Journey to a Bestseller: “High Concept” Sells & July Giveaways (Series #39)

Good Sunday, my writer friends. I was absent last week making up my monthly newsletter. I don’t usually share content, but I am part of some giveaways and have some featured books to share, so I may add that to today’s post.

I was recently part of a writer’s conference that I enjoy every year, centered on diversity–specifically diverse romance writers. You can click here for more info: RSJ convention This year the conference was online and I was a participant and moderator. Because of the conference, I have two publishers that have shown interest in our WIP, The Clockwork Pen. I have sent a query to one, and I’m editing the manuscript to send to the other.

I did learn something new and it’s going to shape how I write my next book. It’s what publishers are looking for and it’s not a new idea, but it’s called “high concept.” Liz Pelletier, the brilliant mind running Entangled Publishing, says that they are searching for “high concept” books. So what is a high concept? In short, it’s a one to three sentence description of your unique twist on a story that has wide appeal and makes people need to read it. Liz talked about a book they are releasing that is “Beauty and the Beast meets Taming of the Shrew.” High concept stories often take something that is familiar and puts a twist on it.

Highly Conceptual Movies | 10 Best High Concept Films Ever

Switching the character’s genders is not enough. Taking Beauty and the Beast as an example, it’s not enough to make the girl into a beast. Or switch roles in Romeo and Juliet. The twist needs to relate to the story–to the concept itself. With The Clockwork Pen, I have decided the high concept is a reverse Beauty and the Beast where the handsome prince must become a beast to escape a dark Steampunk world with the girl he loves. Interested? I hope so.

These stories are more concept-driven rather than character-driven. They are not as focused on the character changes as in a coming of age, or hero’s journey, that centers the story around the changes that take place within the character. It’s still just as important to have rich characters, but the focus of the book—it’s premise–isn’t character-driven. I hope I’m making sense.

1.11 High Concept Ideas - YouTube — examples of high concept ideas

When I Googled “high concept” stories, there was a lot of really great information out there and I don’t want to repeat them. But I want to make sure you get the idea. As always, your story must be unique, it must appeal to a large audience, and the appeal is obvious because any idea with mass appeal will “sound good” to most of us.

“High concept” to many can mean many different things. I believe it must incorporate all of the above. So, I hear you saying, “I’m sold. But how do you come up with a high concept idea before writing a book?”

The best way to start coming up with a high concept idea is to ask “what if…?” What if Sleeping Beauty was a narcoleptic and her psychiatrist was named Dr. Frankenstein–on the edge of a break-through in AI-driven sleep technology where robots rest for us? Okay, maybe that’s not the most interesting plot, but start asking yourself “What if…?” questions. What if Martians invaded the Earth? (War of the Worlds)

We know we need an idea that is:

~appealing to a mass readership

~a unique idea–something that makes people think “Why didn’t I think of that?”

~something entertaining–holds the attention of the reader

~the answer to a “What if…?” question

~told in one to three sentences

A high concept is not required to get published. This is true. There is a lot of genre fiction out there and it’s always going to have an audience. Vampire-lovers are always going to pick up the next fascinating vampire story. And romance readers are going to keep looking for that next titillating romance.

But if you are looking to write the next best thing, or you want to wake up an agent and shake them out of their slush pile, try a high concept story. And you can write a high-concept story in ANY genre, if you wish. One of the best ways to excite an agent is to show them clearly an understandable new idea and where it fits in the market with comp books. Readers have often said my first book was “The Hunger Games meets A Wrinkle in Time.” But this isn’t a high concept. The books are similar in genre. You can’t just take two books and put them into the same sentence and think it’s a high concept. There needs to be an individual twist to the idea.

Go back to that “What if” question and see how many interesting “What if ‘s” you can come up with. What if space travel met the wild west? (Firefly) How many scenarios could you come up with? What if scientists could clone dinosaurs? (Jurassic Park)

In a quote by Nelson Literary Agency’s Angie Hodapp, only 5% of an agent’s slushpile consists of queries that make the agent think “I must read more.” And that 5% includes the “high concept” stories. So, if you are looking to knock that agent’s socks off, this might be the way to do it.

I looked up several plot generators and some were disappointing, but you can use some to come up with your high concept plot. Here’s an article that highlights seven idea generators to check out.

My personal formula:

Make up a protagonist, can be as vague as “teen girl” or as complicated as “Lucy from A Room with a View.”

2. Think up a twist. Maybe the story takes place in space? Maybe we mix it with another story?

3. What if this weird thing happened?

As with most writing tips, it is much easier to plan your story with a high concept first. I thought I had done that with The Clockwork Pen because the concept was, “boy opens a door and finds another world.” But, I was told, this is not a high concept, it is what’s considered a “gimmick.” It is much harder to try to find a high concept in a work you’ve previously completed, than to begin with a new, fresh concept in mind and write that story.

This week’s post is short, but I want you to brainstorm your high concepts this week. Come up with your next story. Who knows? It might be good enough to put down the manuscript you’re working on and start it instead!!

Let us know in the comments what you come up with! And here are the giveaways and features for July.

I have several promotions to share this month, some giveaways, featured books and videos! So let’s get started. First:

Bookfunnel

Kindle Unlimited Young Adult BLOW OUT! https://books.bookfunnel.com/clevergirlyakindleblowout/6nsnxhlrpk

(These books are free if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription.)

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