We Were Never Here was almost an entirely different book

The wonky original pitch vs. the idea my editor (and readers) snapped right up

Most book contracts include an option, i.e., an agreement that you’ll let your editor hear your next book idea before you take it anywhere else. Instead of writing an entire new manuscript, I’ve always put together a one-page pitch. In it, I try to make this hypothetical book sound dazzling and fascinating and highly pitchable to said editor’s higher-ups and sales team…and, down the line, book shoppers everywhere. (Nothing demonstrates a book’s pitchability like, uh, pitching it.)

Even if you aren’t querying or pitching a new project, you’ll need to sell folks on your book idea (literally and figuratively). I like learning by example—it’s why I’ve put together a compendium of successful query letters (bestsellers Kimberly McCreight, Lindsey Kelk, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Chandler Baker, and more are all in there!), and it’s why I’m sharing the exact pitches I wrote for The Spare Room, We Were Never Here (here!), and The Herd (soon!), plus their earlier, uglier, fumbling first drafts. I’ve added footnotes explaining what changed and why so that you can think about the key elements a pitch needs—and how to crystallize your own novel into its most sellable form.

Without further ado! Here’s the exact proposal that got me a book contract for We Were Never Here, plus my first attempt at the pitch, when I thought it would be a verrrry different book.