Whether you call it the pitch, the hook, or simply your
query, the blurb you write in your cover letter that tells an agent
or editor what you’re trying to sell them, is one of the single
most important things you’ll ever write. When trying your hand
at it, think about the back of a book’s dust jacket. Think about
the blurb a reviewer uses to describe a book to an unknowing
audience. Think short, sweet, and exciting. But don’t think it’s
something you can gloss over because your sample pages will
speak for themselves.
Early in my career I went to a writer’s conference and I
distinctly remember an editor saying that she put very little
value in the cover letter. She advised writers to keep them short
and to let the writing do the talking. She said that she barely
read covers and a brief letter would endear you to an editor’s
heart.
I held onto that advice for years. Now I know she was
only speaking for herself, but at the time, I thought she
was speaking for all editors.
When it came time for me to
try and sell my young adult
manuscript, I included short
covers and only submitted to
editors who accepted sample
pages. With a bland cover, I
was counting on my writing
to grab their attention. What
I didn’t understand is that a
strong hook does so much
more than make them want
to read your sample; it makes them want to read your whole
book.
Just over a year ago, I switched from searching for a
publishing house to trying to find an agent. As I tuned into
blogs (Miss Snark, Kristen Nelson, Nadia Cornier, Rachel Vater), I
learned that the hook for you book, which is part of your cover
letter, is probably the most important tool you have at your
disposal. In theory, I understood the concept, but it took me a
long time to really “get” that the hook was as important as they
all said it was.
And believe it or not, I had to learn it twice before it sunk in.
The first time was last summer. I had finished my new YA and
wanted to query an agent who had shown interest in some of
my previous work, but who had declined to sign me on. I knew
my book had a good twist to it, so when she responded that the
writing was solid (first five pages) and she loved the character’s
voice, but the story was tired and had been done many times
before, my first thought was, “How can she say that? She doesn’t
even know what my book’s about! It’s got a great twist!”
After I got over the pang of rejection, my second thought
was, “All she really knows about my book is what I put in my
hook.” Ding. Ding. Ding. That was my problem. I rewrote the hook
but I didn’t just fire it off to agents again. Instead I gave it somethought and worked as hard on it as I had on my manuscript.
This time I thought of a clever way to tie the hook into one of
the unique features of my story and the title. I made the voice
of the hook match the voice of my character, even though it was
in third person. And I made it tight, snappy, and funny, just like
my manuscript.
That hook went on to snag many requests for partials and
fulls (even without sample pages) and in the end my writing
got me an agent. But I wasn’t done with hooks yet. Before I had
signed, I finished another YA and I started querying that one. I
wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice though. Instead I
made a new one. People who’ve read your manuscript are not
the ones who should critique your hook. They already know too
much.
I sent that hook out to my critique group. They gave me
great suggestions on how to tighten it, what should be cut,
where I could rearrange stuff, and when I was done, it was
very smooth and professional.
Everyone in my critique group
already liked my book, and
knew first hand the sense of
urgency that I’d embedded
into the manuscript, so they
didn’t notice it was missing in
my hook.
I sent out a batch of
queries and one of the quicker
agents got back to me right
away with the comment, “This
is really polished but I don’t feel the magic.” How could he not
feel the magic? Couldn’t he see how quick-paced and exciting
my book was? Didn’t he feel the life or death situation? I decided
it must have just been him. After all, not every manuscript is
right for every agent. But it wasn’t just him. When the “no’s”
started coming in hard and fast, I clued in that, once again, it was
probably my hook. Instead of going back to my critique group, I
sent it to a writer friend who knew absolutely nothing about the
book.
Her comments were, “There’s no sense of urgency. What
does the character lose if she doesn’t get what she wants? Why
does this matter?” In my attempt to show off my great plot and
character voice, I’d forgotten the essentials. What does she want
and what happens if she doesn’t get it? It all has to be in there, every
time, and if you ask agent/writer Donald Maas, he’ll say do it in
50 words. Yep. Fifty words! Others, like Miss Snark give you 250
words, but you still only get to write a one-page query, so you’ve
got to pack in your intro and bio around that. No fair using 8-
point type either.
Miss Snark (www.misssnark.com) and her Crap-o-meter is
a great place to start researching how to do a hook. Even if she
never does another one, everything you need to know is alreadyout there in her archives. Rachel Vater (http://raleva31.livejournal.
com/) talks on her Live Journal regularly about the queries she
receives and explains why they do and don’t work for her. Every
agent who blogs covers this topic off and on. With all the help
available, there’s no excuse for not making your hook the best it
can be. After all, the better your hook, the more likely an agent or
editor is to find the gem in slush. Help them find your jewel, and
you’ll help yourself get an agent or publishing contract. Besides,
it’s good practice for when you really do have to write the copy
for your dust jacket.
(sorry the formatting’s kind of funky…I cut and pasted from an Adobe document)
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