An orphan explores his magical powers at a school for wizards. Twins discover they are really genies. Death narrates a World War II story. The young descendants of Sherlock Holmes tackle one of his unsolved cases.
A hook—in this case the “high concept” idea—can grab the reader’s attention and make a book stand out. Here are the books with the above hooks.
Harry Potter series, by J. K Rowling
Children of the Lamp series, by P. B. Kerr
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.
The 100-Year-Old Secret, by Tracy Barrett
Do you need a hook? Well, in today’s competitive market, it can definitely help. It’s a quick way to summarize your idea for an editor or agent, handy for writing conferences. So how do you figure out what yours is—or if you have one?
One option is comparisons—I So Don’t Do Mysteries was described as Nancy Drew with a Devil Meets Prada makeover by the publisher sales team trying to sell the book to bookstores and libraries. After Die Hard, action movies were often described as “Die Hard on a plane” or “Die Hard on a boat.”
On the jacket flap, books often used an “except” or “but” twist. The second part is the twist on a common plot. — A woman thinks her ex-husband is going to try to kill her, but he kidnaps her daughter instead.
If your book isn’t trendy, don’t despair. What hooks the reader is individual to that reader. Some may read any book set in a certain time or place, or love talking animals. Don’t try to make your book sound like it fits some hot trend, if it doesn’t. Instead try to hook your readers. Who are your target readers, and what will draw them to this book?
A good hook is simple and short—sometimes it’s referred to as a one-sentence synopsis or an elevator pitch (from the idea that you might have 30 seconds in an elevator to grab an editor’s attention). It’s not long-winded, where you are trying to cram everything into one run-on sentence. The hook doesn’t necessarily tell you the plot, but it gives you the flavor of the book and arouses interest. It may be simply the premise.
For example: In The
Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty
journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning
fifty. This sentence identifies the MC as a journalist turning fifty, it says she'll solve crimes, and it identifies the setting of Arizona. "Witty" suggests this will be humorous (as does calling the series a "humorous mystery series").
There is no specific plot in that series pitch. Here's the pitch for Book 1, Something Shady at Sunshine Haven:
When patients are
dying at an Alzheimer’s unit, a former war correspondent must use her
journalism skills to uncover the killer and save her mother.
That sentence identifies the MC and her challenge, with high stakes, since her mother is one of the people in danger.
You can find books similar to yours on Amazon, Goodreads etc. and look at the first sentence of the book description, which may be in bold or italics. This is often a good hook. For example:
Fatima Tate Takes the Cake, by Khadijah VanBrakle:
Fatima Tate wants to be a baker AND enjoy some innocent flirting with her hot friend Raheem—but her strict Muslim parents would never approve of either.
Bunnybirds #1, by Natalie Linn:
Princess Aster must leave home to discover why her people are disappearing—even if it means journeying over the rim of the world itself—in this animal fantasy graphic novel perfect for fans of blockbuster series like Warriors and Wings of Fire.
This works for picture books too.
Too Much: My Great Big Native Family, by Laurel Goodluck, illustrated by Bridget George:
A little boy wants a chance to shine on his own but discovers that being apart from his large and lively Native family isn’t necessarily better in this heartwarming and humorous picture book.
(Note that it can be risky to compliment your own work in a query. I might call my own book humorous, but I wouldn't claim it's "laugh out loud funny." Leave the big praise for marketing.)
EXERCISE: For practice, name a favorite or recent book—how would you describe it to a friend? Would you pick it up if you heard that description? Then check the opening of its marketing description. Is that a good hook? Why or why not? Try this a few times.
EXCERCISE: Write a simple synopsis of your work. Don’t worry about length or clarity. Jot down the who, what, when, where, and why. Now you have some idea of the most interesting and important aspects of the work. Turn it into a one-sentence synopsis with your hook.
To start focusing on your hook, ask, What is the conflict, in terms of X versus Y? Once you have your hook, you can expand upon that one-sentence pitch for a query letter or longer conversation. (Please note that it's better to have two or even three short, snappy sentences than one very long sentence where you try to cram in everything. A good hook is one you can remember and share verbally fairly easily, without worrying about getting exactly the right word in the right place.)
Pixar is said to rely on this structure to get at the heart of a story:
• Once upon a time there was ... (Introduce the character, set the stage with when and where the story takes place.)
• Every day... (Show the MC’s ordinary world.)
• But one day... (Something changes to upset that routine—the inciting incident that gives the MC a new goal and forces them to act.)
• Because of that... (Describe the consequences, how the MC reacts, a brief explanation of how Act II starts.)
• Because of that... (Something else happens to push the story towards its conclusion; what the MC must do next to reach their goal or a new goal.)
• Until finally... (How it resolves at the climax)
Try writing your synopsis this way in five or six concise sentences. Look up “Pixar Story Structure” for more detail.
More examples:
In The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan girl in ninth-century Guatemala rebels against the High Priest who sacrifices anyone challenging his power.
The Eyes of Pharaoh: When their friend disappears, Seshta and Horus spy on merchants, soldiers, and royalty,
and start to suspect even The Eyes of Pharaoh, the powerful head of the secret
police.
Coffee and Crushes at the Cat Café: Kari doesn’t
have time for love when she’s opening her new cat café. But when a sexy
master baker walks in, how can she resist?
The Billionaire Cowboy’s Christmas: Carly has crushed on Josh for years, but when he wins a
fortune in the lottery, how can she prove she wants him for himself?
The
Teenage Adventures of Felony Melanie: Meet teen “Felony Melanie” years before the movie Sweet
Home Alabama and follow the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their
friends as teens in this fun-filled romantic comedy series. (This one is more vague, because it relies on the movie as the hook for the series. FYI, I cowrote this series with my brother who wrote the original screenplay for the movie, which is why we were legally able to do this.) More advice on writing a pitch:
How to Write a
Book Pitch (and Why it Matters) at The Novelry.
How
to write a killer one sentence pitch (or logline) for novels and memoirs, by
Nathan Bransford
How
to Pitch a Book – Your Guide to Writing the Perfect Book Pitch, by Alyssa
Matesic
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