High concept is a term that gives me an instant headache. I’ve read several articles about it and am still trying to pinpoint what makes a story “high concept”. I’m wondering if it’s subjective. This article uses examples that I didn’t think fit the definition of high concept.

So why am I trying to understand it? Because I have a project I’d really like to write that I was told wasn’t high concept, lacked a hook. If I can figure out a way to develop the story so that it has a strong hook and/or high concept, maybe this book will fly in the future. Also, if all editors are really looking for hooks and/or high concept stories it kind of makes sense for my writing future to get a handle on what this means and how to apply it.

As much as the topic gives me a raging headache, I actually understand the reasoning behind it. Go into a bookstore and just look at the sheer number of books, even in a small store. If my little book is going to have a shot at succeeding, it has to stand out in some way. And it starts with being something that’s easy to sell to the publisher’s marketing department and to booksellers. If booksellers have five hundred titles in a given genre already, why should they carry mine, too? What special quality does my story offer that nobody else’s does?

Voice, of course, but that only helps if you’ve reached the point that people will buy based on author name alone, knowing they’ll enjoy the voice, the way that author tells a story. In the meantime, what about this book makes it sound interesting to people? “Two people fall in love and live happily ever after” is, um, not enough. So while everybody else is off at RWA, I’ll be trying to wrap my head around high concept. I think it’s gonna take a lot of chocolate.