Missy: When I was trying to sell my third book—the first I’d sold on proposal, I struggled to find just the right proposal idea. While brainstorming with my editor on the phone, she told me something that caused a light bulb moment. She said, “I think you’re trying to force these two characters together. Just start fresh and come up with a one-sentence idea. Send me that first, and then we’ll go from there.”
A one sentence
idea.
Immediately
I started thinking of one-liners, of marketing
hooks. Of back cover blurbs.
And
that’s exactly what we need to think about as we come up with new book ideas.
Because no matter how much an editor loves a story, she may still have to get
the idea approved by the marketing department before she can buy it. Everyone
in the publishing house needs to be on board for a project to succeed.
So
I started thinking of my book, thinking what
are my hooks? In that book that became A Forever Christmas, I had (hooks in
bold print): a single dad with full custody of two little boys. I had a Christmas story. I had a reunion
story—the heroine dumped the hero in high school, then he turned around and
broke her heart by getting someone else pregnant and marrying her. Plus, I
already knew how the book ended—those two
boys ask for the heroine to be their mom for Christmas.
All
those thoughts were stewing in my mind, and it just so happened that at the
time, I was working on a blog post
for a group blog where we were doing fun posts for the 12 Days of Christmas. And a sentence hit me:
A
woman with a mission. Twelve days till Christmas. Will this single dad grasp
the true meaning of Christmas in time to nab the one gift his boys really want:
a new mom?
Being
the insecure writer that I am, I emailed a group of writer friends and asked
what they thought. They gave me the thumbs
up and said I had found my hook.
The 12 Days of Christmas thing.
So
I expanded that one liner and
started thinking more about who my heroine could be and how I could throw her
together with the hero. I came up with a long blurb that included my original hooks and ended with:
So she decides to put her own feelings aside and sets out on
mission: force him to spend quality time with his boys over the 12 days before
Christmas.
Will
Gregory grasp the true meaning of Christmas in time to nab the one gift the
boys really want: Miss Radcliffe for a mom?
Now,
I had my one-liner and my blurb and emailed that to my editor. She responded
that it had several good hooks (she
noticed!) and gave me the go-ahead to come up with a new synopsis.
Are
you beyond the idea brainstorming stage? You can also work in the reverse. Take
a story you’re already working on or have finished and try to boil it down to a
one-liner. If you can’t do that, then maybe you need to try to focus your story
and consider adding something that’ll make it more marketable. It’ll help you
have a fabulous pitch when you’re ready to sell your story!
I
learned a valuable lesson while trying to sell the proposal that became A Forever Christmas. I still tend to
jump in plotting and have to back up, to remind myself to focus and use this
method.
Give
it a try next time you’re brainstorming. It’s always helpful to start with a kernel
of an idea that contains hooks readers love, something exciting an editor can take
to the marketing department. I hope my experience has helped you.
Have you used this form of developing your story and one-sentence pitch? Feel free to share with us some marketing hooks from your current story, and/or your pitch.
~~~
Georgia Sweethearts (from Love Inspired, April 2013)
A Pattern For Love...
After inheriting her great-aunt's failing yarn shop, Lilly Barnes is
determined to make it a success. All she wants is stability, something she
doesn't think possible in the small town of Corinthia, Georgia. Then Pastor
Daniel Foreman rents space in her store to hold meetings for his growing
congregation, and this proves to be her lifeline. At first Lilly wants nothing
to do with Daniel's big dreams, but she soon finds herself starting to share
his goals. Yet trouble between her customers and his congregation make them
both doubt the path they're on. That is, until practical Lilly shows him that
love is a risk worth taking.
~~~
Missy
Tippens, a pastor’s wife and mom of three from near
Atlanta, Georgia, made her first sale to Love Inspired in 2007. Her books have
since been nominated for the Booksellers Best, ACFW Carol Award, Gayle Wilson
Award of Excellence, Beacon Contest and a 2013 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award. A
House Full of Hope has recently been named a Romance Writers of America
RITA® Finalist.
New from Love Inspired, Georgia Sweethearts is an April 2013
release.
Visit Missy at www.missytippens.com,
http://www.facebook.com/missy.tippens.readers and @MissyTippens on
Twitter.
