Selling Creative Writing can be a tough sell. After all, it’s not like there’s a market for poetry in books anymore. But not selling your writing is even tougher. You’ll never know what you might have missed out on, what possibilities might have opened up if you’d only tried. So here’s a guide to help you sell your Creative Writing (and maybe even make some money from it).
Craft The Perfect Pitch
The most important thing to do if you want to sell your creative writing is to find your perfect pitch. What exactly will your pitch be? What’s your elevator pitch? What is the one sentence summary of your story?
You can find examples of pitch decks for creative writing on the internet – just search for “creative writing pitch” or “poetry pitch” and you’ll find hundreds of examples.
Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, the perfect pitch will help you express the essence of your story in one concise sentence. Is it a love story? A coming-of-age story? A war story? Find the one that speaks to you and keep practicing.
Craft The Perfect Proposal
Once you have your pitch perfect, it’s time to craft the perfect proposal. What will it contain? Who will you be pitching to? What’s the hook? The elevator pitch doesn’t have to be complex, but it should allow your potential reader to understand the story in one glance. Your proposal should also include a short summary of the story, a short biography of the author, and a book trailer (if you have one).
Try using the pitch, as a starting point, to craft the perfect proposal. You can find book proposal templates on the internet – just search for “book proposal template” and you’ll find dozens of options.
Your proposal should be no more than 2 pages. If you’re writing a fiction novel, you might want to consider breaking it into two parts: an Introduction and the rest of the novel. You can find free book proposal samples on the internet – search for “book proposal samples” and you’ll find hundreds of options.
Remember: no synopsis of your novel can be longer than 150 words. Keep your explanation as concise as possible but still include all the necessary necessary information for the reader. If your synopsis or pitch contains no details about the plot or characters, it’ll be hard to sell your work. You can use the same pitch and proposal to write a literary magazine article or to apply for a literary agent. Just remember to change a few words to fit your chosen markets.
Sell It
With your proposal and pitch crafted, it’s time to sell your work. Who will you be pitching to? Start by pitching to your friends and family. Ask them to read your work and give you some feedback. Be honest about what they tell you and don’t be afraid to make changes. Once you have their feedback, you can decide whether or not to take their advice.
Next, you should try to sell your work to magazines or publications. If you can, find a literary agent to help you navigate the process. Your agent will be able to connect you with magazine editors who may be interested in your work. Try sending out a few pitches, but don’t expect too much. Hopefully, you’ll hear back from someone, but it may take time.
Once you have some feedback from editors, it’s time to put everything you’ve learned together into a professional looking pitch. Revise and extend your pitch, based on the feedback you received. If you’re lucky, and someone liked your work, you’ll soon be invited to submit a proposal. Keep practicing until you can craft a pitch that sells your work.
The Final Step
Congratulations! You made it through the entire process and now have a complete proposal in hand. Time to submit and see what happens. But be patient – you may have to wait several months before you hear back from a publisher or agency. At least, that’s what happened to me. But if you’re passionate about your work, you’ll eventually find someone who’ll love your idea and offer you a contract. You can even become an assistant editor or a full editor, if you prove yourself.