So, I’m hanging out on Twitter the other day and this question came up.
My initial answer was “Because you are too close to it?”
In other words, when you have just written a whole book, it is perfectly normal to find it hard to summarize it in 30 words.
Why write a 30-word summary?
Probably this requirement is coming from your publisher. It might even be in a document called a Marketing Questionnaire.
The word “marketing” has probably already got your hackles up. Eww. Ick. Slimy.
It certainly doesn’t feel like a priority for you. Not very intellectual. And associated with a lot of questionable practices.
The first thing to do is to find another word or phrase for marketing so you can feel better about answering all those questions.
After all, you are in the enviable position of having a professional who works for the publisher doing a lot of the actual m******ing work. You are just giving them some good information to use.
Getting in the right frame of mind
Put the questionnaire aside. Take a couple of deep breaths. Make sure you have a pad of paper and something to write with handy.
More deep breaths. Relaxed?
Now, think about why you wrote this book?
Who needs to know about your research?
What other books are out there that left you feeling, “If only they knew about this research I’ve been doing …”
What kinds of conferences have been particularly receptive to your work? Who will be really excited to know that the book is now ready?
You’re writing down all the ideas that come to mind, aren’t you? Even half-formed ones?
Helping people find your book
When you write the summary, think of the reader.
You can’t possibly personally meet and recommend your book to everyone who might find it interesting and/or useful. Not at conferences, not on e-lists, not at book signings, though there won’t be many of those anyway.
I know it is hard to imagine that complete strangers might want to read your book. But you have read books by people you’ve never met, so why not?
What is this potential reader looking for that you want them to read your book to answer?
What keywords are they using in the library catalogue or other database?
If they are skimming the publisher’s catalogue, what words will grab their attention and make them stop and read more carefully?
A summary invites people to read the book
Of course it will lack the nuance of the longer analysis.
This is probably what feels uncomfortable as you write the summary. The nuance is important to you. That’s why you wrote a whole book.
And the nuance will be important to your reader once they are actually reading the book. That might be what makes them recommend it to others.
But the nuance isn’t what gets the reader’s attention. The general topic, the main theoretical approach, the key interpretive themes … these are things that interest people in reading the more nuanced version.
Someone else might find it easier
Even with the right frame of mind and a bunch of notes based on my questions, you might still find it difficult to write.
Don’t worry. This is normal.
Maybe someone else can help.
Your partner or a close friend has probably heard a lot about this book as you wrote it. You’ve chatted to them about the details, the difficulties, the importance … They’ve lived with you through the whole process.
But they haven’t been in the process the same way you have.
I bet they wouldn’t find it hard to write a 30-word summary at all.
Editing is always easier than writing the first draft
You know this from the writing process so apply it to the summary.
Ask your partner or a friend (or both) what they think your book is about. Either have them write it down or you write down what they say.
This is your draft. Now edit it.
Keep the audience in mind: a potential reader who needs to know if this is worth reading in general terms.
Take this new attitude to the rest of that questionnaire
No, the marketing folks are not interested in the nuance of your argument or the details of your empirical evidence.
They want to know
- who you want to speak to
- where to find those people, and
- what words will get their attention.
Yes, they care because they want to make money.
But you care, too. Because you want others in your field to listen to your arguments and engage with them. You want people to know about the empirical evidence you have found. You want them to know what this might mean.
Good luck.
