeners have delivered
(00:23):
.
So we're at like 98 as of theshow recording.
Very excited about that.
Also, one quick announcement weare maybe this will roll out by
the time that this episode hits, I don't know but we are very
close to offering the ability totext us your thoughts about the
shows or show feedback or askus a question.
(00:47):
So what we wanted to do withthat is answer a question on the
show, so during the show.
So you'll have the ability justto text us one or the other,
and that's coming very, verysoon.
So I'm very excited about that,this episode.
I love elevator pitches so much.
It's weird, actually, how muchI love elevator pitches.
I actually taught so some yearsago for the Whidbey Island
(01:11):
Writers Conference, which is nota conference that happens
anymore, which is a bummer but Itaught a three-hour
pre-conference elevator pitchclass and so helped everybody
narrow down their elevatorpitches and one of the attendees
was really, really strugglingwith her elevator pitch.
She got it nailed down.
(01:31):
She did a great job.
She got it nailed down so wellthat during the conference she
pitched an agent for with thiselevator pitch she got an agent
and she got a publishing deal.
So elevator pitches are.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
This is where I feel like I need to say in like a low
, quick, sped up voice, like notall results are typical.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Results may vary.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yes, yes, Results may vary.
Please consult with your doctor.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
That's great.
That's great.
I love that.
Yes, results may vary, but thatis so cool.
Yes, that's great.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I love the results of it, mary, but that is so cool.
Yes, right, oh my gosh, like Ican't imagine she even slept
that night.
What a wild ride.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
What a wild ride.
Yeah, and she had been to thisconference previously using the
original, and I don't even wantto call it an elevator pitch
because it wasn't.
She had an introduction and shehad used that previously and
she never got any interest.
So same exact book changed whatshe had which is probably like
a five paragraph introduction,which is way too long, into a
(02:36):
short, succinct elevator pitch.
And boom, she got a deal.
So an elevator pitch, eventhough results may vary.
I love that.
You added that.
But you know, elevator pitchescan absolutely change your life.
And here's the thing, though,too Sometimes, like, I haven't
been to as many in-personwriters' conferences and I miss
(02:58):
that.
But you know I definitely havesome on the schedule, so I'm
looking forward to that.
But sometimes, like, you'll goto writers' conferences and you
all listening.
If you've been to a writers'conference, you know I
definitely have some on theschedule, so I'm looking forward
to that.
But sometimes, like, you'll goto writers' conferences and you
all listening, if you've been toa writers' conference, you know
what I'm talking about.
And you ask an author whattheir book is about, for example
, and sometimes they'll say well, it's tough to describe, eh,
(03:18):
wrong answer, I don't reallyknow.
Well, it's about a lot ofthings, eh wrong answer.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I know Penny's like Simon Cowell.
She's like got her button ready.
I've got.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Let me tell you what I go to these conferences.
I've got in a very nice way,like I've got my button ready,
like get off the stage, stop it.
Here's the problem we all haveand this is not a new thing,
this is not a 2025 thing, but weall have short attention spans
and they're shrinking all thetime.
(03:50):
Sorry, but it's true.
Right, can you describe yourbook in one sentence that makes
somebody want to read it?
Unfortunately, I think themajority of authors will say no,
right, yes, but an elevatorpitch, and it doesn't
necessarily have to be onesentence, like it can be two
sentences, maybe three.
(04:12):
Right, we're going to look atsome elevator pitches towards
the end of the show, but yourelevator pitch I mean, amy, you
and I can rattle off like yourelevator pitch can be used
everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh, yeah, I mean, it's also the foundation for so
many other things too, oh, forsure?
Yes, yeah, I mean, it's just oneof those things.
It can even go in your the listcould go on forever, but you
could really get creative withit, because the whole point is
that it's short enough that, outof context, without knowing
(04:42):
anything else, people areinterested.
Yes, and so and that's what youhave to think about is that
this is something that reallyand that's a key point too it
should work out of context.
You know what I mean.
It needs to be one of thosethings where, no matter what the
situation, if you presentedthat line to somebody, they go.
I want to know more about that.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly.
That's the.
That's the thing about anelevator, that's the beauty of
an elevator pitch, is that itnot only should it be, should it
make sense completely out ofcontext, without seeing your
book cover or your website oranything about your book.
But it's also usable in so manydifferent ways and I know we're
going to talk about that lateron in the show.
(05:22):
But I mean, you can use andreuse your elevator pitch
everywhere.
A really good elevator pitchshould be used absolutely
everywhere, and, in particular,at writers' conferences.
Man, this is a real like.
If you want to go to somewriters' conferences, this is a
really, really good tool to havein your arsenal.
Honestly.
(05:42):
Really good tool to have inyour arsenal, honestly, because
people will that's the.
You know you're there to learnabout publishing and marketing
and people will ask you whatyour book's about.
Boom, you have this distinctelevator pitch.
It's great.
So that's part of the reasonwhy we wanted to do the show,
not just because I have thisweird attachment to elevator
pitches.
But so, amy, let's talk aboutwhy did you take the first one
(06:06):
when?
So why elevator pitches matter?
I know we talked about theshort time span and everything,
but, um, what else did we?
What else did we miss?
Why elevator pitches matter?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well and I think this is something else too is that a
lot of times and we this issomething internally that we
talk about all the time is thatwhen I think specifically for
when you're pitching influencers, media, whatever that is you
have to remember that these arenot everyday readers.
These are people that are inthe business and I think an
elevator pitch is I mean, it'sgreat for readers because it's
(06:42):
exciting and fun and interestingand it's you want them to think
like, oh my gosh, they know me,they're speaking right to me,
that's exactly what I'm lookingfor.
But, specifically when it comesto your marketing and promotion
and you're looking to getcoverage influencers, media
entities, people that arepotentially going to interview
you this is not new to them.
In fact, they get pitchedthousands of times a month, and
(07:06):
so the ability to have a reallystrong elevator pitch that shows
them that you are unique, butthat also you respect their time
.
Do not treat the media andinfluencers and things like that
like an everyday reader.
I think that is something that alot of authors forget and they
approach everybody the same way,when, in reality, influencers,
(07:29):
media, people like that that areused to this, you need to
remember that this is what theydo for a living.
They are not going to sit thereand read multiple paragraphs.
They are not going to let youtake up five minutes of their
day trying to convince them thatyour book is what they're
looking for.
So that elevator pitch not onlyshows that you understand
(07:51):
what's important or interestingabout your book, but it shows
that you respect their time,their position, what they're
potentially offering you.
I mean, it's very nuanced butit makes such a big difference.
So your elevator pitch isreally key to securing coverage
and piquing the interest ofthought leaders and people like
that, because it speaks to theirunique position and how they
(08:14):
approach doing their work, and Ithink that cannot be
underestimated Absolutely.
That's, absolutely that's very,very true.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
So if somebody were to ask me you know, okay, where
do I start to create an elevatorpitch?
I would say first off, ifyou've written fiction, think of
the one core piece of your book.
Without that your bookliterally would not exist, right
(08:41):
?
So that's the first piece.
You have to identify what thatcore element of your book is.
Now for nonfiction, it is thatone element that you bring to
the table with your topic thatsets your book apart from
(09:04):
everybody else, yes, but alsospeaks to the reader's need.
Okay, so that's a big piece ofit.
So the hook, obviously.
So the core ingredients of anelevator pistol.
Let's just go through like thehook, the protagonist or the
subject, the conflict or theproblem, right?
(09:26):
So what's at stake?
And then the unique elementwhat?
Why is it different?
And you know this is aninteresting question for you
nonfiction authors out there.
When I'm in consultation withauthors, I will a lot of times
ask them okay, so you wrote abook on whatever it is dieting
or dating, or banking, you know,saving money, whatever how is
(09:47):
your book different from all ofthe other books out there?
And unfortunately, a lot oftimes they don't really have a
clear answer.
So figuring out how your bookis unique is mandatory for a
great elevator pitch.
I mean, amy, would you agree?
Oh yeah, absolutely, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, without a doubt .
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So common mistakes to avoid and I know you have very
strong feelings about this.
Do you want to start this offabout this?
Do you want to start this off?
Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I think and this is something we I mean elevator
pitches specifically is notsomething we always work on with
every client, unless it's, youknow, needed like that one
particular element is absolutelyneeded or is separate from
everything else that we're doing.
But a lot of what we do interms of retail optimization
dips into this.
You know, and it's aconversation that we have doing,
(10:46):
but a lot of what we do interms of retail optimization
dips into this.
You know, and it's aconversation that we have with
clients a lot about when we'refinessing their description in
the retail page, and thisabsolutely comes into the
elevator pitch as well.
But you get so close to yourown work that your content that
you're presenting to potentialreaders, buyers, influencers,
thought leaders, media, thingslike that it's very easy to
(11:06):
overload those with names andbackstory and detail that is not
going to make sense to anybody.
Yet You're so close to your ownwork, everything makes sense to
you.
So sometimes it's really hardto be objective about what is
going to make sense to somebodyas a first impression.
(11:28):
You know, without all thatadditional, and so I think that
is a that's a really big onethat I always look for when I'm
assessing someone's retail page,their description, you know,
their elevator pitch, all ofthose things is will this make
sense to someone if they don'tknow anything else than what
they're reading here?
Yes, and almost always thereare ways to finesse it, refine
(11:51):
it and make it better.
Just based on that alone, youknow.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Right, exactly, exactly, and I think that, and
with that, so the other piece ofit is is that so overloading it
with?
So you cannot have too muchbackstory?
If you have to explain theentire backstory of a book
before you can explain the book,that's a problem, right, but
(12:20):
the other, the flip side of this, is something that's too
generic.
So we see this a lot on Amazonretail pages you in particular,
that it's about love and loss,yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
It's like, well, okay , you and three million other
books out there.
Thank you, Right.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
So I think you have to really.
I mean and this is where thisstarts to get hard we're going
to give you some ways that youcan create your own elevator
pitch.
I think you have to, really.
I mean and this is where thisstarts to get hard we're going
to give you some ways that youcan create your own elevator
pitch, and we'd love for you toshare your elevator pitches with
us when you create them,because I'd love to see them.
Sounding too generic losesinterest almost immediately.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Because they've read it before, they've seen it
before, right?
They probably own three othertitles that made seen it before,
right?
They probably own three othertitles that made that same
promise.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Right, exactly, and I see this a lot in particular
with memoir, right?
So when I tell people, so thefirst two letters in memoir are
me, right?
So, in order to sell yourmemoir effectively, you have to
make it.
Not about you, so not about me,but you have to make it about
(13:29):
what is the reader actuallygoing to learn?
And a lot of times when I talkto somebody about their memoir,
they'll say, well, it's aboutlove and loss.
Okay, great, right, sometimesit's good, we're not on video, I
know, I know, I know.
But here's the thing, though,too, is you're competing with
(13:50):
stories of and now I'm going tojust show my, my true crime,
love, because we are both veryaddicted to true crime.
Sharing the shelf in terms ofmemoir, of stories with young
women who were locked in abasement for years, right, I
mean, and not to say that yourstory isn't great and something
(14:15):
that you, you know, that youwant to share, and you want to
share your story.
You're going to have to digdeeper.
Right, you're going to have todig deeper.
You're also sharing the shelfof, you know, memoirs where
people, people who have survivedthe Holocaust, for example
(14:36):
right, sounding too generic, big, eh, that gets the Simon Cowell
button for sure, I know.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's a very good point, penny, too.
And again, not that this is notdesigned to make anybody
nervous or to feel down oranything like that, but I love
that you made that comparisonbecause it's true, you know,
when, especially, like you said,memoir, business book, I mean
anything, nonfiction you have toremember also that people with
household names and celebritiesare writing memoirs and
(15:09):
nonfiction titles, you know, andeven they have a hard time
selling tons of books.
Yeah, so you have to make surethat you are not just
replicating what everybody elsesays their experience was, you
know, and it sounds to someoneit's like well, it's my
experience, so it is superunique.
And that's where putting in alittle extra time to do the work
(15:31):
to make sure that youaccurately communicate what that
uniqueness is, instead ofreusing phrases that are, you
know, candidly, just overdone,you know.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Right, right, exactly , I think that's something, and
you know Ily just overdone.
You know, right, right, exactly, I think that's something, and
you know I also.
So we talked about going on andon and on about.
That's not an elevator pitch,so we don't have to, we don't
have to necessarily revisit that.
But I think the other piece ofit is forgetting who your
audience is and forgetting howyou know if you've written
(16:03):
nonfiction, how you know ifyou've written nonfiction.
You're speaking to a particularpain point that your reader is
facing and you need to make yourelevator pitch about them and
not about you.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Look at you go.
I know I love that, though it'sso true Because, again, too
close to your own work.
Nobody's doing it maliciously,but you know you, you know your
experience.
That's how elevator pitches,descriptions, retail pages end
up actually excluding the exactpeople that you are looking to
attract, because it becomes soabout you.
They can't even envisionthemselves in what you're trying
(16:40):
to sell them For sure.
They are no longer a part ofthe fantasy, the problem solving
the story.
You know what I mean.
It's no longer about them, andI think that is something that's
so easy to miss.
And again, it's not malicious,it's just tough when you are so
close to your own work.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, it is tough, and I think that one of the
other things that we're going toget into how to create an
elevator pitch and give you guys, give you all some examples.
But I think the other piece ofit, though, too, with elevator
pitches, that a lot of times sothe pushback that I hear when I
coach authors on elevatorpitches is that they don't want
to give away the entire book.
And we're not asking you togive away the entire book.
(17:18):
What we're asking you to do isgive away you know, whet their
appetite enough where you aregiving away the hook, the thing
that's going to anchor yourreader to the story, like, oh my
gosh, I have to read this.
You know, and that's the thingthat gets us.
(17:40):
You have a few seconds to reallygrab somebody's attention.
Don't hesitate to give away amajor plot point.
I'm not asking you to give awaythe ending or the solution if
you've written nonfiction, butyou're going to have to really
(18:01):
dig deep on this, right?
So, first piece of this.
All right, so you're going tosit down, write out.
You can so write out threedifferent versions the first one
should be a minute, then 30seconds, then 10 seconds.
Your best, the best tip that Ican give you in this particular
(18:23):
sequence of tips to create yourown elevator pitch is edit, edit
, edit, edit, because that isgoing to be your absolute best
friend.
Mm-hmm, 100%.
Yeah, amy, you want to take thenext one?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, I love this one , and we've mentioned this in
different shows before fordifferent reasons, but it's
never a bad idea to practicesaying them out loud, because if
it feels clunky, it is clunky.
I even recommend going so faras to record yourself.
You can just do it with yourphone.
Nobody's going to see thisunless you really want to.
Good for you.
You are a braver person than Iam.
(19:03):
It could make for some funcontent online, though,
depending on what your onlinepersona is.
But truly video yourself too,because the added that's kind of
a next level version ofpresenting it too, because
you're going to be going no, myface looks crazy, but it truly
it sounds silly.
But even trying to presentyourself to the camera in a
(19:26):
stronger, more successful, moreassertive way will make your
delivery better as well, and itreally does all play together.
So definitely say them out loud.
But even consider going nextstep and just recording yourself
, because there is that nextlevel pressure.
When you're recording the wayyou deliver it really it can
change your voice, it can changethe cadence, and even that the
(19:47):
cadence in your voice and allthose things are affected by the
words that you're using in yourpitch, and so it really does
all come together Right.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
But the other piece of it, though, that I just want
to reiterate is even just sayingit out loud without recording
it.
So I will do this with my bookdescriptions, and sometimes,
when I first write them, I meanI know that y'all are like, oh,
you're marketing experts.
The first thing that you do isgreat.
That's actually not true, butthe first description that I
(20:21):
write for my book and I read itout loud, I'm literally like I
don't know how I'm allowed to gooutside.
It's so weird.
So reading it out loud isreally helpful.
The other thing so test it onsomebody who you don't know, who
is unfamiliar with your book.
(20:42):
And here's the thing Don't askneighbors, don't the thing.
Don't ask neighbors, don't askfriends, don't ask family,
because they'll be like oh, theylove everything that you do
Because they want to support you.
Ask somebody who can be reallyhonest in their feedback, right?
Don't ask people in yourwriter's group either, because
they also want you to do.
(21:02):
You know what I mean.
Like go to a bookstore, yeah,you know.
And if you and this is why youknow you should definitely be
friendly with your localbookstores Even you know local
libraries what Yep?
We said at the same time, evenyour librarian?
It's like we're just thinkingalike.
That must be super scary foryou right now, amy.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And everybody listening.
They're like, oh okay.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And then the podcast just really derailed at that
point.
Test, yeah, test it withsomebody who doesn't have a
horse in the race.
Basically yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
I think that's brilliant.
And then you also want totailor versions for readers
versus reviewers versus industrypeople.
This kind of came up earlierwhen we were talking about how
it really does need to bepresented differently to
different people, becausedifferent demographics are there
to experience the book indifferent ways.
(21:58):
You know an everyday readerversus an industry professional,
versus a thought leader, aninfluencer, whatever, versus
even somebody, a reviewer.
It's all a very differentexperience for them.
So challenge yourself to tailorversions specifically for those
different demographics that youplan on reaching out to as part
of your marketing and promotion, because that will also push
(22:20):
you.
You never know the one that youwrite for one.
Maybe it's like, okay, waitthat actually you could do some
mixing.
You never know what you'regoing to come up with, but
pushing yourself to do thosedifferent versions is going to
give you a better versionoverall, no matter what.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Right Now.
I completely agree with thatand you're going to also see
holes in, like, oh my gosh, thiscould have been better Like
every time that you edit itwe're not suggesting that you
edit it endlessly, becausethat's also not productive but
every time that you kind of, youknow, whittle it down and
change it around, you're goingto be like, oh my gosh, this was
so much better.
Here's a really fun thing thatI, when I teach these classes
(22:57):
that I encourage authors to do,is practice on other people's
books first.
Sometimes it's easier topractice on somebody else's
books.
So you'll see, a lot of timesauthors will have elevator
pitches on Amazon in their bookdescription.
Just jot those down and see ifyou can make them better, right,
and that's something that helpsyou.
So what that does is it helpsyou to kind of strengthen that
(23:25):
elevator pitch muscle to learnwhat a good, tight, succinct,
interesting, unique elevatorpitch contains.
And a lot of times it's easierto practice on somebody else's.
You don't have to do this, butit's kind of a fun.
You know, it's kind of a funlittle exercise.
Yeah, I love that.
(23:45):
Okay, so your first draft ofyour elevator pitch.
If it's really great, awesome,congratulations.
Then you are magical.
It's probably not going to be.
So plan to spend a little.
Like I said, I did a three-hourclass on this.
I mean, granted, we had a lotof students in the class, but
(24:09):
plan to really, you know, spendsome time with this.
Read it out loud, as Amy said,and whittle this down and ask
somebody for their feedback whodoesn't, you know, have anything
to do with your book or you, orsomebody that you don't have to
(24:30):
see on a regular basis, likeyour barista at Starbucks.
What did we miss?
In terms of how to design anelevator pitch?
Anything.
Did we miss anything?
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I don't think so.
I mean, I think we gave them adecent amount of homework to
work on, and I hope you'll enjoyit too, though, because this
can be really fun If you havethe right mindset.
It really is something that youshould embrace as a positive
challenge, because, again,anything you do that forces you
(24:57):
to communicate about your bookin a more successful way is
going to make everything elsethat you do for marketing and
promotion better, I promise you,because marketing and promotion
is already challenging enoughas it is.
It takes time, it takes effort.
There is nothing worse thanwasting that time and effort by
simply going through the motionsand not putting the best
(25:19):
version of what you can offerpeople out there, you know.
So don't just check marketingoff your list, because it's
already tough enough.
Sometimes you know like that'sjust going to make it worse
because you're not going to getthe returns on it.
So use this as a reminder toreally dig in and get thoughtful
about what you're doing,because your return on your
(25:39):
efforts will be a lot better.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and so we have.
I have.
I was debating.
I found this really great meme,particular for this show.
I don't know if that's reallygoing to translate if I say it
out loud, so I'll save it to theend, just in case if the show
ends up going off a cliff like,oh, what was Penny thinking with
that?
Let's dig into some before andafter examples.
(26:03):
So I'll start with the firstone.
We'll just take them.
We have four of them.
We'll just take them in order.
So here's the before.
This is a fiction book.
It's a fantasy book about agirl who discovers she has
powers.
There's a war and she has tofight to save the kingdom from
an evil lord.
A little long, a littleconvoluted.
Kind of lost me after the firstsentence, the after a powerless
(26:37):
girl discovers she's thekingdom's last hope against a
dark sorcerer and using hermagic may cost her life.
So much better, so much better,right, mm-hmm?
Yeah, take the next one.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Okay, it's a romance example.
It's a love story set in NewYork with two people who meet by
chance and have to overcomeobstacles.
I know kind of generic, youknow it's an overcome obstacles.
It's like, well, what that'slike literally every day for me.
So what is going on here?
Like I want to live in thefantasy, but the after two
(27:03):
rivals in the cutthroat New Yorkfood scene fall in love if
ambition doesn't destroy themfirst.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
That's a book that's very cool.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
I know so exciting and how you know just adding,
you know, new York food scenejust automatically gives you a
visual to lock on to Right.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Now, if you added to the end of this around the
holidays, I would be buying thisbook off the shelf.
I know.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Penny's already clicking the link.
She's no longer on the show.
I'm handling the rest she'sshopping.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Thank you for listening Penny's shopping on.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Amazon Exactly, but truly think about those little
details that don't make it anylonger but that add, that really
drop people into a scene, orthat let them visualize
something, versus just teasingthem with a concept.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Right, right, exactly so.
The next one I really wanted totake this one just because I
read a lot of business books,and this is a nonfiction example
, so before the before is it's abusiness book that talks about
marketing strategies for smallbusinesses.
Like I know not getting thatloan?
There again we're getting,we're getting we.
Here again we're getting the Xbuzzer.
I won't be buying that onebecause it's just like well,
(28:14):
that's just like whatever Apractical playbook that shows
small business owners how todouble sales without doubling
their workload.
I'm already in, I know.
Once again on Amazon.
Amy's finishing up the show.
I'm clicking the link.
Once again on Amazon, amy'sfinishing up the show.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I'm clicking the link , but it's true.
I mean it talks about benefits.
It hits on the pain point.
Nobody wants to double theirworkload when they're running a
small business.
It really, in such a smallamount of time, spoke volumes
about what people in theirtarget market are looking for.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yeah, because there's nobody that doesn't own a
business, regardless of size,that doesn't want to double
sales without doubling workload.
Right, no, I don't have timefor that.
Right Like, oh no, that justsounds like no, right, I mean,
that's like again, I'm alreadyon Amazon.
Amy's finishing the show.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Right.
And then our last one's amemoir example, which is perfect
, because we kind of teased thatone throughout the show.
The example which is perfectbecause we kind of teased that
one throughout the show.
The before is it's about myjourney through hardship, loss
and finding love again.
Nope, yep, and as we talkedabout, so many people experience
that just literally every day.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, a lot of people don'tfind that book worthy.
(29:24):
I hate to say it.
It doesn't mean your storyisn't, but the way you're
presenting it.
A lot of people go yeah, that'sliterally everyday life and
there's not that emotionalconnection that they're making.
You know.
But the after one woman's rawjourney from tragedy to triumph
proves it's never too late torebuild a life worth living.
And look at the shift betweenthe first one is it's my, my, my
(29:48):
, this.
Next one, one woman's.
And then it's never too late torebuild a life worth living.
That is for everybody.
You know what I mean.
Like they are now speaking tothe potential reader.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Yeah, now you're speaking to a reader who has
potentially sort of given up.
Like you know, I've had my runand that's where you're and and
you know even the after is great, but even with the after, you
could still add a tiny little,like, maybe even just one word
(30:24):
that depicts what that, whatthat raw journey was, right,
right, you know what I mean,like a raw journey from being
abandoned at birth or somethinglike that.
Do you know what I mean?
Because now what that does isnow you are narrowing down your
audience even more, and one ofthe things that I think is worth
(30:44):
closing out with the show isthat it's never a good idea we
talk about this in marketing allthe time it's never a good idea
to broad stroke everything.
My book's for everybody.
Everybody is my reader.
No, absolutely.
That never happens with anybook ever, right, right, exactly
(31:05):
.
So a lot of times the pushbackthat I've gotten when I've
taught elevator pitch classes isthat this is too narrow.
Narrow is really where you wantto be Like.
I know this sounds very, youknow, like counterintuitive to
marketing and I cite this a lot.
(31:25):
So the chicken soup for thesoul, guys, just as an example.
Chicken soup for the soul.
Everybody knows it, it'severywhere all the time.
But when they started withtheir first book, they had a
very core audience in mind andthat was who they focused on
that core Hallmark shopping,watching the Hallmark channel
(31:50):
core audience who wantedfeel-good stories.
From that they built out thismega brand that we all know
about.
The more that you can narrowyour focus, the better served
literally, not just elevatorpitches, but the literally
(32:10):
everything will be Right, 100%.
Trust me, trust us when we saythat it could be one of the best
things.
One of the best things that youever do for your campaign is to
narrow your focus, and I meanthis with whether you're running
social media ads or Amazon ads.
Imagine if you were running,let's just say, because Facebook
is so expensive.
Imagine you're running Facebookads.
(32:31):
You're like I'm just going totarget everyone in the US
because everybody wants to buymy book.
Whoa, no, yeah, right.
So all right, we really wantyour, we love your feedback and,
like I said, I alluded to thisthe first, at the intro of the
show we are going to have a.
There's going to be a phonenumber where you could reach us
we're very excited about it Umwhere you can send us your, your
(32:53):
feedback on the show, um and uh, your questions and ask us your
questions.
But our contact information isin the show notes.
So if you have an elevatorpitch you want to send us, send
our way.
By all means, definitely dothat.
And um, and if it's okay toread it on the air, if you're
comfortable with us reading iton the air, let us know in that
(33:13):
email.
That would be great.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
We appreciate this.
Every Friday we are with youand hopefully giving you some
actionable tips that you canwalk away from and be a better
book marketer and be moresuccessful.
Thank you so much for tuning inand we'll see you next Friday.
Bye-bye.
Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips
and Author Success Podcast.
This is Penny Sansonary, I'mAmy Cornell, and we are really
excited.
We are so, so, so close tohitting that 100 mark.
Maybe even when this show dropswe'll have hit our 100 ratings
and reviews, which we have.
You guys, we've asked and ourawesome listeners have delivered
(00:23):
.
So we're at like 98 as of theshow recording.
Very excited about that.
Also, one quick announcement weare maybe this will roll out by
the time that this episode hits, I don't know but we are very
close to offering the ability totext us your thoughts about the
shows or show feedback or askus a question.
(00:47):
So what we wanted to do withthat is answer a question on the
show, so during the show.
So you'll have the ability justto text us one or the other,
and that's coming very, verysoon.
So I'm very excited about that,this episode.
I love elevator pitches so much.
It's weird, actually, how muchI love elevator pitches.
I actually taught so some yearsago for the Whidbey Island
(01:11):
Writers Conference, which is nota conference that happens
anymore, which is a bummer but Itaught a three-hour
pre-conference elevator pitchclass and so helped everybody
narrow down their elevatorpitches and one of the attendees
was really, really strugglingwith her elevator pitch.
She got it nailed down.
(01:31):
She did a great job.
She got it nailed down so wellthat during the conference she
pitched an agent for with thiselevator pitch she got an agent
and she got a publishing deal.
So elevator pitches are.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
This is where I feel like I need to say in like a low
, quick, sped up voice, like notall results are typical.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Results may vary.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yes, yes, Results may vary.
Please consult with your doctor.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
That's great.
That's great.
I love that.
Yes, results may vary, but thatis so cool.
Yes, that's great.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I love the results of it, mary, but that is so cool.
Yes, right, oh my gosh, like Ican't imagine she even slept
that night.
What a wild ride.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
What a wild ride.
Yeah, and she had been to thisconference previously using the
original, and I don't even wantto call it an elevator pitch
because it wasn't.
She had an introduction and shehad used that previously and
she never got any interest.
So same exact book changed whatshe had which is probably like
a five paragraph introduction,which is way too long, into a
(02:36):
short, succinct elevator pitch.
And boom, she got a deal.
So an elevator pitch, eventhough results may vary.
I love that.
You added that.
But you know, elevator pitchescan absolutely change your life.
And here's the thing, though,too Sometimes, like, I haven't
been to as many in-personwriters' conferences and I miss
(02:58):
that.
But you know I definitely havesome on the schedule, so I'm
looking forward to that.
But sometimes, like, you'll goto writers' conferences and you
all listening.
If you've been to a writers'conference, you know I
definitely have some on theschedule, so I'm looking forward
to that.
But sometimes, like, you'll goto writers' conferences and you
all listening, if you've been toa writers' conference, you know
what I'm talking about.
And you ask an author whattheir book is about, for example
, and sometimes they'll say well, it's tough to describe, eh,
(03:18):
wrong answer, I don't reallyknow.
Well, it's about a lot ofthings, eh wrong answer.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I know Penny's like Simon Cowell.
She's like got her button ready.
I've got.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Let me tell you what I go to these conferences.
I've got in a very nice way,like I've got my button ready,
like get off the stage, stop it.
Here's the problem we all haveand this is not a new thing,
this is not a 2025 thing, but weall have short attention spans
and they're shrinking all thetime.
(03:50):
Sorry, but it's true.
Right, can you describe yourbook in one sentence that makes
somebody want to read it?
Unfortunately, I think themajority of authors will say no,
right, yes, but an elevatorpitch, and it doesn't
necessarily have to be onesentence, like it can be two
sentences, maybe three.
(04:12):
Right, we're going to look atsome elevator pitches towards
the end of the show, but yourelevator pitch I mean, amy, you
and I can rattle off like yourelevator pitch can be used
everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh, yeah, I mean, it's also the foundation for so
many other things too, oh, forsure?
Yes, yeah, I mean, it's just oneof those things.
It can even go in your the listcould go on forever, but you
could really get creative withit, because the whole point is
that it's short enough that, outof context, without knowing
(04:42):
anything else, people areinterested.
Yes, and so and that's what youhave to think about is that
this is something that reallyand that's a key point too it
should work out of context.
You know what I mean.
It needs to be one of thosethings where, no matter what the
situation, if you presentedthat line to somebody, they go.
I want to know more about that.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly.
That's the.
That's the thing about anelevator, that's the beauty of
an elevator pitch, is that itnot only should it be, should it
make sense completely out ofcontext, without seeing your
book cover or your website oranything about your book.
But it's also usable in so manydifferent ways and I know we're
going to talk about that lateron in the show.
(05:22):
But I mean, you can use andreuse your elevator pitch
everywhere.
A really good elevator pitchshould be used absolutely
everywhere, and, in particular,at writers' conferences.
Man, this is a real like.
If you want to go to somewriters' conferences, this is a
really, really good tool to havein your arsenal.
Honestly.
(05:42):
Really good tool to have inyour arsenal, honestly, because
people will that's the.
You know you're there to learnabout publishing and marketing
and people will ask you whatyour book's about.
Boom, you have this distinctelevator pitch.
It's great.
So that's part of the reasonwhy we wanted to do the show,
not just because I have thisweird attachment to elevator
pitches.
But so, amy, let's talk aboutwhy did you take the first one
(06:06):
when?
So why elevator pitches matter?
I know we talked about theshort time span and everything,
but, um, what else did we?
What else did we miss?
Why elevator pitches matter?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well and I think this is something else too is that a
lot of times and we this issomething internally that we
talk about all the time is thatwhen I think specifically for
when you're pitching influencers, media, whatever that is you
have to remember that these arenot everyday readers.
These are people that are inthe business and I think an
elevator pitch is I mean, it'sgreat for readers because it's
(06:42):
exciting and fun and interestingand it's you want them to think
like, oh my gosh, they know me,they're speaking right to me,
that's exactly what I'm lookingfor.
But, specifically when it comesto your marketing and promotion
and you're looking to getcoverage influencers, media
entities, people that arepotentially going to interview
you this is not new to them.
In fact, they get pitchedthousands of times a month, and
(07:06):
so the ability to have a reallystrong elevator pitch that shows
them that you are unique, butthat also you respect their time
.
Do not treat the media andinfluencers and things like that
like an everyday reader.
I think that is something that alot of authors forget and they
approach everybody the same way,when, in reality, influencers,
(07:29):
media, people like that that areused to this, you need to
remember that this is what theydo for a living.
They are not going to sit thereand read multiple paragraphs.
They are not going to let youtake up five minutes of their
day trying to convince them thatyour book is what they're
looking for.
So that elevator pitch not onlyshows that you understand
(07:51):
what's important or interestingabout your book, but it shows
that you respect their time,their position, what they're
potentially offering you.
I mean, it's very nuanced butit makes such a big difference.
So your elevator pitch isreally key to securing coverage
and piquing the interest ofthought leaders and people like
that, because it speaks to theirunique position and how they
(08:14):
approach doing their work, and Ithink that cannot be
underestimated Absolutely.
That's, absolutely that's very,very true.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
So if somebody were to ask me you know, okay, where
do I start to create an elevatorpitch?
I would say first off, ifyou've written fiction, think of
the one core piece of your book.
Without that your bookliterally would not exist, right
(08:41):
?
So that's the first piece.
You have to identify what thatcore element of your book is.
Now for nonfiction, it is thatone element that you bring to
the table with your topic thatsets your book apart from
(09:04):
everybody else, yes, but alsospeaks to the reader's need.
Okay, so that's a big piece ofit.
So the hook, obviously.
So the core ingredients of anelevator pistol.
Let's just go through like thehook, the protagonist or the
subject, the conflict or theproblem, right?
(09:26):
So what's at stake?
And then the unique elementwhat?
Why is it different?
And you know this is aninteresting question for you
nonfiction authors out there.
When I'm in consultation withauthors, I will a lot of times
ask them okay, so you wrote abook on whatever it is dieting
or dating, or banking, you know,saving money, whatever how is
(09:47):
your book different from all ofthe other books out there?
And unfortunately, a lot oftimes they don't really have a
clear answer.
So figuring out how your bookis unique is mandatory for a
great elevator pitch.
I mean, amy, would you agree?
Oh yeah, absolutely, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, without a doubt .
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So common mistakes to avoid and I know you have very
strong feelings about this.
Do you want to start this offabout this?
Do you want to start this off?
Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I think and this is something we I mean elevator
pitches specifically is notsomething we always work on with
every client, unless it's, youknow, needed like that one
particular element is absolutelyneeded or is separate from
everything else that we're doing.
But a lot of what we do interms of retail optimization
dips into this.
You know, and it's aconversation that we have doing,
(10:46):
but a lot of what we do interms of retail optimization
dips into this.
You know, and it's aconversation that we have with
clients a lot about when we'refinessing their description in
the retail page, and thisabsolutely comes into the
elevator pitch as well.
But you get so close to yourown work that your content that
you're presenting to potentialreaders, buyers, influencers,
thought leaders, media, thingslike that it's very easy to
(11:06):
overload those with names andbackstory and detail that is not
going to make sense to anybody.
Yet You're so close to your ownwork, everything makes sense to
you.
So sometimes it's really hardto be objective about what is
going to make sense to somebodyas a first impression.
(11:28):
You know, without all thatadditional, and so I think that
is a that's a really big onethat I always look for when I'm
assessing someone's retail page,their description, you know,
their elevator pitch, all ofthose things is will this make
sense to someone if they don'tknow anything else than what
they're reading here?
Yes, and almost always thereare ways to finesse it, refine
(11:51):
it and make it better.
Just based on that alone, youknow.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Right, exactly, exactly, and I think that, and
with that, so the other piece ofit is is that so overloading it
with?
So you cannot have too muchbackstory?
If you have to explain theentire backstory of a book
before you can explain the book,that's a problem, right, but
(12:20):
the other, the flip side of this, is something that's too
generic.
So we see this a lot on Amazonretail pages you in particular,
that it's about love and loss,yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
It's like, well, okay , you and three million other
books out there.
Thank you, Right.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
So I think you have to really.
I mean and this is where thisstarts to get hard we're going
to give you some ways that youcan create your own elevator
pitch.
I think you have to, really.
I mean and this is where thisstarts to get hard we're going
to give you some ways that youcan create your own elevator
pitch, and we'd love for you toshare your elevator pitches with
us when you create them,because I'd love to see them.
Sounding too generic losesinterest almost immediately.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Because they've read it before, they've seen it
before, right?
They probably own three othertitles that made seen it before,
right?
They probably own three othertitles that made that same
promise.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Right, exactly, and I see this a lot in particular
with memoir, right?
So when I tell people, so thefirst two letters in memoir are
me, right?
So, in order to sell yourmemoir effectively, you have to
make it.
Not about you, so not about me,but you have to make it about
(13:29):
what is the reader actuallygoing to learn?
And a lot of times when I talkto somebody about their memoir,
they'll say, well, it's aboutlove and loss.
Okay, great, right, sometimesit's good, we're not on video, I
know, I know, I know.
But here's the thing, though,too, is you're competing with
(13:50):
stories of and now I'm going tojust show my, my true crime,
love, because we are both veryaddicted to true crime.
Sharing the shelf in terms ofmemoir, of stories with young
women who were locked in abasement for years, right, I
mean, and not to say that yourstory isn't great and something
(14:15):
that you, you know, that youwant to share, and you want to
share your story.
You're going to have to digdeeper.
Right, you're going to have todig deeper.
You're also sharing the shelfof, you know, memoirs where
people, people who have survivedthe Holocaust, for example
(14:36):
right, sounding too generic, big, eh, that gets the Simon Cowell
button for sure, I know.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's a very good point, penny, too.
And again, not that this is notdesigned to make anybody
nervous or to feel down oranything like that, but I love
that you made that comparisonbecause it's true, you know,
when, especially, like you said,memoir, business book, I mean
anything, nonfiction you have toremember also that people with
household names and celebritiesare writing memoirs and
(15:09):
nonfiction titles, you know, andeven they have a hard time
selling tons of books.
Yeah, so you have to make surethat you are not just
replicating what everybody elsesays their experience was, you
know, and it sounds to someoneit's like well, it's my
experience, so it is superunique.
And that's where putting in alittle extra time to do the work
(15:31):
to make sure that youaccurately communicate what that
uniqueness is, instead ofreusing phrases that are, you
know, candidly, just overdone,you know.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Right, right, exactly , I think that's something, and
you know Ily just overdone.
You know, right, right, exactly, I think that's something, and
you know I also.
So we talked about going on andon and on about.
That's not an elevator pitch,so we don't have to, we don't
have to necessarily revisit that.
But I think the other piece ofit is forgetting who your
audience is and forgetting howyou know if you've written
(16:03):
nonfiction, how you know ifyou've written nonfiction.
You're speaking to a particularpain point that your reader is
facing and you need to make yourelevator pitch about them and
not about you.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Look at you go.
I know I love that, though it'sso true Because, again, too
close to your own work.
Nobody's doing it maliciously,but you know you, you know your
experience.
That's how elevator pitches,descriptions, retail pages end
up actually excluding the exactpeople that you are looking to
attract, because it becomes soabout you.
They can't even envisionthemselves in what you're trying
(16:40):
to sell them For sure.
They are no longer a part ofthe fantasy, the problem solving
the story.
You know what I mean.
It's no longer about them, andI think that is something that's
so easy to miss.
And again, it's not malicious,it's just tough when you are so
close to your own work.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, it is tough, and I think that one of the
other things that we're going toget into how to create an
elevator pitch and give you guys, give you all some examples.
But I think the other piece ofit, though, too, with elevator
pitches, that a lot of times sothe pushback that I hear when I
coach authors on elevatorpitches is that they don't want
to give away the entire book.
And we're not asking you togive away the entire book.
(17:18):
What we're asking you to do isgive away you know, whet their
appetite enough where you aregiving away the hook, the thing
that's going to anchor yourreader to the story, like, oh my
gosh, I have to read this.
You know, and that's the thingthat gets us.
(17:40):
You have a few seconds to reallygrab somebody's attention.
Don't hesitate to give away amajor plot point.
I'm not asking you to give awaythe ending or the solution if
you've written nonfiction, butyou're going to have to really
(18:01):
dig deep on this, right?
So, first piece of this.
All right, so you're going tosit down, write out.
You can so write out threedifferent versions the first one
should be a minute, then 30seconds, then 10 seconds.
Your best, the best tip that Ican give you in this particular
(18:23):
sequence of tips to create yourown elevator pitch is edit, edit
, edit, edit, because that isgoing to be your absolute best
friend.
Mm-hmm, 100%.
Yeah, amy, you want to take thenext one?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, I love this one , and we've mentioned this in
different shows before fordifferent reasons, but it's
never a bad idea to practicesaying them out loud, because if
it feels clunky, it is clunky.
I even recommend going so faras to record yourself.
You can just do it with yourphone.
Nobody's going to see thisunless you really want to.
Good for you.
You are a braver person than Iam.
(19:03):
It could make for some funcontent online, though,
depending on what your onlinepersona is.
But truly video yourself too,because the added that's kind of
a next level version ofpresenting it too, because
you're going to be going no, myface looks crazy, but it truly
it sounds silly.
But even trying to presentyourself to the camera in a
(19:26):
stronger, more successful, moreassertive way will make your
delivery better as well, and itreally does all play together.
So definitely say them out loud.
But even consider going nextstep and just recording yourself
, because there is that nextlevel pressure.
When you're recording the wayyou deliver it really it can
change your voice, it can changethe cadence, and even that the
(19:47):
cadence in your voice and allthose things are affected by the
words that you're using in yourpitch, and so it really does
all come together Right.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
But the other piece of it, though, that I just want
to reiterate is even just sayingit out loud without recording
it.
So I will do this with my bookdescriptions, and sometimes,
when I first write them, I meanI know that y'all are like, oh,
you're marketing experts.
The first thing that you do isgreat.
That's actually not true, butthe first description that I
(20:21):
write for my book and I read itout loud, I'm literally like I
don't know how I'm allowed to gooutside.
It's so weird.
So reading it out loud isreally helpful.
The other thing so test it onsomebody who you don't know, who
is unfamiliar with your book.
(20:42):
And here's the thing Don't askneighbors, don't the thing.
Don't ask neighbors, don't askfriends, don't ask family,
because they'll be like oh, theylove everything that you do
Because they want to support you.
Ask somebody who can be reallyhonest in their feedback, right?
Don't ask people in yourwriter's group either, because
they also want you to do.
(21:02):
You know what I mean.
Like go to a bookstore, yeah,you know.
And if you and this is why youknow you should definitely be
friendly with your localbookstores Even you know local
libraries what Yep?
We said at the same time, evenyour librarian?
It's like we're just thinkingalike.
That must be super scary foryou right now, amy.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And everybody listening.
They're like, oh okay.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And then the podcast just really derailed at that
point.
Test, yeah, test it withsomebody who doesn't have a
horse in the race.
Basically yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
I think that's brilliant.
And then you also want totailor versions for readers
versus reviewers versus industrypeople.
This kind of came up earlierwhen we were talking about how
it really does need to bepresented differently to
different people, becausedifferent demographics are there
to experience the book indifferent ways.
(21:58):
You know an everyday readerversus an industry professional,
versus a thought leader, aninfluencer, whatever, versus
even somebody, a reviewer.
It's all a very differentexperience for them.
So challenge yourself to tailorversions specifically for those
different demographics that youplan on reaching out to as part
of your marketing and promotion, because that will also push
(22:20):
you.
You never know the one that youwrite for one.
Maybe it's like, okay, waitthat actually you could do some
mixing.
You never know what you'regoing to come up with, but
pushing yourself to do thosedifferent versions is going to
give you a better versionoverall, no matter what.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Right Now.
I completely agree with thatand you're going to also see
holes in, like, oh my gosh, thiscould have been better Like
every time that you edit itwe're not suggesting that you
edit it endlessly, becausethat's also not productive but
every time that you kind of, youknow, whittle it down and
change it around, you're goingto be like, oh my gosh, this was
so much better.
Here's a really fun thing thatI, when I teach these classes
(22:57):
that I encourage authors to do,is practice on other people's
books first.
Sometimes it's easier topractice on somebody else's
books.
So you'll see, a lot of timesauthors will have elevator
pitches on Amazon in their bookdescription.
Just jot those down and see ifyou can make them better, right,
and that's something that helpsyou.
So what that does is it helpsyou to kind of strengthen that
(23:25):
elevator pitch muscle to learnwhat a good, tight, succinct,
interesting, unique elevatorpitch contains.
And a lot of times it's easierto practice on somebody else's.
You don't have to do this, butit's kind of a fun.
You know, it's kind of a funlittle exercise.
Yeah, I love that.
(23:45):
Okay, so your first draft ofyour elevator pitch.
If it's really great, awesome,congratulations.
Then you are magical.
It's probably not going to be.
So plan to spend a little.
Like I said, I did a three-hourclass on this.
I mean, granted, we had a lotof students in the class, but
(24:09):
plan to really, you know, spendsome time with this.
Read it out loud, as Amy said,and whittle this down and ask
somebody for their feedback whodoesn't, you know, have anything
to do with your book or you, orsomebody that you don't have to
(24:30):
see on a regular basis, likeyour barista at Starbucks.
What did we miss?
In terms of how to design anelevator pitch?
Anything.
Did we miss anything?
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I don't think so.
I mean, I think we gave them adecent amount of homework to
work on, and I hope you'll enjoyit too, though, because this
can be really fun If you havethe right mindset.
It really is something that youshould embrace as a positive
challenge, because, again,anything you do that forces you
(24:57):
to communicate about your bookin a more successful way is
going to make everything elsethat you do for marketing and
promotion better, I promise you,because marketing and promotion
is already challenging enoughas it is.
It takes time, it takes effort.
There is nothing worse thanwasting that time and effort by
simply going through the motionsand not putting the best
(25:19):
version of what you can offerpeople out there, you know.
So don't just check marketingoff your list, because it's
already tough enough.
Sometimes you know like that'sjust going to make it worse
because you're not going to getthe returns on it.
So use this as a reminder toreally dig in and get thoughtful
about what you're doing,because your return on your
(25:39):
efforts will be a lot better.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and so we have.
I have.
I was debating.
I found this really great meme,particular for this show.
I don't know if that's reallygoing to translate if I say it
out loud, so I'll save it to theend, just in case if the show
ends up going off a cliff like,oh, what was Penny thinking with
that?
Let's dig into some before andafter examples.
(26:03):
So I'll start with the firstone.
We'll just take them.
We have four of them.
We'll just take them in order.
So here's the before.
This is a fiction book.
It's a fantasy book about agirl who discovers she has
powers.
There's a war and she has tofight to save the kingdom from
an evil lord.
A little long, a littleconvoluted.
Kind of lost me after the firstsentence, the after a powerless
(26:37):
girl discovers she's thekingdom's last hope against a
dark sorcerer and using hermagic may cost her life.
So much better, so much better,right, mm-hmm?
Yeah, take the next one.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Okay, it's a romance example.
It's a love story set in NewYork with two people who meet by
chance and have to overcomeobstacles.
I know kind of generic, youknow it's an overcome obstacles.
It's like, well, what that'slike literally every day for me.
So what is going on here?
Like I want to live in thefantasy, but the after two
(27:03):
rivals in the cutthroat New Yorkfood scene fall in love if
ambition doesn't destroy themfirst.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
That's a book that's very cool.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
I know so exciting and how you know just adding,
you know, new York food scenejust automatically gives you a
visual to lock on to Right.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Now, if you added to the end of this around the
holidays, I would be buying thisbook off the shelf.
I know.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Penny's already clicking the link.
She's no longer on the show.
I'm handling the rest she'sshopping.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Thank you for listening Penny's shopping on.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Amazon Exactly, but truly think about those little
details that don't make it anylonger but that add, that really
drop people into a scene, orthat let them visualize
something, versus just teasingthem with a concept.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Right, right, exactly so.
The next one I really wanted totake this one just because I
read a lot of business books,and this is a nonfiction example
, so before the before is it's abusiness book that talks about
marketing strategies for smallbusinesses.
Like I know not getting thatloan?
There again we're getting,we're getting we.
Here again we're getting the Xbuzzer.
I won't be buying that onebecause it's just like well,
(28:14):
that's just like whatever Apractical playbook that shows
small business owners how todouble sales without doubling
their workload.
I'm already in, I know.
Once again on Amazon.
Amy's finishing up the show.
I'm clicking the link.
Once again on Amazon, amy'sfinishing up the show.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I'm clicking the link , but it's true.
I mean it talks about benefits.
It hits on the pain point.
Nobody wants to double theirworkload when they're running a
small business.
It really, in such a smallamount of time, spoke volumes
about what people in theirtarget market are looking for.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yeah, because there's nobody that doesn't own a
business, regardless of size,that doesn't want to double
sales without doubling workload.
Right, no, I don't have timefor that.
Right Like, oh no, that justsounds like no, right, I mean,
that's like again, I'm alreadyon Amazon.
Amy's finishing the show.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Right.
And then our last one's amemoir example, which is perfect
, because we kind of teased thatone throughout the show.
The example which is perfectbecause we kind of teased that
one throughout the show.
The before is it's about myjourney through hardship, loss
and finding love again.
Nope, yep, and as we talkedabout, so many people experience
that just literally every day.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, a lot of people don'tfind that book worthy.
(29:24):
I hate to say it.
It doesn't mean your storyisn't, but the way you're
presenting it.
A lot of people go yeah, that'sliterally everyday life and
there's not that emotionalconnection that they're making.
You know.
But the after one woman's rawjourney from tragedy to triumph
proves it's never too late torebuild a life worth living.
And look at the shift betweenthe first one is it's my, my, my
(29:48):
, this.
Next one, one woman's.
And then it's never too late torebuild a life worth living.
That is for everybody.
You know what I mean.
Like they are now speaking tothe potential reader.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Yeah, now you're speaking to a reader who has
potentially sort of given up.
Like you know, I've had my runand that's where you're and and
you know even the after is great, but even with the after, you
could still add a tiny little,like, maybe even just one word
(30:24):
that depicts what that, whatthat raw journey was, right,
right, you know what I mean,like a raw journey from being
abandoned at birth or somethinglike that.
Do you know what I mean?
Because now what that does isnow you are narrowing down your
audience even more, and one ofthe things that I think is worth
(30:44):
closing out with the show isthat it's never a good idea we
talk about this in marketing allthe time it's never a good idea
to broad stroke everything.
My book's for everybody.
Everybody is my reader.
No, absolutely.
That never happens with anybook ever, right, right, exactly
(31:05):
.
So a lot of times the pushbackthat I've gotten when I've
taught elevator pitch classes isthat this is too narrow.
Narrow is really where you wantto be Like.
I know this sounds very, youknow, like counterintuitive to
marketing and I cite this a lot.
(31:25):
So the chicken soup for thesoul, guys, just as an example.
Chicken soup for the soul.
Everybody knows it, it'severywhere all the time.
But when they started withtheir first book, they had a
very core audience in mind andthat was who they focused on
that core Hallmark shopping,watching the Hallmark channel
(31:50):
core audience who wantedfeel-good stories.
From that they built out thismega brand that we all know
about.
The more that you can narrowyour focus, the better served
literally, not just elevatorpitches, but the literally
(32:10):
everything will be Right, 100%.
Trust me, trust us when we saythat it could be one of the best
things.
One of the best things that youever do for your campaign is to
narrow your focus, and I meanthis with whether you're running
social media ads or Amazon ads.
Imagine if you were running,let's just say, because Facebook
is so expensive.
Imagine you're running Facebookads.
(32:31):
You're like I'm just going totarget everyone in the US
because everybody wants to buymy book.
Whoa, no, yeah, right.
So all right, we really wantyour, we love your feedback and,
like I said, I alluded to thisthe first, at the intro of the
show we are going to have a.
There's going to be a phonenumber where you could reach us
we're very excited about it Umwhere you can send us your, your
(32:53):
feedback on the show, um and uh, your questions and ask us your
questions.
But our contact information isin the show notes.
So if you have an elevatorpitch you want to send us, send
our way.
By all means, definitely dothat.
And um, and if it's okay toread it on the air, if you're
comfortable with us reading iton the air, let us know in that
(33:13):
email.
That would be great.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
We appreciate this.
Every Friday we are with youand hopefully giving you some
actionable tips that you canwalk away from and be a better
book marketer and be moresuccessful.
Thank you so much for tuning inand we'll see you next Friday.
Bye-bye.
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