Elevator Pitch Experiment

Years ago, I experienced the exhilaration of telling someone I was a writer, followed immediately by the horror of botching the explanation of my plots. I blanked. I bombed.  They lost interest and we were both confused. I slunk out of the chat room and called my sister for sympathy and commiseration.

Since then, I've read several articles on elevator pitches, and their effectiveness, or lack thereof, in presenting books as something that might actually evoke interest.  My few attempts at creating pitches have been halfhearted and my natural introversion has made real life pitch attempts few and far between.

A few weeks ago, I brought up my book to a local artist. She asked what it was about. This was it, what I had been waiting for.  I had practiced.  I knew what I was going to say.  And....I blew it again.  I started off ok, but then she asked what my main character does for a living and I blanked again.  It was confusing and frustrating, but it had gone better than the last one.  The worst part was how I could feel her interest waning.

I've been working on a better pitch, one I can memorize.  I'll be trying it out on a few people to see how it goes.  If nothing else, I'll at least have the comfort of knowing that I can't get any worse at this than I already am.