What a pitch deck is for
A pitch deck is a short slide presentation that tells a producer, in a few minutes of reading, what your film or series is, who will watch it, and why it is worth their time. For a book adaptation, the deck has one more job: it shows that the book already works with readers, which is something an original screenplay cannot prove.
The people who read decks are busy. Development executives, producers and their assistants see many projects every week. Most decide within the first few slides whether to keep reading. So a good deck is not long or elaborate. It is clear, specific and in the order a reader expects.
The builder above takes what you know about your book and turns it into a slide-by-slide outline. It fills each slide with your own words where you have given them, marks gaps, scores how ready the deck is, and lists what to fix first. It does not design slides for you; copy the outline into your presentation software and build from there.
The slides, one by one
A feature-film deck in this builder has 12 slides. A limited or returning series adds two. Here is what goes on each and why.
1. Title
The book's title, the format (feature film, limited series, returning series or short), the genre, and the line "based on the novel". One strong image if you have one. Nothing else. The title slide tells the reader what kind of project this is before they read a word of story.
2. Logline
A logline is a one-sentence summary of the story: who the main character is, what they want, and what stands in their way. It is the most important sentence in the deck, and often the only sentence quoted when your project is passed along to someone else. Put it alone on the slide in large type.
3. Why this story, why now
Two or three sentences on why your audience wants this story today. Tie it to something concrete: the kind of films and series this audience is watching, a subject in public conversation, or how readers have responded to the book. Avoid big claims you cannot support.
4. Synopsis
The story's beginning, middle and end in under 250 words, including the ending. This is not a back-cover blurb. Producers need to know where the story goes to judge whether it works on screen, and a synopsis that hides the ending reads as a gap, not a mystery.
5. Main characters
Three to five people. For each one: name, age, what they want, and what stands in their way, in one or two lines. If you have casting ideas, keep them to yourself for now; naming famous actors in a first deck often reads as naive.
6. Tone and look
What the film feels like and looks like. Use mood images, and describe the look in plain words: setting, period, light, color, pace. "A cold, wet coastal town, mostly at night, filmed close and handheld" tells a producer more than "atmospheric and gritty".
7. Comparable titles
Two existing films or series, often written as "X meets Y". Comps tell a reader in seconds what audience and tone you mean. Add one line on what your project shares with each.
8. Audience
Who watches this, described plainly: age range, what else they watch or read, and where they find stories. "Women 25 to 54 who read psychological thrillers" is useful. "Everyone who loves a good story" is not.
9. The book's track record
The proof that readers want this story: copies sold, number of reviews, average rating, awards, bestseller list placements, translation deals, or a large newsletter. Use honest, current numbers. A producer may check them, and a figure that turns out to be inflated ends the conversation.
10. Format and length
What you are proposing. For a feature, the target runtime and the storyline from the book the film follows. For a short, the chapter or arc it covers. For a limited series, the number of episodes and their length. For a returning series, what season one covers and what later seasons draw on.
Series only: season one arc and episode guide or future seasons
A limited series deck adds a season arc (where the main character starts and ends, and the turning point in the middle) and an episode guide with one line per episode. A returning series adds the season arc and a short page on future seasons, which is where a book series is a real advantage.
11. About the author
Two or three lines on you and why you wrote this book. Include any film, TV or relevant professional experience. If the book draws on your own life or work, say so; it explains why you are the right person behind it.
12. Rights and the ask
State that you control the film rights, and say what you want: an option, a producer partner, a co-production, or financing. A deck that ends without an ask leaves the reader unsure what to do next.
Worked example: a self-published thriller pitched as a feature
The builder opens on a hypothetical book called The Night List, a self-published psychological thriller with 2,500 copies sold. Here is how it scores and builds the deck.
The inputs are a title, the thriller genre, a 28-word logline about a night-shift nurse who finds her missing brother's name on a hospital death list, two comparable titles (Gone Girl and Sharp Objects), a feature format, an audience of "women 25 to 54 who read psychological thrillers", self-published status, 2,500 copies sold, film rights controlled by the author, no mood images and no script.
The readiness score checks eight essentials:
- Title: present.
- Logline between 12 and 50 words: 28 words, so yes.
- Two different comparable titles: yes.
- Audience in plain words (three or more words): yes.
- Proof readers want it: published with 2,500 copies sold, so yes.
- Control of the film rights: yes.
- Mood images or key art: no.
- Screenplay or treatment: no.
Six of eight is 75 percent, which reaches the builder's "ready to pitch" threshold, so the verdict is a pass with two missing pieces. The deck has 12 slides. The comps slide reads "Gone Girl" meets "Sharp Objects", followed by a prompt to write one line on what this book shares with each. The track record slide reads "Self-published. 2,500 copies sold." and asks for the review count, average rating and any awards. The fix list tells the author to gather 6 to 12 mood images, keep the deck under 14 slides, and export it as a PDF.
One note on those comps: Gone Girl came out in 2014, so it is older than the ten-year guide in the comps section below. It still works because it remains widely watched, which is the exception that guide allows, and Sharp Objects (2018) keeps the pair recent.
The 75 percent threshold, and every other scoring rule here, is this builder's own way of ranking preparation. No producer uses a checklist like this, but every item on it is something producers commonly ask about.
Second example: an unpublished fantasy pitched as a series
A second hypothetical project, Saltglass, is an unpublished fantasy manuscript pitched as a returning series. The logline is seven words ("A smuggler queen bargains with the sea."), there is one comparable title, the audience is "fantasy fans", the book has no sales, the author controls the rights and has mood images, and there is no script.
The score: title yes, logline no (under 12 words), comps no (only one), audience no (two words), proof no (unpublished), rights yes, images yes, script no. Three of eight is 37.5 percent, rounded to 38 percent, so the verdict is "not ready". The deck still has 14 slides, adding the season one arc and future seasons, but the fix list starts with the logline and the comps, because those are the first things a producer reads.
A stronger version might read: "When the smuggler queen of a drowned city bargains with the sea to save her people, she has one season to pay back a debt that grows with every tide." That is 30 words, says who, what she wants and what stands in the way, and gives a series engine: a debt that grows.
For an unpublished book, the proof slide does not have to be empty. Beta-reader responses, contest placings, a manuscript award, or the size of the author's newsletter all show that someone outside the author's family has read the story and wanted more.
How the builder handles what you type
Everything you type is treated as plain text. The builder trims spaces, removes markup such as HTML tags, caps each field at a set length, and falls back to clear placeholders when a field is empty, such as "Untitled project" for a missing title and a "[Missing]" marker on slides that need your input. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere. That means you can paste a rough logline, see how the deck changes, and try again without worrying about the result being saved.
Writing the logline
The logline does more work than any other part of the deck, so it deserves more drafts than any other part. A useful pattern:
When [a specific person] [faces a specific event], they must [do something] before [a clear deadline or cost].
The pattern is a starting point, not a rule. What matters is that the sentence names:
- A specific main character, described by what makes them interesting in this story ("a night-shift nurse", not "a woman").
- The event that starts the story ("finds her missing brother's name on a death list").
- What they must do ("find out who is writing it").
- The pressure ("seven days").
Keep it to one sentence and say it out loud. If you run out of breath, it is too long. The builder flags loglines under 12 words, which usually leave out the goal or the obstacle, and over 50, which usually try to summarize the whole plot. The logline generator in this cluster can help you test alternatives.
Choosing comparable titles
Good comps are chosen for the reader, not for you. A few guidelines that producers commonly mention:
- Pick titles that did well. Comparing your project to a film that failed tells the reader the audience may not exist.
- Pick recent titles. Comps from the last ten years or so tell buyers the audience is active now. A classic can work as one comp if it is still widely watched.
- Avoid the biggest hits in history as your only comps. "The next Harry Potter" says more about ambition than audience.
- Match the audience and tone, not just the plot. Two stories about a heist can be a family comedy and a grim thriller.
- Use films for a film pitch and series for a series pitch where you can. A series comp tells the reader you understand how the story stretches over episodes.
If you are unsure where your book sits, the comp title finder in this cluster suggests where to look.
Proof: what counts and how to show it
A book adaptation's advantage is evidence. Producers want to know that people have read this story and responded to it. Put the strongest true facts on one slide:
- Copies sold across ebook, print and audio.
- Number of ratings and reviews, with the average rating.
- Bestseller list placements, with the list name and date.
- Awards, shortlists and notable reviews from recognized publications.
- Translation, audio or other rights already sold.
- Your direct audience: newsletter subscribers, social followers who engage, and reader community size.
Use the most current number you can verify, and say what it measures. "2,500 copies sold" is better than "thousands of readers".
Images: mood boards and rights
The tone and look slide is where images earn their place. Six to twelve images that show setting, light, color and character types will give a producer a clearer sense of the film than a paragraph.
Be careful with where images come from. Photos and film stills belong to whoever created them. Use your own photos, images you have licensed from a stock library, or artwork you commissioned with the rights to use it. If you want to use stills from existing films, ask a lawyer whether your use is allowed. A deck often travels much further than you sent it, so the safest images are the ones you clearly have rights to use.
If you have a cover designer or illustrator, the book's cover art may already be the best title-slide image. Check your agreement with them covers this use. The key art brief generator in this cluster helps you describe the image you want if you are commissioning something new.
The rights slide and why it can block everything
Producers can only option rights that you control. If your book was published by a traditional publisher, your contract may have granted film and TV rights to the publisher as a subsidiary right, or given the publisher a share of them. Self-published authors usually keep all film rights, but check any agreements with co-authors, illustrators or packagers.
That is why the builder treats "you control the film rights" differently from the other items. If you untick it, the verdict is "not ready" however complete the rest of the deck is. Fix it first: read your publishing contract, ask your agent or publisher, and get any rights returned in writing. The adaptation rights explainer in this cluster walks through who usually holds film rights at each stage of publishing.
The rights slide is also where you state your ask. Be specific. "I am looking for a producer to option the film and TV rights" tells the reader exactly what saying yes means. If you want a sense of what an option is usually worth, the film option fee calculator in this cluster works through the money.
Feature or series: choosing the format
The format changes the deck, so decide it before you pitch. A rough guide:
- Feature film: one main storyline that resolves in about 90 to 120 minutes. Tight thrillers, romances and single-event stories often fit.
- Limited series: one season that tells the whole book. Books with several point-of-view characters, long time spans, or many subplots often fit better here.
- Returning series: a story with an engine that can produce new conflict season after season, such as a book series, a workplace, a family business, or an ongoing mystery.
- Short film: one chapter or arc, often made as a proof of concept to show tone and casting.
The movie or TV series decider in this cluster scores your book against these formats if you are unsure. Choose one format for each deck. A deck that says "could be a film or a series" asks the producer to do your thinking.
Sending the deck
Most first contact happens by email. Keep the email short:
- One line on who you are.
- The logline.
- One line of proof (sales, awards or audience).
- What you are asking for.
- The deck attached as a PDF, named with the title and your name.
Do not attach the full manuscript or a screenplay unless asked. Many producers will not open unsolicited scripts for legal reasons, and some will not open unsolicited decks either. Read each company's submission policy, and use introductions through agents, managers, lawyers or industry contacts where you can.
Producers rarely sign non-disclosure agreements for pitches. To keep a record of your material, many writers register scripts and treatments with the Writers Guild of America West Registry, and published or unpublished works can be registered with the US Copyright Office. Copyright registration is the stronger record for a dispute in the United States: for a US work, registration is generally required before you can sue for infringement, and registering early can make statutory damages and legal fees available.
The treatment: what to send when they ask for more
If a producer likes the deck, the usual next request is the book itself, a treatment, or both. A treatment is a prose summary of the film or series, written in present tense, that tells the story scene by scene or sequence by sequence. For a feature, 2 to 5 pages is a common length at this stage; some producers want longer ones later.
A treatment differs from the deck synopsis in three ways. It shows how the story will play on screen rather than on the page, so interior thoughts become actions and dialogue. It shows the structure: where the story turns, where the middle sits, how it ends. And it shows what you would cut, combine or change from the book, which tells a producer you understand that adaptation means choosing.
Have the treatment ready before you send the deck. Being able to reply the same day with "attached" makes a better impression than asking for two weeks.
Adjusting the deck for different readers
The same project often goes to several kinds of reader, and each looks for something different:
- Producers want to know whether the story works as a film, who the audience is, and whether the rights are available. The core 12 slides are built for them.
- Financiers care about audience size, comparable titles' performance, and budget. If you are seeking money rather than a producer, add a slide with the budget range and how the money will be spent. The book to movie cost calculator in this cluster helps you build that number.
- Directors and actors read for character and tone. A version of the deck with more space for the main characters and the look of the film suits them.
- Platforms and distributors usually come later, through a producer, and look at audience and format fit.
Keep one master deck and save variations rather than editing the master each time.
After you send it
Most decks get no reply. That is not a verdict on the project; many producers are not taking new projects, or the timing is wrong. A reasonable pattern is one polite follow-up after two to three weeks, then moving on. Keep a simple list of who received the deck, on what date, and what they said, so you never send the same deck twice to the same company by mistake and can tell each new contact who else is already reading.
If someone passes but gives a reason, write it down. Three producers saying the same thing about the second act is useful information.
Common deck mistakes
- Too many words. Keep each slide under about 60 words. A deck is read in minutes.
- No ending in the synopsis.
- Comps nobody remembers, or comps that flopped.
- Inflated or vague numbers in the track record.
- Images you do not have rights to.
- No ask. The last slide should say what you want.
- A design that fights the content. Plain, readable type on simple backgrounds beats elaborate effects.
- Pitching rights you do not control.
Keep the deck current
A deck is a living document. Update the track record slide when sales, reviews or awards change, and update the comps if a new film or series lands with the same audience. Put a month and year in the file name or footer so you always know which version a producer has. A deck with numbers from two years ago tells a reader the book's momentum may have passed, even when it has not.
Sources and rules this page relies on
- US Copyright Office, Circular 1, "Copyright Basics", on what copyright protects and the benefits of registration.
- Writers Guild of America West, Registry, the service for registering scripts, treatments and other literary material as a record of authorship.
- Slide counts, the logline length range of 12 to 50 words, the 75 percent readiness threshold and the eight-item checklist are this builder's own planning guides, based on common industry practice rather than any published standard.