ENTICING DESCRIPTIONS SELL BOOKS

 Besides an evocative cover ...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1537255339

(my 2nd highest selling audio book)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523889152

(My Highest Selling Audio Book)

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1511548207

But after you baited them with the cover,

it is the description on the back

that will urge them to open the book.

If I had it to do over again,

I would lead in large font with:

WHEN THE "GOOD" FAIL TO ACT,

IT IS UP TO EVIL TO RESTORE ORDER ...

THEIR WAY.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1519375794

Take my above historical fantasy:

When Ancient Evil wars 

with Cosmic Darkness,

no matter who wins,

 the living lose.

"But my book isn't in book stores," 

you say.

You have a blog perhaps.

It has a side bar.

Make use of that

or Twitter or

Pinterest, FB.

Make it short:

To isolate what is special

about your book.

The plot twists,

the heart-grabbing characters,

the setting,

the sharp dialogue ...

they only matter when the 

book is bought and read.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1511548207

Take my Tagline for this book

in my sidebar:

In the end,

all the light we have 

is what we nourish in our hearts.

The title gives the setting.

The cover paints it a supernatural thriller.

But its tagline gives you the book's heart.

Without heart,

a book is only an

animated corpse

going through

the motions.

Buzz sells books.

A recent survey said that 

49% bought books

recommended to them.

This has been a dark time of late:

Touch a reader's heart and

she/he will respond ...

maybe even recommend

your book.

A THOUGHT:

Ask your close friends -

What 5 books did you last buy?

What prompted you to buy them?

Would you buy another from that author?

If so, why?

The answers may give you ideas 

on how to write better taglines

and to write better books

in the future. 

I LIVE AT AN ALIEN CRASH SITE! A Midnight Guest Post

First a shameless plug for my human

Now, that that is out of the way ...

There I was looking out of the terrace door

when I spotted a huge crater below 

with dirty water

in its rippling center.

Sure, Food Guy says

 it's going to be a fancy pond

as this dive, ah, apartment complex

is still being built

(only 4 buildings out of 11 done so far.)

But I am putting Paw to Keyboard

just in case he and I turn up missing

you will know why!

But if an alien makes a try 

for my food dish,

it will NOT be pretty!

After all, I am

CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT!

SO YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR BOOK_IWSG Post

 

When it comes to selling your new book ...

   it's not about you ...

      It's about the person you want to spend $ on your prose.

We want to share in a great read with others ...

I got my 4 best friends in junior high to read a "phone book" of a tome 

by teasing the beginning of a desert fort manned by only corpses ... 

Who propped the last body up?

It led to 

THE LEAGUE OF FIVE

and 

why I think audio books are important:

https://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-league-of-five.html

The LEAGUE OF FIVE did not last.

The Tugs of Life have a way of doing that.

But we're talking about 

selling your new book, right?

Nissa Annakindt wrote a great post on that:

https://myantimatterlife.wordpress.com/2021/02/01/writing-book-promotions-for-social-media/

The reader's enjoyment is paramount 

to the writer who sells well.

WHY DO YOU READ?

How much do you enjoy 

calls from telemarketers? 

Keep those 2 questions in mind as you try

 to market your book.

Be brief in your tease.

Add wonder, mystery,

And in a world gone mad ...

give them laughter

along with relatable characters

who are good company for the journey.

REMEMBER:

That you are marketing at all means to many

 you are not selling thousands and are probably self or small press published

which casts doubts on how well you can write.

ENTICE THEM WITH THE SPARKLE

OF YOUR LOGLINE 

AND FRESHNESS OF YOUR WIT.

MARDI GRAS has been cancelled in New Orleans ... this year

But in 1946, it has come back after 

the 4 long War Years

And the undead can hardly wait

to walk among the living 

hidden by their masks.

A mysteriously murdered

 woman is found

upon the cobblestones of 

the infamous Pirates Alley,

disrupting the shooting of 

Frank Capra's latest movie.

Twilight City,

starring Jimmy Stewart

and

Cesar Romero.

While in the Hotel Ponchatrain's 

famed Caribbean Room, 

the powerful party

as if there will be no tomorrow.

Which for some, there may not be

unless Lucas,

the former O.S.S. agent 

now turned Prop Master,

prowls the shadows again.

Worse, he may lose not just his job,

but the life of the eerily resurrected woman

he thought lost to him forever.

For the deadly Santa Muerte 

has a promise to keep

 to a Judas hiding among

the few people he trusts.

The audio book of this

is coming soon.

Tell your friends.

I could use a Mardi Gras

miracle!

MIDNIGHT'S Back!

 

Midnight is finally back!

He wants his old apartment back/

Me, too!

He's reading my latest

and wants the heater

turned up.

The receptionist asked for 

$685!

She saw my eyes and

checked again.

Only $85!

I almost had a heart attack.

He's off now squirreled

in some nook of this apartment

taking a well-deserved nap

after 4 months of

vet prison.

The ghost of Mark Twain

is Happy.

Midnight is back on the

mantel where he belongs!

TUMBLED down 11 steps yesterday

 

The ghost of Mark Twain chided me 

for trying to carry too much 

up that 21 step staircase!

He said I was a writer not a mountaineer!

:Luckily, I broke no bones. 

I'm just stiff and sore.

I will just have to carry less and watch my step!

At 71 I don't bounce as well anymore.

Wish me luck in my new apartment 

and climbing those stairs.

I start back to work tomorrow ---

Here's hoping no one

takes my parking spot

when I come late at night!

This complex goes on forever it seems.

Midnight comes back

from the Vet Monday.

Moving Into A New Apartment ... at TWICE my last rent! IWSG post

 

Talk about insecure!

Livable apartments are almost impossible to find in this city, 

so those with them are asking for premium rents.

How I will pay this impossible rent, I do not know. 

So if you have been tempted to buy one of my audio or paperbacks, or Kindle books ... 

now would be a great time.

My two NOT SO INNOCENTS books are intriguing.

French Quarter Requiem is interesting, too.

But all of us are facing struggles and challenges this New Year.

"Perseverance is the hard work you do AFTER you get tired of doing the hard work you already did!"

 - Newt Grigrich

HOPE - 

that is what keeps so many of us going -- 

including me.

I can't promise things will change tomorrow ... 

only that change is inevitable. 

There can only be so many Jokers in a deck, right?

Change is the Nature of Life ... 

keep at it: something will come your way.

Focus on things you can control ... 

take a moment and breathe ... 

you can control your lungs ...

Celebrate what is good with your life. 

Life is not a book ... 

we can't see how our problems will end ... 

only that they will, 

in some way, end. 

Do something manageable and 

praise yourself for doing it.

Break things into small chunks of doable tasks.

Know why you started ... 

Know why you're in the fight 

to stay in the fight!

Remember if your dream is easy, 

you shouldn't be doing it.

Wish me luck in carrying what belongings I have up that second story staircase ...

As I will be wishing you luck in climbing to your dream.