Know Your Audience

• 1). Teach Them Something New
  
  Kids aren't interested in things they already know. They want to expand their world by learning lots of new things. Of course, they don't want to be bored, either, so you'd better find a hook that features something fascinating or quirky to get and keep their attention.
  
  
• 2). Understand What They Need
  
  Children often read books to fulfill a specific need. If you don't understand the most universal of children's needs, you'll never be able to create a hook that grabs them. So what needs are children trying to fulfill in the books they read? Here are a few:
  
  The Need for Adventure. Kids may love adventure, but most of them are too unsure of themselves to risk seeking it outside the pages of a book. That's why they let their favorite characters do it for them! Inside books kids can travel to new places or even battle dangerous enemies.
  
  The Need to Belong. Books have always been a way for kids to see how others handle the harder things in life like dealing with peers and parents. By seeing how their favorite book character deals with the school bully, or makes a new friend, they too can find their own way to belong.
  
  The Need to Know. Kids are curious creatures. They always want to know how things work and why things are they way they are.
  
  The Need to Achieve. Books helps kids see how to overcome any obstacle and succeed.
  
  The Need to Be Loved. Whether your characters are seeking parental love and affection, battling severe sibling rivalry, or experiencing first love, use them to fulfill every reader's need to be loved.
  
  
• 3). Find the Special in the Ordinary
  
  If there's one thing kids hate, it's the ordinary. They're always on the lookout for what's most different, special, or even quirky about a character, a book setting, or the story itself. Find a way to make the most mundane aspect of your characters or story burst with excitement and you'll have a hook that sells! For instance, highlight a character's special talent or interest. Maybe he/she is a really nerdy kid at school. Sure, that fact can help you set the stage for problems to come, but wouldn't it be even more interesting if you showed how the "smart kid" builds robots in his spare time, or how the most popular cheerleader on the squad actually has a part-time job as a plumber's assistant?