Today I wish to share a tip with you from one of the many classes #MFRW has taught us.
A Logline {AKA the Elevator pitch} is basically a one, or two sentence {25-30 words or less} sale for your book.
It must include: Goal, Motivation, Conflict, no character names, and add punch to the prose.
Here is my 24 word logline for Dangerous Temptation.
Thrust into a foreign world, a teenage girl falls in love with a were-tiger, who must keep his people’s secret, no matter the cost.
It covers GMC, gives the genres, and leaves readers wanting to know more. This is a basic example, though. I’m still working to make it really shine.
The idea behind the Logline is to help you, the author, narrow down the key elements in your novel. The punch {or kick} added to the prose, is what help set your novel apart from all the others in it’s genre.
So, let’s break this down by key elements.
Goal: What is your character’s main goal throughout the novel? {if you have more than one main character, do this for both of them.}
Motivation: What drives your character toward their goal? {We want the main motivation.}
Conflict: What keeps your character from reaching their goal? {We want the main conflict. This usually ties into what your theme is.}
Figure out those elements and put them together. Next, we trim the word flab. How can you tighten those three sentences into one, of 25-30 words or less?
It’s tough, and a lot of hard work. But, if you keep practicing, and are ruthless with the trimming, you can do it.
It helps to have a group discussion where you all work on trimming each others words down, while keeping the GMC and genres in mind. GMC is the first key, trimming is the second.
If you insist on trying this alone… good luck.
Once you have your logline ready, there is a fabulous blog created just for loglines. Click the link to see mine and get a feel for how it works. You can find some awesome tips there on how to formulate a logline too.
So, what do you all think about our first Marketing Monday lesson? Makes you think outside the box, huh?
Any questions? Feel free to ask them here. 
P.S. This post appears in an editors and writers collaboration here.
You have a good grip on this subject, Kitty.
Hi Gerri! Thanks for stopping by. How are you enjoying the pitch classes? Happy Labor Day.
Thank you for this great advice and for the link to the Log Line Blog (where there are some other great tips). I am about to do some serious editing of my first draft of a YA novel and it has really helped me focus on the essence of the story, particularly distinguishing between goal and motivation (both are currently ‘do not get killed’!). I think my logline needs some work but this is where I’m at so far:
“To prevent her own death, and the destruction of her world, a teenage girl must first find out who or what is trying to kill her.” [26 words]
Hi! Welcome back. I’m happy to help.
Let’s tighten this a bit by cutting some of the repetitiveness.
“To prevent the destruction of her world, a teenage girl must first discover who or what is targeting her.”
It’s a start and 19 words. Shows she’s the main target, keeps the world is at stake, and the rest of what you had, minus repetitions.
Good luck, and thanks for taking time to comment.
That’s fab, thanks!
You’re welcome.
very nice post, i certainly love this website, keep on it
Thank you for dropping by and commenting.
Thanks so much for your kind words.
[...] Barton presents Loglines posted at Kitty’s Inner Thoughts, saying, “Have you ever run into a big name publisher in [...]
It is not my first time to pay a quick visit this website, i am browsing this site dailly and obtain good information from here daily.
Awesome. Thanks for the return visits and kind words.
Great advice as usual, Kitty. This is good practice to help writers give their work much-needed focus.
Hi Adriene, thanks for leaving a comment.
I’m glad you enjoyed the article.