“The Hook”: Holding Out for a Book Marketing Hero

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all book marketing copy has, as its foundation, a compelling “hook” — and that finding “the hook” is a task almost as difficult as writing the book itself. This promotional cornerstone must be, simultaneously, both comfortingly familiar and utterly unique; it must showcase:

• how your book exemplifies tropes in a way that is instantly recognizable to genre fans

• how your handling of those tropes is fresh and new, making your book stand out from all other books in the genre

And don’t forget it’s got to be short and snappy enough to catch a potential reader’s eye mid-scroll!

How in the name of Jane Austen is an author supposed to go about finding “the hook”: that elusive, swoonworthy hero of their book marketing quest?

Let’s break down the pros and cons of three main "hook pulling" methods:

1. the classic “manual” approach

2. the new wave of gen AI tools‍

3. the Realm Chef special — which just might be the “hook hero” we’ve all been waiting for!

Finding the Hook on Your Own Steam (or Someone Else’s)

For most of book marketing history, “hook pulling” authors have had only one option: the manual approach. That means someone (either the author or a paid assistant) has to read the book and take note of any potential hooks — snappy bits of dialogue, emotion-heavy scenes, dynamic character moments, trope sightings — that stand out to them. The author then has to sort through those notes, choose the hook-iest options, and try to distill them into punchy marketing copy.

Pros:

• (if the author is doing the work) gives the author a chance to get even more familiar with their book, so they can market with confidence!
• (if an assistant is doing the work) shows the author what in the book stands out to a reader, so they can market with confidence!

Cons:

• costs the author a lot of time
  • if they’re paying an assistant, costs both time AND money
• might lead to author burnout with this particular book (and with the book marketing process in general)

Teaching Gen AI to Fish

The arrival of gen AI tools has revolutionized every stage of the book marketing journey, including hook pulling. Authors can now upload their books to ChatGPT, Claude, etc. and let the AI generate a list of book hooks — all pulled from the manuscript and thereby rooted in the book’s unique story — in minutes.

‍Pros:

• cuts down the cost of both time and money
  • even the paid versions of these gen AI tools are less expensive than paying someone to create a story bible or pull hooks from your book
• helps alleviate author burnout, keeping some creative energy fresh for the rest of the book marketing journey (and for writing more books)

Cons:

• gen AI tools are multipurpose; since they’re not built specifically for authors, you have to do some prompt engineering to get the best results
• not all gen AI tools can handle a full manuscript; authors with longer books or a connected series have to cut down the text or feed it to the gen AI in bits, leading to less cohesive / lower quality hooks
• most gen AI tools are heavily filtered, so writers of spicy and/or dark romance may struggle to get compelling hooks that will resonate with genre fans expectations (if the AI tool will accept the manuscript at all)

Realm Chef: Book Marketing’s Fated Mate

Built by writers for writers, Realm Chef harnesses gen AI power to analyze your book and generate a host of customized promotional materials. You simply upload your manuscript and choose from the suite of book marketing tools:

• Automated Story Bible: with succinct chapter summaries, timeline events, and character profiles, all generated in minutes, the classic “manual” approach becomes a lot faster — and more enjoyable!
• Ad Generators: Realm Chef analyzes the manuscript and instantly generates ad copy for Facebook/Instagram and TikTok, with hooks already pulled and incorporated.
• Book Consultation Chat: Just ask Chef for hooks that you can use in any of your marketing efforts!

Pros:

• FAST
• affordable and cost-effective — you can choose the plan that’s right for YOU
• specifically designed to be an author marketing tool, so no prompt engineering required on your end; just upload and click “generate”!
• built to handle ALL books
  • longer manuscripts
  • spicy romance
  • no problem!
• makes book marketing FUN — it’s an adorable cat wearing a chef’s hat made of clouds, so no danger of author burnout
• gives back to authors the time, mental space, and creative energy they need to WRITE

Cons:

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Hero of the Hook

Realm Chef is the book marketing hero we’ve all been waiting for: a writing friend who KNOWS our stories as well as we do and works tirelessly to get those stories into the hands of readers. Check out the only gen AI tool designed specifically to help authors market their books — and let Realm Chef save you time, help you make money, and bring JOY back to your publishing journey!

Try Realm Chef Today