Hope for Novelists and Other Writers by da-AL

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Do you have an elevator speech? Book writers are told that they need an ‘elevator speech’ — a one-minute pitch for when they inadvertently meet their star-maker. It’s also useful for talking about one’s book with everyone else.

Theoretically, that is. My elevator speech rarely gets past the first floor.

Bunny rabbit outfitted person reads paper.
Ryan McGuire of Gratisography is a smart bunny.

But I love my books, which is why I keep at them. My two novels are in the final edit phase as I build an audience of followers (that means you, dear reader) who I hope will be interested in them when they’re self-published. They’re narrated by a 40-year-old woman, in the form of letters to a deceased grandmother.

“An epistolary novel: written in the form of a series of letters.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary

The Hope Part of this Post: This video reminds me of me pitching my book — and Maria Keogh Semple’s “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” did great!

Here’s part 2 of her pitching (this time to another very successful author), which is also shown comically yet realistically…

Semple’s book is so successful that Cate Blanchette is starring in a movie version of it!

What’s been people’s reaction when you tell them about your books?

47 thoughts on “Hope for Novelists and Other Writers by da-AL”

  2. Good morning dear da-AL and thanks for sharing this story of perseverance and triumph. Very positive! Let me tell you that YOU are making me work extra in my second manuscript as that section of yours,” A nugget of Wisdom”, is straining my neuronal capacity. Can you imagine what it’s like to conceive and insert a sub-section for male education in the middle of an essay aimed for the ladies? Sometimes I feel that I have a thousand women whispering in my ear: “tell him this” or “tell him that.” Women. They make us work so hard. .Un baccione. Arrivederci!

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  3. Thank you for posting this hilarious bunch of trailers, Daal. Yep, it’s the elevator pitch and the query letter that are bogging me down. I’ve written four novels (not counting the three I wrote for children decades ago) and I always lose courage at this end stage. BUT – three people knowledgeable about my topic from three perspectives are very supportive of my third book, the one about a family dealing with a loved one who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. So how am I doing? Waiting for one more review and then I’m going to throw myself to the dogs – Garth Stein, where are you? I love dogs, and there are dogs in all my stories – maybe though, only as walk-ons.

    Wishing you the very best with your epistolary novel, Daal – even if it isn’t epistolary but simply extraordinary. (Have you read Salmon Fishing on the Yemen? Excellent!!) Yes, I’m one of your audience of followers.

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    • I’m so glad you’re getting positive feedback, Sharon. Indeed, I’m sure your book will be wonderful. You are a concise, vivid writer, & you are writing from your heart, with heart. A long time ago, I happened to go to a sort of writers group held at a bookstore. Someone asked what I was writing about & as soon as I told them, they gave me the most disappointed look. That’s when I learned to be picky about who I share inspiration with & that I’d rather have my story finished before I risk having someone take the wind out of my sails. I wish you the very best & am definitely among your followers too — it is such a gift to find someone who can relate so well ❤

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  9. Hello fellow writers & authors. The elevator pitch is, in fact, interesting. I would suggest an alternative method for getting your work published. My suggestion would be Kindle Publishing. The nugget often missed here is that, upon completion, you will have two bodies of work. Happy writing 🙂

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  10. da-AL, The first time I heard the term “elevator speech” was in a class designed to help people in their job search. In my elevator speech, I was to say what I could do, what my qualifications were, what kind of job I wanted. I found my one-minute “elevator speech” was only effective if and when I ran into someone in a time-limited capacity whom I thought could possibly promote me in some nebulous manner (yep, sarcasm). Needless to say, I never used that speech after learning and rehearsing it in class.

    What I have found more effective first (long ago) in job searches, was expanding my list of contacts, and now currently, is by expanding my contacts to include other poets, other authors, even the publishers of same whenever possible. In this process, I have found a few whom I call friend … like you. I’m still not published, but “hope springs eternal.”

    Brava, da-Al on your two books. I hope to soon applaud their publication. Again, BRAVA, my friend.

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  14. I’m not known as a author (that says something about *my* elevator speech) so when one of my books comes up, people get nervous and change the subject. Or perhaps they’ve already read the books and that’s the real reason they change topics.

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  15. I’d not heard the term ‘elevator speech’ before. I know a lot of writers say they got kicked back and passed on numerous times before they finally got a deal, and a lot of those are some of the most prolific writers of today. You show great perseverance and it’s so inspiring to read. That first video made me chuckle, everything she wanted to say (epistolary novel, view of 14yr old girl but not YA, misanthropic woman) gets crossed out, even to the point of being told it’s ‘dead in the water’. Keeping going after all of that takes guts and passion. But it’s so worth it. Interesting post, thank you for sharing. Wishing you all the best with the two novels you have in editing at the moment… exciting times! 🙂
    Caz xx

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  17. Well, I am not a writer in the sense of the word, I guess…at least I am not trying to publish any books, etc.. however, like a book, any writing I would do would come from the heart, not just to publish something… “I do not do, say or write something to been seen or heard… I do, say or write something because it needed to be done, said or written…” (Larry “Dutch” Woller)

    I would self-publish in order to insure that my words and thoughts would be published, not those of others in order for them to gain fame or fortune… 🙂 … and seeing as how my writings and thoughts would come from my heart and are a part of me and my life and there is no way I could explain my life in one minute to anyone, the one minute elevator speech would not work for me… 🙂

    “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” Gustave Flaubert

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  19. I wish you success with your two books. I know what you’re going through at the moment and share it with you: my own e-pub path involves a quint, with each of the five books topping 100+ words. My intention is to publish the first 3 books together and follow up quickly with the remaining two (thus all must be ready to go before I can put the first one out there.
    My elevator pitch? I’ve not yet perfected it, It runs something like: The Mythic Quest of an earth-bound divine with epic amnesia and a need to discover what sin has earned her this banishment

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