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| Rita Goldner |
I recently attended a webinar hosted by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). The guest speaker was a representative from Chronicle Books in San Francisco, and her job was to work with creators of ancillary products. These products are sometimes based on, or inspired by books or book characters, but appeal to a wider audience. Some examples are puzzles, board games, card games, stick-on wall decals, stationery, toys, home décor, and Advent calendars. She assured us that these products could be sophisticated and cutting-edge, to appeal to adults and teens, not just little kids.
Her presentation was very interesting and inspiring. The most important take-away for me was that anything her company would acquire and publish, whether a book or an ancillary product, had to have two distinct qualities: first, be different from the rest of its genre, and second, have a “hook.” It’s the relevance to books, as opposed to products, that I address here.
For the first requirement, being different from the rest of its genre, a book has to rise above and be unique, even though classified with other books by subject matter, target audience, etc. We achieve that by unusual style, point-of-view, pacing and plot twists. That “uniqueness” may only become known to the buyers after they read it, but is a valuable asset when we’re pitching the book to a prospective publisher, or when our readers are pitching it to their friends.
The other necessity is the “hook”, which has to be immediately obvious when someone picks up the book. The hook can’t wait until he is already reading, it has to jump out and grab him at the outset, to MAKE him buy the book. Hooks for books with an adult end user seem limited to a catchy title, cover design, an attention-grabbing controversial one-or-two sentence teaser, or a dynamite endorsement.. Picture books for a child target audience, however, offer a wider choice of hooks, because the genre is visual anyway, so we can showcase appealing cartoon characters.
I’ve heard a recent undercurrent at marketing meetings, from my author colleagues who don’t want to seem pushy in sales, and resist the concept of having to use a hook. They’re trying to avoid the “circus barker” image. But I maintain that as long as we are convinced that our book is impeccable, very well crafted and professional, we should jump right in to the aggressive marketing. First be certain that the book will enrich a reader’s thoughts, boost his self-esteem, inspire or entertain him.
Know that the book will raise the bar for quality in literature, and will hold a unique position within its genre, and then develop a focused hook strategy.
Email: ritagoldner@msn.com
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