Hooks

Welcome everyone!

Today we're going to talk about my favorite pirate: Captain Hook! No, just kidding. That would make an interesting post, though. Anyhow, I'm going to talk about how I try to hook my audience with my novellas.

A hook is an attention-grabbing first sentence that gets the readers attention with a promise that which is paid off later in the story. Here's a famous one:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

This sentence grabs the reader's attention by making a bold statement that the reader may or may not agree with. Then it makes a promise to try to prove or disprove this later in the work, and so the reader knows that this book will be filled with bachelors, aristocrats, and marriage. It's a perfect trifecta for a romance novel.

Here's the opening line from the book I'm currently reading called Half a King:

There was a harsh gale blowing on the night Yarvi learned he was a king, or half a king, at least.

The harsh gale connotes danger. The way "learned he was a king" is phrased makes it seem like this was a sudden occurrence, not something the character had been expecting. Then the best part: "half a king, at least." That's the promise. The book promises the reader it will explain what that is and why it applies to Yarvi. Thus, the reader is encouraged to read on.

So then there's my book one.

On the day he would lose his home, his father, and his only love, Tristan scuffed his heels along the dusty path passing through the front gate of Vitalba village. 

The words "gate" and "village" connote a medieval setting at the least and possibly a fantasy setting. I give the reader three mysteries - the three things Tristan loses. Tristan scuffing his heals tells the reader he is unhappy, but it doesn't explain why. That's the promise. The story will explain why Tristan is feeling dejected and whether or not he can escape that by the end of the book.

So now we move on to Book 2. I can't pull the same trick. I need something new, and I wanted to make it as different as possible. As a result, Book 2 will open with a conversation. There is a lot of advice on the Internet saying you shouldn't do that, but in this case, I believe I have to. While sequel books need to have similarities to the original, they must also be recognizably different. Starting with dialogue will help me signal to the reader that yes, you might be back in the land you enjoy, but things are very different now.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that little insight. I'm still working on putting together my marketing plan for Book 2. It's not as easy as I thought. Also, just a reminder about the Drive to 25 Campaign.

We're trying to get to 25 copies of the Book 1 audio book sold by November. Currently, we're at 19. Please help by sharing these blog posts or sharing links to my audio book.

You can find it in the following locals:

• Audible
• iTunes
• Amazon

And if you want to start an Audible account, you can get my audio book for free by signing up HERE.

Peace,

-Troy