The elevator pitch

One of the most important parts of preparing to schmooze a book is the elevator pitch. As in, if you were in an elevator with the acquisitons editor of a big publishing house and she asked you to tell her what your book is about in the ten floor ride to her destination what would you say? It ain't as easy as it sounds. As a matter of fact, it's a bitch. It has to be smart and succinct and seductive.

So I worked on my pitch yesterday. Obviously, my book is about iconoclasm through the ages. But that's not very sexy and it's not very clear to someone who may not know (or care) what iconoclasm is in the first place. But the book has taken on a new dimension, the more I think about it. That's the anti-terrorist aspect. Here's what I came up with.

SCULPTURAL ASSASSINATION IS A BOOK OF ESSAYS ABOUT SMASHING STATUES THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
IT’S A BOOK ABOUT CULTURAL TERRORISM AND WHO’S BEHIND IT.
IT’S A BOOK THAT ASKS THE TOUGH QUESTIONS, LIKE; “WHO STANDS TO GAIN WHEN A STATUE GOES DOWN? IS IT ALL ABOUT THE ART? DOES REMOVING STATUES ERASE HISTORY?”
AND, FINALLY, IT’S A BOOK THAT PUTS ICONOCLASM IN CONTEXT AND GIVES ITS READERS THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND REACT WISELY TO FUTURE ATTACKS.

I don't know, though. It doesn't give any sense that the book is supposed to be entertaining, funny in parts, informal, and thought provoking. Is it, as David said, trying to be too much for too many? What's the one most important thing to empahsize in this book? All comments gratefully accepted.

Only four more days to prepare for the conference (counting today). I hope it's not all for naught...

On another front, I finally found the artist who did my iconoclasm icon seen on this page. His name is David Whitlam and he has an amazing style in his work that reminds me of a cross between Odilon Redon and a tarot deck painter. Check him out on http://davidwhitlam.com/ He has graciously allowed me to continue using the image, and, if the book need to go the self-publishing route, to use it on the cover.