HOW TO HOOK YOUR READER _ IWSG post
THE TITLE:

The title TUGS the eye of the browsing would-be reader on Amazon.
It snares and entices.
It makes your first impression.
THE COVER:

A successful book cover makes a reader 'feel' things rather than 'tell' them something.
The cover sets the mood of the book.
If the cover is mostly dark colored with shadows and a disturbing image,
it shows that the story inside the book must be scary.
THE FIRST PAGE:
How to Write a Good Hook and Start Your Novel with a Bang!
1.) Startle readers with the first line.
2.) Begin at a life-changing moment.
3.) Create intrigue about the characters.
4.) Use a setting as the inciting incident.
5.) Up the stakes with the first page.
6.) Introduce something ominous right away.
7.) Set the mood.
8.) Make your characters sympathetic and relatable — immediately.
EXAMPLE:
Take the first page of my next novel: WITHOUT MERCY OR NAME
(Did you know that hurricanes in 1947 had no names?)
A POLISHED LIFE OF LIES
“It was a beautiful lie that Hoover had been telling himself: that he could bend his own rules to protect his sin without becoming more monstrous than those he was sworn to arrest.” – Diary of Ingrid Durtz, 8 March, 1947
I once thought you had to be cut to hurt this badly. I have come to realize that there are some memories that cut deeper than any surgeon’s scalpel. Though our flight through the night skies was smoother than the softest velvet, I seemed to feel the aircraft shake violently from Nazi flack exploding all around us.
My memories had me back aboard the Douglas C-47 of my last mission ... the mission in which I died. The airplane was originally designed as a passenger airplane for TWA airlines. However, it became a vital part of the Allied fleet in World War II, particularly during D-Day and missions over "The Hump,” the India to China airlift over the Himalayan mountains.
It served in military missions for a long list of countries. In addition to being well suited for carrying supplies, the C-47 was ideal for dropping paratroopers, with its wide rear door located between the left wing and elevator. Hence why I and my O.S.S. team members were then aboard.
That particular C-47 had been adorned with nose art done by Captain Lucas which gave the craft its much too melodramatic name: “Devil's Darlin'.”

Since he was my superior officer in the O.S.S. and the man I loved, I did not object … much.
Love.
The most used and least understood word in any language whether it be my native Swedish or Lucas’ American English.
I thought I never would find a man I could love until I met Lucas. He thought himself incapable of love, of loving me … until I died in his arms.
Life, love, death, undeath … they are never what you expect.
HOW DO YOU
HOOK YOUR READERS?
Published on March 05, 2019 00:44
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