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If you learn and use the technique I am about to show you, you’ll avoid agents and publishers misunderstanding what your book is about, and instead you’ll be able to clearly communicate the core essence of your book in one short sentence.

Alien, a science fiction movie, was released in 1979. It was to become a hugely popular film, widely regarded as a sci-fi classic was listed as the 38th greatest American movie by Empire magazine in 2008. However, its success was never guaranteed. At the time of writing, the film was unique, cutting edge and risky. In short it was unlike any other science fiction movie ever made. Yet this presented writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett with a huge problem. How do you convince a major studio to back a film that, by its very nature, is difficult explain and has no track record of success of similar films on which to call? The answer was to communicate the essence of the film. O’Bannon and Shusett successfully pitched their concept for Alien using one simple phrase. They described the movie as, “Jaws in space.” The rest, as they say, is history.

So why was the “Jaws in space” approach so successful?

The answer is that rather than trying to educate the film studio executives as to the plot and narrative of the film, they instead drew on universal memories and experiences that matched the ‘essence’ of their film. By drawing on an already successful and well-known film, in this case Jaws, the writers were able to short cut the pitching process and automatically trigger relevant images in the studio owner’s minds. It is a much smaller leap to imagine Jaws in space, than it is to try and explain the complex and layered plot of Alien from scratch.

Was “Jaws in space” an accurate description of Alien? No… Alien was much more. But “Jaws in space” was enough to spark the interest and open the door to developing the pitch.

Applying “Jaws in space” to your book.

The concept of clearly defining the core message of a project can be successfully applied to a book. When applied to a book, this technique can be a very powerful tool. It avoids confusion and long explanations about your book’s plot and allows you to present a precise description that can’t be misunderstood.

When I pitched the concept for my latest books, I used this technique to hook first my agent and then my publisher Franklin Watts. I could have described my books as what they were – detailed, historically accurate interactive fiction based around historical battles, aimed at children 9-12 years old. This is an accurate summary of what BattleBooks was to become. However, instead I pitched the books as “Fighting Fantasy for battles.” This brief sentence sums up the ‘essence’ of my books.

Here are 3 actions steps to creating your own “Jaws in space”

• What is your book about?: Grab a pen and paper and write out a sentence that describes the ‘essence’ of your book. Think about the book’s plot, its setting, the big idea behind the writing, the intended readership and any other factor that sets your book apart. Spend some time on this, work at the sentence, writing and re-writing until you are happy.
  
• What other books is your book like?: Next go to Amazon, find the genre of your book and look carefully at the bestsellers. Scan through the list of books and write down at least five titles that are like your book. These don’t need to be identical to your book, just similar in some way (remember the Jawsexample). Then go to your own bookshelves and carry out the same exercise. Look for classic books, of any genre, which are similar to your book.The aim here is to try and find a well understood book that contains some of the elements of your book. Think back to the Jaws example. The original Jaws film wasn’t set in space, but it did have the tension and horror that were to be the driving force of Alien. Jaws also had a lone, rarely seen monster, a key factor of the Alien story.

  My own BattleBooks series aligned itself with Fighting Fantasy. This meant that I didn’t have to explain the nature of Interactive Fiction, since the reference would make it clear to anyone understanding what Fighting Fantasy involved. You are trying to find a title that offers a short cut to the ‘essence’ of your own book.

• What is different?: With Jaws it was set in space, not the ocean. With BattleBooksthe setting is battles, not a dungeon. Having chosen a handful of titles, you must now define how your book is different from the well-known title.You should now have the elements of a sentence that defines your book. You have the titles which will tap into people’s memories and experiences, and a statement as to why your book is different.

What to do right now.

If you do nothing else I suggest that you spend five minutes thinking about what book your book is like and why it is different. Then share… Either talk to someone who knows your book and get their feedback or, if nothing else, add your sentence to the comments below.