It's a fairytale fantasy in a land where fairy-tale villains banded together to stop the happy endings, and Snow-White's half-sister realizes she is not safe, and will have to do something to stop them.
I feel your pain, as one of our presidents used to say! It's even harder explaining epic fantasy, especially to a Christian audience, many of whom are biased against the genre because they think it revolves around "demonic" things.
Yes that is hard! I can relate to an extent because I've had to learn to be careful about who I talk to about The Lord of the Rings (one of my favourite books). I guess the thing is to find a balance between being sensitive to other Christians' concerns and being confident in your own convictions.
The fact is that some fantasy does border on the demonic and Christians are totally justified in being concerned about it!
It may be helpful to come up with an a short explanation you can use if you sense that people are uncomfortable. Something like, "I know some fantasy tends to lean towards the demonic, but I've seen how, when handled carefully from the perspective of a Christian worldview, it can be an amazing way to communicate truth!"
Interesting fact: One of the greatest works of Christian literature, The Pilgrim's Progress, was technically fantasy.
Anyway, just some thoughts! I hope they're helpful!
I love the idea that the point of an elevator pitch is to help the person know if they will like their book. I stumbled upon a pitch for my current project that really doesn’t encompass half of the story, but it gets the job done: the people who I’m writing for are interested, and the people I’m NOT writing for aren’t.
Thank you for these really helpful suggestions, Amy! I also feel less confident speaking about my book. I much prefer writing over talking, but I really appreciate you sharing your framework for your answer when asked the question. I also like that you tailor it based on who you’re speaking to 🙂
Haha, well I think that's a good problem to have. It's better than what I experienced once when I asked a fellow author about her work. She simply said, "It's hard to explain. I don't really want to talk about it." I felt bad that I'd asked her!
It's hard to condense your work into a couple of sentences. If you get good at it, though, you can use your initial short answer to pique people's interest. Then, once you know you really have their interest, you can talk to your heart's content!
I'm also learning to overcome my reluctance to talk about my book. One thing I have learned is to be careful not to sabotage the conversation by making the person feel stupid for not knowing about my historical period.
I used to lead with, I've written a novel based on the true story about King Henry VIII's first wife, Katherine of Aragon's priest.
Immediately this approach seemed to narrow the audience by making people who don't know British history feel ignorant. So now I say I am writing a historical novel, and I let them tease it out.
Yes, that's a great point, Theresa! You definitely don't want to make people feel stupid.
I've learned the hard way that King Alfred is definitely not as well-known as I thought he was, hence the wording of my explanation.
Sometimes, though, to avoid explaining about him to people who do know about him, I'll say, "It's a historical novel set during the times of Alfred the Great. Have you heard of him?"
Depending on the context, you could try something similar: "It's a historical novel about Henry VIII's first wife's priest. Are you familiar with the story of Henry VIII?"
Most people seem pretty comfortable to just say no if they don't know. The fact that you're assuming they might not know shows them that they're not the only ones who don't know about it. It takes away that feeling of stupidity.
It's about 150,000 words. . . .
It's a fairytale fantasy in a land where fairy-tale villains banded together to stop the happy endings, and Snow-White's half-sister realizes she is not safe, and will have to do something to stop them.
I'm getting better!
When I describe my stories I do my best to boil it down to one sentence, at most two. Adding the genre in there is a good idea though.
I feel your pain, as one of our presidents used to say! It's even harder explaining epic fantasy, especially to a Christian audience, many of whom are biased against the genre because they think it revolves around "demonic" things.
Yes that is hard! I can relate to an extent because I've had to learn to be careful about who I talk to about The Lord of the Rings (one of my favourite books). I guess the thing is to find a balance between being sensitive to other Christians' concerns and being confident in your own convictions.
The fact is that some fantasy does border on the demonic and Christians are totally justified in being concerned about it!
It may be helpful to come up with an a short explanation you can use if you sense that people are uncomfortable. Something like, "I know some fantasy tends to lean towards the demonic, but I've seen how, when handled carefully from the perspective of a Christian worldview, it can be an amazing way to communicate truth!"
Interesting fact: One of the greatest works of Christian literature, The Pilgrim's Progress, was technically fantasy.
Anyway, just some thoughts! I hope they're helpful!
I love the idea that the point of an elevator pitch is to help the person know if they will like their book. I stumbled upon a pitch for my current project that really doesn’t encompass half of the story, but it gets the job done: the people who I’m writing for are interested, and the people I’m NOT writing for aren’t.
Thank you for these really helpful suggestions, Amy! I also feel less confident speaking about my book. I much prefer writing over talking, but I really appreciate you sharing your framework for your answer when asked the question. I also like that you tailor it based on who you’re speaking to 🙂
You're welcome Kimberly, I'm so glad it was helpful! :)
So helpful, thank you! I dread people asking what my writing is about! This has helped, though!
Just wrote a note on this the other day ;
https://substack.com/@shellnorman/note/c-117041931
I have the reverse problem - I LOVE sharing what I do, so I usually end up telling people too much and losing them.
Haha, well I think that's a good problem to have. It's better than what I experienced once when I asked a fellow author about her work. She simply said, "It's hard to explain. I don't really want to talk about it." I felt bad that I'd asked her!
It's hard to condense your work into a couple of sentences. If you get good at it, though, you can use your initial short answer to pique people's interest. Then, once you know you really have their interest, you can talk to your heart's content!
Thank you for this relatable, practical advice.
I'm also learning to overcome my reluctance to talk about my book. One thing I have learned is to be careful not to sabotage the conversation by making the person feel stupid for not knowing about my historical period.
I used to lead with, I've written a novel based on the true story about King Henry VIII's first wife, Katherine of Aragon's priest.
Immediately this approach seemed to narrow the audience by making people who don't know British history feel ignorant. So now I say I am writing a historical novel, and I let them tease it out.
I like your strategy better.
Yes, that's a great point, Theresa! You definitely don't want to make people feel stupid.
I've learned the hard way that King Alfred is definitely not as well-known as I thought he was, hence the wording of my explanation.
Sometimes, though, to avoid explaining about him to people who do know about him, I'll say, "It's a historical novel set during the times of Alfred the Great. Have you heard of him?"
Depending on the context, you could try something similar: "It's a historical novel about Henry VIII's first wife's priest. Are you familiar with the story of Henry VIII?"
Most people seem pretty comfortable to just say no if they don't know. The fact that you're assuming they might not know shows them that they're not the only ones who don't know about it. It takes away that feeling of stupidity.