What makes a reader pick one book over another?

For a lot of readers, there’s a giant arrow that points to a book’s purchase button and triggers the sale.

That arrow is tropes, and I’m talking about making them clear to the purchaser AND THEN following through on those tropes inside the story. The authors that are dominating the sales charts are doing both of these things extremely well AND creating loyal and voracious readers in the process.

A trope is a specific element of the story, one that affects that story’s flavor in a strong way. As the book market grows more crowded, readers are becoming more and more cognizant of what it is they want in a book, and are then seeking out those elements – and bringing a lot of expectations with them on how they want that element to be delivered.

Examples of tropes: Love Triangle, Unreliable Narrator, Enemies to Lovers, Locked Room Mystery, Grumpy Sunshine, Cold-Case, Alien Invasion, Alternative history, Time Travel, Amnesia

If your book contains tropes, you want to lean into those in your book’s description, cover, and marketing.

Here are some examples of trope references that I’ve pulled from bestselling book descriptions:

📖 The man that I’ll be calling my husband blew into town with one thing on his mind . . . to make my life a living nightmare. (The Reason I Married Him by Meghan Quinn) 
tropes: enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience

📖 But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end. (Never Lie by Frieda McFadden)

tropes: cold case, isolated environment/locked in

📖 He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him. (The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent)

tropes: vampire, forbidden love, enemies to lovers

📖 For the last five years, she’s been the captive of a sadistic psychopath–until the EMP releases the lock of her prison. (Edge of Collapse: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Kyla Stone)

tropes: kidnapping/prisoner, EMP post-apoc, female hero

The key is not simply sprinkling tropes into your story, but understanding the promise they make to the reader. When readers recognize a trope they love, they approach the story with anticipation and very specific expectations. Meeting those expectations while still surprising them with your unique characters, voice, and twists is where the real magic happens. By identifying the tropes at the heart of your story and making them visible in your marketing, you help the right readers find your book and give them exactly the kind of experience they’re searching for.

Happy writing!