I get together often with other writers—at conferences, online, via email, etc. So I’m often asked, “What are you looking for as an agent?” My typical answer: “Irresistible hooks and irresistible writing.”

When I say that, I’m talking about both fiction and nonfiction. And you’ll notice I didn’t mention that wretched word “platform.” To be fair, I don’t mind “irresistible platforms,” either; but in my experience, an irresistible hook and irresistible writing can overcome a modest platform. More so, I think than an irresistible platform can overcome the lack of an irresistible hook and irresistible writing.

I’ll also often say, “Nail the hook, nail the book.” At least in my own writing life, I often find that when I’ve landed on a great hook, the book takes shape, if not effortlessly, at least energetically.

So, what’s a “hook,” and how do you nail it?

Good questions (which usually means you’re about to get a lousy answer). A great hook:

• • grabs attention,
  • sparks interest,
  • defines what’s unique about your project,
  • makes (or hints at) a promise.

And all in a few words—no more than a sentence or two.

This is true for both fiction and nonfiction. For fiction hooks, I’ll often suggest writers think in “movie trailer” voice: “One man. One woman. Unforgiving wilderness.” Or to borrow from Louis Sachar’s Holes: “There is no lake at the boys’ detention center they call Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.”

A great fiction hook promises, “Stick with me, and I’ll deliver something worth your time.” A great nonfiction hook promises a definite reward, a met need. For example, “You could keep trying to fit in…. Or you could rest in where you already fit” (from Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith’s new release, Being Fully Known: The Joyful Satisfaction of Beholding, Becoming, and Belonging). Sometimes the title (and/or subtitle) is a hook itself, as in Dr. Dalton-Smith’s book or Susan U. Neal’s 12 Ways to Age Gracefully: How to Look and Feel Younger.

I suggest spending as much time as necessary on your hooks—brainstorming, mind-mapping, trying different approaches, and critique-group-testing. After all, the hook is your book’s first impression; it should hit hard and deep. And if you really nail the hook, you’re more likely to sell your book to an agent, editor—and ultimately—reader.