I’m breaking this into two separate posts because there are
two very different ways of looking at this role. This week I’ll take it from
the persuasive side, next week from the call-to-action side.
Writing to convince or persuade
You remember the persuasive essay. Opening paragraph,
concession paragraph with three arguments against followed by three paragraphs
showing why you’re right and they’re wrong (the “set ‘em up and knock ‘em down”
structure of essay writing), and finishing with a strong conclusion.
Persuasive speech is all around us. Madison Avenue has taken
it to an art form and made billions of dollars getting us to buy things we
don’t need. Politicians use persuasive speech in getting us to vote for them,
heck, our children use it when they want something from us.
Notice the key concept in the above paragraph: party one
wants something from party two.
A distinction, however, needs to be made between the two
words: convince and persuade. Convincing someone simply gets them to agree with
you. Persuading them implies action. You might convince someone it’s necessary
to take out the trash, if you persuade them, however, they actually do it.
I’m going to let you in on a big secret: for an author, this
skill comes less in the writing of stories and more in the promoting of them.
I’ve heard authors speak of the “golden age” of being an
author where all a mid-list author had to do was write a good story, send it
off to your publisher (because, of course, you already had one), and then sit
back and watch the book climb the charts and the money roll in. We have that
mythology, but I’m not really sure how true it ever was.
In any case, it isn’t true today. Today an author is 100%
responsible for his/her own publicity. Even when you’re lucky enough to have a
publicist, you still need to be actively engaged in what goes out with your
name on it.
I don’t know about you, but I never took a class in writing
copy. Creative writing, yes. Grammar, yes. Writing ads? Not so much. Learning
how to promote myself without sounding like I’m bragging is the hardest part of
being a writer.
Wait. Realizing I had to do it myself was the hardest. I
railed, I cried, I threw little temper tantrums (okay, not really), but it did
take me a while to accept that life wasn’t fair and I was going to have to find
the time not only to write the book but promote it as well. Once I did, I
discovered I write terrible copy.
I do. Blurbs on the backs of books should be fewer than 100
words, 150 words tops. It needs to entice the reader to open the book (if
paperback) or click through to the excerpt (if ebook). Better yet, the blurb
alone should be enough to make the reader purchase the book on the spot!
In blurb writing, however, I get conflicting advice: readers
hate blurbs that end with a question/ readers love blurbs that end with a
question; character names should be mentioned, no, they shouldn’t. The author’s
bio belongs on the back page, no wait, what are you thinking. putting that
there?
The best advice I can tell you is to find someone’s blurb
that you really, really like and then model yours after it. Don’t just change
the names…that’s tacky. And it doesn’t really work because your book isn’t
their book. But get the idea for the general feel of blurbs for your genre and
go from there. And keep them short. That much I do know. J
But blurbs are only one small part of the whole promotion
package. There are list groups and Facebook (neither of which I do. I just
can’t think of anything to say! Which, I know, for a writer, is ironic). There
are blogs and Twitter (which I do use). Some say you need a social presence,
others say just write and they’ll find you (although personally, I think “if
you write it, they will come” only works for baseball fields).
Whatever media you choose, remember: you are convincing
readers they like your book and then you are persuading them to buy it.
Activity:
1. Choose a work you’ve completed or nearly completed.
2. Determine the target audience (who do you think would
actually enjoy it?)
3. Determine a secondary target audience (women who enjoy
sex, for example, is my primary; their husbands/lovers are my secondary as they
are the ones who 1) get my book read to them or 2) buy the book for their
wives/ lovers)
4. Write a blurb that specifically addresses that audience.
Write a second blurb for the second audience. THEY SHOULD NOT BE THE SAME. Your
audiences are different, your tack is going to be different.
REMEMBER: you are convincing readers they like your book and
then you are persuading them to buy it. You may not, however, use such phrases
as “You should buy my book because,” or “You’ll like my book because.” That
makes you sound like you’re in grammar school.
5. Determine your best avenue (social media, an ad in the
newspaper or sports magazine).
6. Go for it!
Next week I'll talk about being an Advocate for your work, which is slightly different than persuading others to purchase your books!
Play safe, and drop a nickle in the jar on your way out!
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