4 Ways to Write Hooks for Books

Book authors have to hook readers twice. Like all other writers, authors have to hook readers with the writing in their books. But they also have the additional challenge of hooking readers before they ever crack open the spine or open the digital file. Authors have to write hooks for their books.

Also known as elevator pitches, these book hooks have to intrigue agents, editors, and ultimately readers to give the book a chance. There are a few common strategies for writing effective pitches included below along with 25 recent book hooks that got me interested in adding titles to my own TBR (to-be-read) list. Plus, I’ve shared multiple genres to model how you might write your own book hooks in the future.

Keep It Short and Sweet

The prototypical elevator pitch is one that can be told between one floor and another. As such, they need to be short, sweet, and succinct like these:

Megan Baxter explores storytelling and ponders what makes us human by examining the body in Twenty Square Feet of Skin. —Twenty Square Feet of Skin by Megan Baxter (personal essays)

Roz, the wild robot, goes on an adventure to the far north in order to protect her home island from a mysterious form of pollution. —The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown (MG science fiction)

An unforgettable story of friendship between a curious girl with a rich imagination and a winged thief with a very big heart. —My Little Thief by Augusten Burroughs (picture books)

When a homicide cop persuades a talented genealogist to help him track down a serial killer, she becomes entangled in a web of deadly secrets. —The Last Close Call by Laura Griffin (suspense)

From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans. —Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot (history)

Two sisters, one a beauty and one a monster, must break a terrible curse with the help of a snarky yet lovable snake and a dragon who’s not all that he seems. —Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim (YA fantasy)

Set in the bruised, mined, and timbered mills of Appalachia in western Pennsylvania, Sidle Creek is a tender, truthful exploration of a small town and the people who live there, told by a brilliant new voice in fiction. —Sidle Creek by Jolene McIlwain (short stories)

A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare. —The September House by Carissa Orlando (horror)

A neurodivergent MBA student hires a starving artist as her sugar baby after an unexpected inheritance. —Sweeten the Deal by Katie Shepard (contemporary romance)

A timely self-examination of the “mixed” American experience featuring exclusive recipes and photographs from the author’s multicultural family. —Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience by Raj Tawney (memoir)

A refugee hiding from the empire that conquered her people must risk exposure—or all-out war—on a road trip to save her new home from a deadly machine that will destroy the planet. —Where Peace Is Lost by Valerie Valdes (science fiction)

Compare Titles and Authors

Another popular strategy is to compare one book or series to another. Here are a few pitches that accomplish this:

The Taking of Jake Livingston meets Cemetery Boys in this YA ghost story about a Puerto Rican teen’s battle with a malevolent spirit targeting his apartment building and the all-too-real horrors of gentrification. —Infested by Angel Luis Colón (YA horror)

For fans of You’ve Reached Sam and A Heart in a Body in the World, this searing and heartrending teen novel follows an ex-couple as they struggle to reunite in the wake of a devastating earthquake. —The Quiet Part Out Loud by Deborah Crossland (YA contemporary)

A Latinix Practical Magic. —Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland (magical realism romance)

For fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Charles Todd, Murder by Degrees is a historical mystery set in 19th-century Philadelphia, following a pioneering woman doctor as she investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead. —Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (mystery)

A League of Their Own meets Hidden Figures in the story of a woman who escapes the dead-end work of the Bronx Slave Market to join 855 Black women in the pioneering Six Triple Eight postal battalion, which cleared about 17 million pieces of backlogged mail to improve morale for troops during World War II. —Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders (historical fiction)

Ask a Question

One tactic that is commonly used involves asking a question in the pitch. The genius behind this approach is that it prompts the reader’s participation.

Ella doesn’t like the holidays and is a Scrooge in the making, so when she returns home and reunites with Seth, an old flame and a Christmas enthusiast, over her town’s Christmas tree auction, her stubbornness will be put to the test. Can he thaw her heart and convince her to give him and Christmas a second chance? —Snow Place Like Home by Lacey Baker (holiday romance)

The murder of a local contractor may be the final nail in the coffin for Tricia Miles. Can she find the killer before he or she has the chance to bring the hammer down? —A Questionable Character by Lorna Barrett (cozy mystery)

Following the death-defying heist on Guildmaster’s Island, Ryia and the gang are scattered across the five kingdoms of Thamorr. They now face an evil stronger than any of them have reckoned with before. Can Ryia get the gang back together for one last job, or will chess-worthy power plays and shifting loyalties change Thamorr as they know it? —Thick as Thieves by M. J. Kuhn (fantasy)

The Men Can’t Be Saved tackles a haunting question: What do our jobs do to our souls? Seth is a junior copywriter whose latest tagline just went viral. But when his job lets him go, he can’t let go of his job. Readers join Seth as he tries to find salvation—and he might get there if he could only get out of his own way. —The Men Can’t Be Saved by Ben Purkert (literary fiction)

The Rye Bread Marriage is a memoir that explores the roots of my husband’s obsession with Latvian rye bread; while telling the story of his dramatic wartime childhood; and plumbing the complexities of our marriage with this question in mind: How do partners who are opposites live together without wringing each other’s necks? —The Rye Bread Marriage by Michaele Weissman (literary memoir/culinary history)

End on a Cliffhanger

Cliffhangers are a powerful tool in the storytelling toolbox, and some books employ them in their elevator pitches.

The story follows a young woman who offers herself up to a wicked king to save her family and finds herself locked in his dark, gothic keep as his castle healer. While imprisoned, she makes an unsuspecting ally in a fellow prisoner, but not everything about the stranger is exactly as it seems … —A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden (fantasy romance)

A teen Instagrammer is thrust into the center of conspiracy theories and rumors online after two local kids go missing, but finding the truth might be more deadly than anyone knows. —At the Speed of Lies by Cindy L. Otis (YA thriller)

A live-in health aide is assigned to care for Lenora Hope, a mute 71-year-old woman suspected of murdering her family decades earlier. Using an old typewriter, she makes her new nurse a tantalizing offer: I want to tell you everything. —The Only One Left by Riley Sager (thriller)

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