Premise / Elevator Pitch

In truth, Donna, not much. The premise is like a log line: Peter Pan meets Harry Potter. Or it's a VERY brief description of your idea--not the whole story, just the idea. My first premise/EP was "My novel is about a judge who tries a man for a murder that the judge committed."

Today I might add one sentence at the end of that premise to make for an EP that tells a potential publishing partner (an agent or an acquisitions editor) what happens--like, "...and eventually suffers the consequences."

Think of the premise as a vehicle to keep you on track while you're writing, and the EP as your shortest possible effort to garner interest on the part of a publishing professional.