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    Hook, Tagline, and Sinker: Writing Irresistible Book Descriptions: Beyond the Style Manual, #1
    Hook, Tagline, and Sinker: Writing Irresistible Book Descriptions: Beyond the Style Manual, #1
    Hook, Tagline, and Sinker: Writing Irresistible Book Descriptions: Beyond the Style Manual, #1
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    Hook, Tagline, and Sinker: Writing Irresistible Book Descriptions: Beyond the Style Manual, #1

    By Kris James

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    About this ebook

    Hook, Tagline, and Sinker is a guide for anyone who wants to learn how to write concise, targeted, catchy book descriptions.

    Potential readers’ first introduction to your writing occurs when they experience your book description. Making that short pitch shine is critical to the success of your book, no matter where you market, share, or shelve it.

    Hook, Tagline, and Sinker will teach you some great techniques, give some tips and tricks, and explain pitfalls to avoid. The most in-depth, accurate, and detailed description guide available today, this 18,000-word booklet is a valuable resource for everyone looking to improve their description-writing skills.



    The Beyond the Style Manual series consists of short guides that target different areas of writing and publishing.

    Red Adept Publishing is a hybrid company that operates a traditional publishing house and also offers a vast array of editorial services to authors who wish to publish independently.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRed Adept Publishing
    Release dateJul 1, 2014
    ISBN9781501439575
    Hook, Tagline, and Sinker: Writing Irresistible Book Descriptions: Beyond the Style Manual, #1

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      Book preview

      Hook, Tagline, and Sinker - Kris James

      Introduction

      What’s a book description, and why do I need to spend so much time on it? Why do I need this guide?

      A book description is an enticing summary of the main character(s), setting, and conflict in your fiction book. It’s the back cover copy, the lines of text everyone reads to see if they like the book enough to buy it.

      It’s also an example of your writing skills. A single awkward phrase, typo, or missed comma can persuade a significant number of your potential readers to look elsewhere. How can they trust that someone who can’t manage a few paragraphs can pen a well-crafted novel? Readers often suspect this of indie authors due to the perception that many indie books are badly written, poorly edited, or both. A shiny book description can ease any subconscious concern that your potential readers have about the quality of your writing.

      Browsing readers generally look at the cover art first, and if they’re pleased with that, they look at your book description. You need both to be in tiptop shape to make a sale.

      Tiptop shape, for a book description, means promising something your target audience thinks they can’t live without. Get it a little wrong, and your sales will fall short of their potential. Get it very wrong, and your book will get angry one-star reviews complaining about being misled.

      Save your book from obscurity by writing an irresistible description.

      Why is it so hard to write a few paragraphs when I just pounded out tens of thousands of words for my novel?

      It’s hard precisely because you know each and every one of those tens of thousands of words. How do you choose? Which are the best? How do you decide which characters and plot points to mention? Authors always have the hardest time writing their own book descriptions because so many minor details contribute to the collective awesomeness of the story and they love them all. After all, they chose those parts for their books.

      Writing an awesome book description can take weeks. Or it can take half an hour. It all depends on how familiar you are with the aspects of a great book description and how well you apply it to your specific book.

      What’s the difference between a book description and a blurb? Are there other terms that I might be getting confused with each other?

      A book description is generally no more than two hundred words contained in no more than four paragraphs that describe the basic premise of the book without giving spoilers. Its entire purpose is to entice the reader to purchase the book in order to learn the rest of the story.

      A blurb is praise for your book from another author, one whose name will be recognized by your readers. Another term for this is a testimonial. They generally look like this:

      Couldn’t put it down… had me up until 4:00 a.m.!

      —Rich McFamous, author of That Book

      A wild and rollicking ride that will have your head spinning and your sides splitting!

      —Regina Puzzlova, bestselling author of Dying to Read It

      In addition, a book description is not a synopsis. A synopsis is a summary of the whole story, including the very end. It’s usually defined by word count or length, such as one thousand words or one page, and is submitted to agents or publishing houses, depending on their specific guidelines. Professionals in the publishing industry need to know the end of your book. Potential readers don’t. So in your book descriptions: no spoilers.

      A sentence summary is twenty-five words or less, a one-line summary that’s handy to memorize in case anyone asks you out of the blue what your book is about. It’s really difficult to sum up sixty, eighty, or one hundred thousand words in one sentence unless you’ve prepared ahead of time. Having a sentence summary ready makes you look more like you know what you’re doing with this whole writing-books thing.

      Basics: Gathering Your Ingredients

      Creating a book description is a lot like writing a book. You need all the proper ingredients close at hand before you begin. The ingredients for a book description vary from book to book, and you may not use each of them every time, but if you leave out a critical ingredient, the result is going to taste a little funny to your readers.

      Have the following story elements gathered when you create your book description:

      The name of your protagonist

      Whether you give your character’s first name, full name, or nickname, or you introduce them as the stranger known only by a catchy bandit or mafioso name, you’ll need to identify the character by some specific appellation for the benefit of your readers early on in the description, preferably in the first sentence.

      Protagonist’s job and age (range)

      Book descriptions often classify the main character in the first sentence with a reference to age and/or job. Compacting this basic information into the first part of the description gives the reader a specific group of categories to place the character into before getting distracted with all the excitement of the rest of the description. This condensed information helps them determine whether they will relate strongly to the character and, by extension, whether they will enjoy your book.

      Tom Dickinson had been a long-haul trucker for over thirty years, but one night’s fateful decision…

      Sixteen-year-old Maisie Smith has never kissed a boy, but when…

      When detective Susan Wilkins gets the call that yet another copycat…

      Protagonist’s status quo and/or an early trigger event that drags them into the plot

      Many first sentences give the

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