How To Hook Your Future Readers

So, you’re a writer and you’re writing a book. No matter what kind of manuscript you’re working on, you should be asking yourself this question: How can I hook my future readers? Keep in mind that your future readers also include … your future book editor.

Let’s get right into it and begin with the first page of your story, nonfiction book, memoir, or novel. Most publishing folks agree: the writer must begin the work of grabbing the reader’s attention in the first sentence. And if the first paragraph fails to entice the reader to continue, the project does not stand a chance of getting beyond the slush pile in any publisher’s or literary agent’s office, let alone capturing a reader’s attention.

In my various roles at publishing companies over the years, I regularly read and evaluated new project ideas, book proposals, pitches from agents, and unsolicited manuscripts. And here at The Bindery Agency, we review so many project ideas and pieces of content that I always hope something will hook me on page one. If that doesn’t happen relatively quickly, within a few pages, my red flags start to go up.

Here’s my advice: Don’t waste that immediate and absolute first impression. As the writer, you must demonstrate your ability right away by getting to the point or making an impression. If you’re not capturing readers somehow in the first line or paragraph, you need to rework the beginning of your manuscript. I’m talking about more than sentence structure, punctuation, or grammar. Have you really thought about why your story or book starts where it does?

How does one craft a piece of fiction or nonfiction so that the reader cares enough about the characters, plot, ideas, or message to continue reading? Some writers use wit and humor to grab the reader’s attention while others try to create an immediate emotional connection. In fiction, sharp opening dialogue can be the key to getting the reader to relate to the characters, thereby garnering their interest. Other authors begin with an interesting symbolic metaphor or a particularly poignant bit of internal character commentary.

I don’t think there’s a single right way to start your book. But I do believe it’s critical to honestly evaluate your manuscript (or ask someone else to do so) to ensure it’s worth a reader’s time.

CRAFT A STRONG OPENING

I remember reading a random blog post years ago about writer and filmmaker Joss Whedon (director of Avengers and creator of the TV show Firefly), in which the blog writer ridiculed Whedon’s TV show Dollhouse for starting too early in the storyline, moving too slowly with major plotlines, and ultimately, for making watchers of the show wait until episode 7 before the story really got going.

I never saw the show, so I can’t comment on the quality of Whedon’s storytelling, but the critic’s point is a good one. If you can’t hook your viewer within the first hour or two, should you really be making that particular show? Or did you start the story in the wrong place?

If literary agent Noah Lukeman is correct, writers have even less time than that. In his book The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile, Lukeman writes about how he is always looking for reasons to reject a query, proposal, or manuscript. Essentially, Lukeman says he can make a decision about a manuscript within the first five pages. I concur entirely with this line of thinking, having often employed it myself.

Although I should say that I don’t mind waiting a couple episodes for a show from Joss Whedon to grab me. But if you’re not at Whedon’s level yet, I think it’s your responsibility to try to hook your readers on page one of your book.

So, how can you sink that hook early?

As I mentioned above, there are many theories for how to captivate readers and keep them reading. Some writers and editors say to start with snappy dialogue, while others reject that idea entirely. Other experts advise writers to begin their stories in media res or “in the middle of things,” so some novelists start their book in the middle of an action scene and get the reader moving fast. Some nonfiction writers place the overarching question of their book right at the beginning while others try to hook the reader with humor, irony, or philosophical interest. Maybe you want to surprise or shock the reader early on. Or perhaps you try to delight the reader by painting a vibrant word picture in the first few lines that spurs the reader’s imagination.

Maybe you can introduce a compelling character right off the bat, someone relatable or mysterious to capture reader interest. Some writers try to create a sense of mystery right away by introducing information that is unknown or hidden, motivating the reader to solve the mystery, which in turn creates momentum for the reader. Another option is to create an emotional connection as soon as possible—yes, I know this probably sounds manipulative—but if your reader is wondering what happened to the little girl who was in danger on page one, they’re likely going to keep reading!

However you decide to open your book, the important point is to convince readers that your book is going to take them somewhere important. Essentially, you are making a promise at the beginning of your manuscript, and the rest of your book should, in some way, be the fulfillment of that promise.

Here is a very simple lesson I’ve been relearning lately: less is more. Writers must create a heightened sense of mystery or wonder or curiosity or desire fast. The rest of the book should be all about how that initial tension, or that big promise, is solved or satisfied. Simple. And often that resolve or resolution comes to fruition one small, tantalizing piece of information at a time.

WIN OVER YOUR FUTURE EDITOR

In addition to hooking your future readers, you also have to consider how to capture the attention of your future editor. Whether you’re working with a literary agent or not, before signing that all-important book contract you must nab an editor’s attention, and frankly, his or her affection!

In order to offer you a book contract, the editor—let’s call him John—must risk his reputation and his valuable time on you and your book. I’ve written about this before here, but John actually has to pitch your book to the editorial team, select executives, his marketing and publicity colleagues, and likely the sales team at his publishing company. John may even have to put together his own ideas for how to market and sell your book.

In addition, John may need to share amazing samples of your writing that will in turn help these teams win over the book buyers at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-a-Million, and other independent bookstores and distributors around the world.

You can give John more confidence about this process by arming him with as much good information about your book as possible. And that starts with three primary elements:

1.      Book Concept or Story

2.     Writing Quality or Authorial Voice

3.     Author Platform and Marketing Potential

If your proposal doesn’t meet John’s needs on at least two (though preferably all three) of these levels, he will probably not review much beyond the book proposal and the first five pages of your manuscript. So, let’s discuss these three things briefly.

Book Concept or Story

Your book’s concept should be clear, intriguing, and unique, and your proposal should contain several descriptions and one-liners that explain how your book is unique from the competition. If you want to go the extra mile, provide an evaluation of the competition for John. Tell him why your book is better than the other three similar books already sitting on the shelf at the bookstore or on Amazon. If there are ten bestselling books on your topic, you must find a fresh angle for your book or present a distinct hook that will appeal to your reader. Finally, identify your target audience, but make sure that audience is big enough to be a significant market (without saying that your book is for everyone). In other words, please don’t write a book specifically for millennial-aged basket weavers who live in northern Alaska. Although I have nothing against basket weaving or the fifteen Alaskans who practice it, editors and publishers recognize that this is not a significant enough audience to justify their investment in your book.

For fiction writers, your book proposal should include a succinct and compelling synopsis of your novel. The strength of that synopsis or summary of the story, along with your first chapter, will determine whether an editor will even read your manuscript.

Writing Quality or Authorial Voice

Whether you send John a couple chapters or the entire manuscript, your prose should inspire him to dedicate the next year of his life to working on your book! This is why you should really take your time to get that manuscript or sample writing right. Polish it (especially your first few pages and chapters) until it shines and is error-free. Beyond that, your writing should clearly present your big idea or hot concept (if you’re writing nonfiction) or create an intriguing story hook (fiction) so that the reader feels compelled to keep turning pages. Finally, try to remove all possible hurdles for John (and the team to whom he is pitching it) to put your manuscript down: Proofread your proposal and manuscript, ask friends to read it for you and make suggestions, or hire an editor to help you improve it. Format it professionally and make sure the font is readable and adequately spaced before you send it out.

Author Platform and Marketing Potential

Now that your book’s concept or story has made John’s heart flutter with excitement and your writing has forced his breath to catch in his throat, why not make it three for three? Convince John that you are poised to help market and sell your book alongside him and his team.

For nonfiction writers, this is a critical component of the proposal and is as important as the book idea itself. For fiction writers this is admittedly less of a priority, but in our hyper-connected world every writer should strive to build a community of followers before pitching their book proposal. You can connect with future readers by starting a website or blog, networking on social media, contributing stories or articles to online publications, starting a podcast, or any number of other ways. However, platform goes far beyond this. Authors who speak regularly to large groups of people in person or through any other medium is an author with “platform.”

You might be asking yourself, Why should I invest in building a platform? These days, the p-word has become emphasized to the point that it can seem like a dirty word, which I do understand in some ways. But it’s important to understand that every time John signs a new book contract, he is taking a risk on that author (and his job may actually be on the line), because his reputation as an editor is based in part on whether the books he acquires are ultimately a profitable financial investment for the company. That means that his goal (and the mandate from his boss) is to mitigate any risk by doing his best to ensure that the book will sell as many copies as possible.

So with that, I wish you best of luck romancing your future editor, and hooking your future readers!