A reader emailed me with this question; see below!
The question was specifically geared towards pitching a middle-grade book series to a producer/production company so I thought I’d tackle this question with my own personal approach! So here are my 5 tips for pitching your book series to folks in the industry!
1) Start first with how cool the idea is.
When you look at the most popular stories for kids, a lot of them have a really unique and fascinating hook. Whether it’s a treehouse that takes them to different times or a school for wizards, the concept is usually king. Now it doesn’t have to be all be wicked fantastical, like Diary of a Wimpy kid shows, but a unique twist is always helpful.
2) Characters.
Whose leading this thing? In this day and age, diversity is incredibly important. Is the lead female? Are their equal male/female lead characters? I would recommend leading with these qualities. There’s a massive market out there that is looking for balance (and some that aren’t but I don’t much about that market) with the people that one will see/imagine Doesn’t hurt to mention the arc of the character, the fatal flaws they might have, etc.
3) This meets That.
Often times, producers are looking to hear a successful rebranding of already existing hot properties. Simply put, where does your series fall in line with other popular previous ideas? Is it something like Harry Potter meets Percy Jackson? Or Coraline meets a Wrinkle in Time? Maybe it’s some unique blend of Lemony Snickets and Animorphs. What they’re usually looking for is some sort of way to pitch this to the people above them and they want to hear dollar signs. Try to find that a way to take two or three popular series and mix them in a way that’s easier to pitch. As an example, I have a script called Evil(ish) which I pitched as a Megamind meets The Incredibles with a splash of Big Hero 6.
So even though I just got done talking about finding existing properties as a helper to pitch, everyone is always after–
4) Originality
I think this word sometimes gets a bad rap, especially from folks who would prefer to die on the soapbox of “but there’s nothing out there like my idea,” but I do hear this complaint from readers and producers. “Oh, it’s just a _____ ripoff.”
There’s a really fantastic Simpsons episode called “The Book Job” that has a bit of fun with the book industry but plays on common tropes and stereotypes of best-selling books. I’d recommend watching it if you have the means, it’s probably in my top ten best episodes ever.
By original I mean, can you take a unique twist on something that has already been done? Harry Potter is just a twist on a school drama, Hunger Games is a twist on Battle Royale, Twilight is a twist on Romeo and Juliet, etc. You get the idea 🙂 Though these things might not seem original, believe me, it is to Hollywood.
Finally, if you could end your pitch with–
5) An Already Existing Built-in Market,
then you’re golden. I imagine this would come up fairly quickly when you talk about the genre of your piece and who it’s directed at, but don’t be afraid to talk about the niche market that already exists. Fairly Odd Parents had a market with the kids who loved fairy tale/magic tropes (same as Sabrina the Teenage Witch and The Owl House), TMNT continues to be directed at kids that love to playfight (Avatar the Last Airbender and most Marvel shows fall in here as well), and shows like Gravity Falls gets kids who love mysteries and a little supernatural fun.
And for a bonus tip…
6) Read the room as fast as possible
I’ve had pitches where we didn’t even talk about the show for the first 20 minutes. If you’re having a general meeting, they’re trying to get to know you and make sure they’re not working with a jerk. I see my peers miss this crucial step all the time, but no one likes to work with an a-hole. So be friendly, have fun and be confident in your story!
That’s all for now. Please feel free to email me questions or comment below and I’ll try to get to as many of them as I can!
