There’s no shortage of book marketing advice, but despite volumes of recommendations about everything from websites and social media to newsletters and events, one author dilemma is almost never addressed, even though it comes up all the time:
When another person — like a relative, colleague, journalist, book blogger, or just the person sitting next to you on an airplane — looks you in the eye and asks:
So, what’s your book about?
It seems like a softball at first: How can you not know what your book is about? You wrote it!
But authors struggle with this question because of the multiple answers that come to mind — most of which are wrong. Authors commit the biggest unforced error when they think the goal is to describe their book, rather than sell it.
The difference?
Describing says “what.”
Selling says “why.”
Describing makes you sound objective.
Selling makes you sound committed.
Describing is like the table of contents.
Selling is like the blurbs on the back.
Let’s look at the best and easiest ways to answer this question for both nonfiction and fiction authors.
Nonfiction: Sell the point, not the topic
When nonfiction authors answer basic questions about their books, they often respond with broad themes or categories instead of the books’ unique assertion.
For example, if your book proposes a radical change to the way young students are taught civics, the answers below are weak because they are topics, not points, and could be used to describe hundreds of books:
- “It’s about citizenship and American education.”
- “It’s a new approach to teaching civics.”
- “It discusses the importance of civics education.”
A stronger, point-driven response would be:
- “My book argues that teaching children to think critically about real-world issues helps them become responsible citizens.”
If I were a book-loving educator, you’d have my attention because that statement gives me a reason to care, a mechanism for change, and a meaningful impact.
Make an argument
To make sure you’re selling and not merely describing your book, finish this sentence: “My book argues that…”
DESCRIBING: “My cookbook has kale recipes.”
SELLING: “My cookbook argues that kale, if prepared well, can be as delicious as it is nutritious.”
DESCRIBING: “My book is a biography of Millard Fillmore.”
SELLING: “My biography argues that Millard Fillmore was one of our most influential presidents.”
DESCRIBING: “My book is about how listening affects leadership.”
SELLING: “My book argues that being an active listener is among the most important qualities in a great leader.”
Stay on track
Remember: You don’t sell a toaster by describing the timer, the crumb tray, or the digital display; you sell its superior ability to toast bread. That’s the point of a toaster.
The same principle applies when discussing your book. Too many authors take detours into tangential issues.
Imagine the author of the book on reinventing civics education discussing it at an education convention. But instead of championing his vision, he’s talking at length about modern school funding challenges, teachers he had in high school, or Department of Education bureaucracy.
It’s fine to establish relevant context, but don’t linger there. Move quickly to your proposed solution or primary assertion.
Fiction: Sell the driving forces behind the story
People asking about your novel don’t want a tour of your world. They want the story’s driving force.
Define the mission
Get started by filling in the blanks in this sentence:
“My story is about a [person] who overcomes [adversity] to attain [the most valuable thing to them].”
With a bit of tweaking, this standard formula should apply to your book, assuming your story is — like most stories — about a protagonist driven by a personal objective.
For example:
- Stephen King’s “Christine” isn’t about a man and a haunted car, but a teenager who contends with the empowerment he feels after becoming possessed by a car’s evil spirit.
- Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables” isn’t about a man who steals a loaf of bread and evades the law, but a convict struggling to define his purpose when he gets a second chance at life.
- Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” isn’t a YA science fiction story about a family and three witches. It’s about a girl who must traverse time and space to save her family.
Avoid rabbit holes
Like nonfiction authors, fiction writers also fall into rabbit holes, but by over-explaining their worldbuilding, making comparisons to other books, or oversharing backstory.
Imagine a book about a time-traveling TikTok influencer trying to save the man she loves — and the world — from a path of self-destruction.
This is a strong point. As a reader or listener, you’re engaged.
But instead of making this point, the author starts with the action on page one and keeps rolling: “First, this happens. Then this happens. Then this happens …”
Or the author discusses the science of time travel, internet celebrities, the likelihood of environmental catastrophe, and how this story is unlike “Back to the Future.”
Stay on the road: your protagonist’s need, the obstacles ahead, and the goal that drives them.
Ban badjectives
It may surprise you to hear that these sentences aren’t great at getting people to want to read your book:
- The story is great.
- The characters are amazing.
- The action is excellent.
Broad, generic adjectives like “great” and “excellent” — what I call “badjectives” — are weak because they could describe almost any book. Ask yourself, “Why are these elements great, amazing, and excellent?” Then swap the badjectives with the answers to that question:
- The story is adventurous.
- The characters are quirky.
- The story is a nonstop thrill ride.
Leverage your life
For both nonfiction and fiction writers, you can make your answer even more compelling when you connect it to your lived experience by weaving in anecdotes.
Here’s a fiction example: “I’ve been fascinated by time travel since childhood and am obsessed with social media culture, so combining those worlds felt like the perfect way to tell a modern love story.”
And here’s a nonfiction example: “My mom, a lifelong social studies teacher, helped me understand how my life is affected by current events — and that the more I understand them, the more I can affect them.”
That brief personal story, usually coming before the point you want to sell to grab people’s attention before you deliver the goods — that story enhances your authenticity and credibility.
Don’t run from the question
When discussing your book, you’re not just its author. You’re its expert and its advocate. You wrote it, and like it or not, now it’s also part of your job to get people to read it. But the good news is that if you know your book’s point well enough to communicate it confidently and efficiently, you’re not just sharing the book. You’re selling it.