What's 'high concept'?

Editorial Anonymous is back with the useful definitions, this time explaining what agents editors mean when they say "high concept."

Basically, it means she wants a hook. She wants to be able to describe what will appeal to consumers about the book in just a sentence or two.

I, like many editors, wish more writers had a better grasp of what makes a hook and what doesn't. If writers were only sending us picture book manuscripts with hooks, we'd get a hell of a lot fewer pointless vignettes, heavy-handed lessons, nostalgic meanderings, and stories of any kind that no child will be interested in.

It doesn't mean everything has to be high concept, Ed Anon says. To read the rest,
check out the blog post.