Pitching

The 8-Minute Book Query (That Landed an Agent in 8 Minutes Flat)

by John Robert Marlow
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In the last post, I wrote about How I Got an Agent in 8 Minutes, Over the Christmas Holiday, Without Asking to be Represented. What follows is the nonfiction book query that made that happen.

A few comments and updates: the Self Editing Blog now ranks more like #1-3 on Google; the present website, which hosted just a few articles at the time of the query, has since morphed into the Make Your Story a Movie blog; the number of writing- and adaptation-related articles I’ve written has expanded considerably; William Morris Endeavor has since shortened its name to WME; the original article cited toward the end (originally entitled Make Your Book a Movie: Adapting Your Book or Story for Hollywood) has since been slightly renamed and largely updated, so I’ve replaced the original link with the new one in the body of the query; and the book opening presented below was later revised for the book itself.

The book’s title also changed (at the suggestion of my editor at St. Martin’s) from Make Your Book a Movie to Make Your Story a Movie, which more accurately reflected the finished book’s inclusion of advice for storytellers in all media; I then changed the subtitle to match. Accordingly, the name of the website also changed from Make Your Book a Movie to Make Your Story a Movie.

Lastly, because the book was nonfiction, my aim was to present a detailed query that very much indicated the direction any full-on book proposal would take. That took a bit of space. Had I been querying with, instead, a novel or other completed work of fiction—I would have sent a pitch sheet, which is considerably shorter and less densely written. Read more…

How I Got an Agent in 8 Minutes, Over the Christmas Holiday, Without Asking to be Represented

by John Robert Marlow
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In the interests of full disclosure, it might be fair to say the entire process took 48 hours—but the most important part took 8 minutes. (Besides, “How I Got an Agent in 8 Minutes” reads better.) Onward…

PRELUDE

Breaking into Fortress Hollywood keeps you busy. There are archers and catapults to be avoided, boiling oil, barred gates—the works. It kept me so busy I hadn’t written a book for a few years. By the time I decided to writer another—nonfiction this time—I had no agent to help sell it. I’ll explain the reasons I wanted an agent (and why you should, too) in another post—but for now, suffice to say that agents generally sell things faster, and for more money.

I will get into one reason, though. My first book—Nano—had been a novel. This time I’d be writing nonfiction. And while I’d written scads of magazine and online articles in the past, I’d never done a book. When you “go out with” (try to sell) a novel, you write the whole thing up front, send the first chapter or three, and if they like it they read the rest and make an offer.

Nonfiction is different: generally, you write a few chapters, outline the rest of the book, include some additional material—and send a book proposal. So, really, you sell the book before most of it has been written… Read more…

Logline Workshop: Jurassic Park

by John Robert Marlow
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LOGLINING JURASSIC PARK

Let’s walk through the process from start to finish, working up a logline for a story that most people already know. Jurassic Park was a hugely successful novel that went on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest hits. Keeping that logline mantra in mind—Who, Goal, Obstacle (see Building the Perfect Logline for Your Book, Screenplay, or Other Story for more on this)—how do we build a logline for this story?

WHO (or perhaps What) is this story about?

Most of those new to loglines begin by saying something about dinosaurs. Many of those who don’t, start with the park itself. Still others kick things off with “An experiment” or “A scientist.” Let’s take those roads and see where they lead.

DINOSAURS. Okay, what do they do—what’s their goal? Run rampant, search for food, that kind of thing. What’s their obstacle? An absence of food-bearing park personnel caused, basically, by a hurricane coupled with a power failure. So:

Dinosaurs run rampant on an island resort, trying to feed themselves during a power outage caused by a hurricane.

What’s wrong with this? It is, after all, an accurate description of what happens. But replace “dinosaurs” with “tigers” and you’ve got a documentary. Besides, running rampant and eating each other is what dinosaurs do. There are no real stakes involved here, unless you’re a dinosaur. What’s their obstacle—high winds and rain? That doesn’t quite cut it. And what the hell are dinosaurs doing on an island resort? Read more…

Building the Perfect Logline for Your Book, Screenplay, or Other Story

by John Robert Marlow
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THE ONLY QUESTION THAT MATTERS

When you’re selling a story (or trying to), there’s one thing everyone wants to know. To find out, they will ask you a simple question. And they will pre-judge your tale not on its merits, but on the answer you provide.

Before we get to the question itself, find a stopwatch. If you don’t have a “real” one (or a cool cell phone) handy, bring up a virtual stopwatch online. Either way, hit START the second you’ve finished reading the question below. Do not hit STOP until you’ve answered the question—out loud—to the best of your ability. (For a more accurate evaluation, have someone else ask the question and time your answer.) And here…we…go.

What’s your story about?

Ticktickticktick. Did your answer require more than 10 seconds? Did you hesitate or fumble? If so, you need a logline. Did you explain who your main character is, what he or she wants, and what keeps them from getting whatever-it-is they want? If not, you need a logline.

In fact—you need a logline, period. Everyone does. Because if you blow the answer to that question, nothing else matters: few (if any) industry professionals will read your story. This is so for several reasons. Read more…