The question is: What's the book about?
It seems much easier to describe somebody else's book in one sentence than one's own.
I've been doing that with books I've read, just to remind myself that such a thing is possible.
(Maybe it's possible for every book in the world but mine.)
A one-sentence description would come in handy if you had only a few seconds to describe your book to an agent, a publisher, a bookstore owner whose store you want to do a reading at, etc.
I'm hoping that practicing distilling somebody else's book down to one sentence will help me do the same with mine -- and this will help me identify BRIEFLY the heart of my novel for the purpose of nailing that in my query letter, which is way too long right now.
So I thought I'd start a thread for anyone who wants to try describing somebody else's book in one sentence. Can be a well-known book or a more obscure one.
Here goes my try.
TITLE: A Higher Geometry by Sharelle Byars Moranville
Published 2006 - Young Adult
What's it about?
It's about a girl the 1950s, whose father thinks she should find a good provider, not go to college, even when her talent in mathematics wins her statewide honors and will probably earn her a scholarship.
ADDING THIS TO MY POST: There is a new section on the QT forums for doing an "elevator pitch" for your own novel. Same idea -- a one sentence description you can spew out to an agent sharing an elevator ride with you for only a floor or two.
