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A
good book summary is targeted directly at the reader and it is important to
remember that the reader wants to know only one thing - what is the book about.
Not paying attention to this most important element can spell disaster. Here is an example of a summary that is sure
to fail:
"I
spent a year writing this book and I know you will love it. It's exciting,
filled with action and well written. It's the story of a girl and boy who fall
in love under dire circumstances. First they have a hard time meeting, then
they hate each other, and then they fall in love. I know you will enjoy reading
my book."
Here’s
why this summary is doomed to fail.
Telling a reader what he or she will think is a major blunder and
insults the reader's intelligence. The summary is boring, self serving and most
importantly indicates that the book is probably just as bad. It even tells us how it ends, which will make
the reader put the book back on the shelf and walk away. As well, this summary talks "at"
the potential buyers instead of giving them what they demand - a craving to buy
the book!
It
is no easy task for a writer to condense an entire book into one or two
paragraphs. There are always multiple characters, events, settings and an
abundance of personalities, good and bad. But it must be done, and done well.
So
how do we write a block-buster summary? First we must decide what information
is essential to the story. Just like
journalists we start with - who, what, where, when and why. Too many characters and events in a summary
can confuse and bog a reader down. It is far wiser to concentrate on one main
character and then add the problem he or she must face. For the purposes of this article, we will
suppose our story takes place in 1912 Kentucky, our main character is Sam
Smooth, age 34, he is a locksmith and he wants a wife. The beginning of our summary then looks like
this:
“In
1912 Kentucky, Sam Smooth, a Locksmith who was pushing 35 years old wanted a
wife. There were women in town, but some
were too tall, some too slim, some too wide, and some who just weren’t that
attractive.”
This
summary begins well, but needs improvement.
The description of the available women is boring, so let’s add a few
details and spruce it up a little:
“Mary
Fields would do if she weren’t so tall, Clare Woods might even be pretty if she
had all her teeth and Sarah Clink needed more broadcloth to cover her figure
than any woman he’d ever seen.”
It
says the same thing, but it’s far more interesting to read. Next we need to add more about the adversity
every main character must overcome.
Perhaps the story includes a murder.
"Yet
finding a wife wasn't his only problem. Old man Sheppard got himself murdered
and the Sheriff kept coming around asking questions."
So
now we have explained the adversity but even so, the reader may not be
compelled to buy. We have to add a
hook. A hook is a question that will
make the reader want to know how it turns out.
"Maybe
Sam had thought about killing the old man, but who hadn't? And now that he was
dead, who was that beautiful woman moving into the Sheppard mansion?
At
this point, we have made Sam into a possible suspect, we’ve tantalized the
reader into wondering who the real killer is and we’ve introduced a mystery
woman. These are two questions we hope
the reader will be compelled to find the answer to.
Power
words are adjectives that add color and make the work more interesting. Sometimes it is worth adding a couple of
power words to complete the process
“In
1912 Kentucky, Sam Smooth, a Locksmith who was pushing 35 years old wanted a
wife. Mary Fields would do if she weren't so tall, Clare Woods might even be pretty if she had all her teeth and Sarah
Clink, but she needed more broadcloth to cover her figure than any woman he’d
ever seen.
Yet finding a wife wasn't his only problem.
Old man Sheppard got himself murdered and the nosey Sheriff kept
coming around asking questions. Maybe
Sam had thought about killing that callous old man, but who
hadn't? And now that he was dead, who was that beautiful woman moving into the
Sheppard mansion?”
The
formula for writing a summary that sells is worth following:
Keep
it simple and short, concentrate on just one character, spruce up the
descriptions, add the adversity, improve with power words and finish with a
hook.
Marti Talbott is the author of the Marti Talbott's Highlander Series, the Carson Series and the Marblestone Mansion (Scandalous Duchess Series.) Her books are available in Kindle, Nook, iPad Kobo,
