Pitch letters must be short, snappy, and to the point. A big mistake is making your pitch letter too long. Of course, you’re dealing with a lot of information in a very small space—the headline and the first four lines. Start by writing 500 words. Then make 250 words your limit and cut out every single unnecessary word. Mark Twain said, “If I had more time, I would have written less.” You just keep rewriting until it’s 250 or less. Everybody tends to start out with too much, and you just have to keep cutting it and cutting it. It’s about rewriting.

For even more tips to writing successful and attention-grabbing pitch letters, check out Transcript—How To Write a Pitch Letter.