This was from a short session that James Scott Bell discussed at the Lone Star RWA Conference that I thought you might like:

Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch:

Every writer needs to be prepared to promote their book at any moment to whomever they meet. You never know when the person you run into will be a potential reader. Or even a potential publisher or agent that’s seeking new material.

Knowing what to say is a necessary process and once you practice it a few times, you should be able to rattle it off at will.

Your elevator pitch should consist of three basic parts, which should be no more than a sentence or two each. Once you have it, it also makes great cover copy.

Step One: Identify the Character, their vocation, and the initial situation

For example:

Greg Davidson, former cop now working as a private investigator, showed up in Houston to help with a case as a favor to a long time friend. Cassie Nunez is a research psychologist working on a new mechanism to subdue violent sex offenders. She’s driving home in a torrential downpour.

Got it? That’s all it takes.

Step Two: Starting with the word, “When”, add the pivot point that changes their situation such that there’s no going back to their old life.

Example:

When Greg rushes to his first client meeting, his vehicle is pulled into the raging flood waters of a tropical storm and he’s forced to swim to safety.

Try to make it as brief as possible for an elevator pitch – but, you can add more if this is your Query. Be specific but simple. You want to garner interest, but no need to tell the entire story.

Step Three: Starting with the word, “Now”, add the stakes. What is the overhanging/pending doom that must be faced in order to find whatever the person is seeking.

Eample:

Now, Greg is forced to save the life of a random woman in the storm, who ends up part of the complex organization he was sent to investigate. The very case that he hopes will get his old job back turns out to be complicated by news media, organized crime affiliations, and a subversive millitant group that wants to get their hands on Cassie’s research.

That’s all it takes. Now, if we put it all together, there’s my pitch for my next book!

Try it out and see what you think.