17 Secrets of an Irresistible First Chapter
Somewhere in your first chapter, there's a line that makes readers stop reading. You can't see it. They can.
Instantly Hooked shows you the 17 things that make a first chapter impossible to put down, and how to check every one of them in your own book.
Free copy for the first 50 people who sign up. Launching in a few weeks.
Get My Free CopyAn agent reads your opening and decides. A browser on Amazon reads your free sample and decides. Someone in a bookshop flips to the start, reads for a minute, and decides.
Most writers never find out why they lost those readers. Nobody sends you a note saying "I stopped in the third paragraph." They just close the book and pick up another one.
After 16 years and hundreds of books as an editor, I've seen the same things decide it again and again. When they're there, readers get pulled in without noticing. When they're missing, readers drift. There are 17 of them, and this book gives each one its own chapter.
Some take five minutes to fix. All of them change how your book reads.
Five parts, one chapter per secret, in the order a reader meets them.
See how well-loved novels hook their readers, then see the same lines weakened, so you can spot the difference in your own writing.
Every secret comes with short passages showing the hook failing and then working. No vague theory.
Each chapter ends with one simple question to ask about your own first chapter. If the answer is no, you know exactly what to fix.
The final chapter puts all 17 questions together in one checklist, so you can run your whole opening through it in one sitting.
I'm Michael Pilgrim, a developmental editor. I spent six years editing for a publishing house in the UK, and for the last ten I've worked with independent authors from the US, UK, Canada, Australia and beyond.
That adds up to 16 years, hundreds of books and something like 25 million words. A lot of that time went on first chapters, because that's where most books win or lose their readers.
Instantly Hooked is everything I look for when I open a new manuscript, written down so you can do it yourself.
Michael's level of professionalism is outstanding. His expertise with editing is off the charts. Michael dug deep into the pages of my book, Order of Succession. He sorted through the good, the bad, and the unnecessary to help me create a masterpiece.
The first 50 people to sign up get a free copy on release day
Yes. Leave your name and email and I’ll send you a free copy when the book launches. No card, nothing to buy.
In a few weeks. I’ll email you on launch day with your copy.
Fiction writers at any stage: drafting, revising, getting ready to self-publish, or about to query agents. The 17 secrets work in any genre, from romance and thrillers to fantasy and sci-fi.
No. You’ll get an email with your free copy. The weekly newsletter is only if you tick the box, and you can unsubscribe any time.