Perhaps an odd mixture of vanity and fatigue conspires when we finish our book. We writers tend to become rather insistent that the work speaks for itself. And who could blame us. We did put one heck of a lot of work into it. It ought to speak for itself.
It would be unwise though to lose sight of a simple and uneasy fact: a book can only speak for itself once someone reads it. And, alas, that depends upon said same someone buying it. You see where I'm going with this.
Elsewhere I've provided some other valuable tips about how to optimize the author tools for self publishing on Amazon, precisely toward this end. The single most important of these, though, is to get your book description right.
Prospective readers who have already invested cold cash in your book, even if only a modest sum, will generally give you about 20 pages or so to persuade them to read on. They have no such investment in your book description. Clicking away doesn't constitute any loss for them. It's a lot easier to do. Consequently, you have about 20-30 seconds, probably around three sentences, to capture their attention enough to keep them reading.
Failing to capture their attention will have them clicking away and a potential book sale lost. So, the question is, what does your book description need to do to keep prospective readers interested? And, how do you do it? Basically, you have about three sentences to impress such prospective readers in three important ways: tell, entice and show.
#1 Tell them what the book is about. I don't mean by this rehearsing your plot. The point is to concisely provide the genre details. Is your book fiction or non-fiction? Drill down from there. For the sake of discussion, assume it is fiction. Is it fantasy, romance or kitchen sink realism? Is it a period piece? Set in an alternate world or exotic locale? Some kind of evocative comparison could be helpful: e.g., a throw-back to the style of Jacqueline Susann, reminiscent of Salman Rushdie; Michael Chabon-like.
Second: Entice them with the benefit they will achieve from reading the book. Arguably non-fiction writers might have an easier time with this one. Though, it is not necessarily true that most non-fiction self-published authors actually take this advantage. Clearly though any non-fiction aspires to fill a need of some sort. At the very least it aims to increase topic-specific knowledge (though it usually aspires to more than just that). Be clear what the benefit of your non-fiction book is to your prospective reader and be sure to communicate it. What will they do more easily or more efficiently once they're read your book?
This enticement challenges can be a bit trickier for fiction, but it can still be done. An obvious approach is to emphasize the nature of the conflicts your characters much overcome. Tap into the prospective reader's personal experience with similar conflict. Invite them to understand the conflict better, to relive it, or live it vicariously through your book.
3. Show them. The third thing is to give the potential reader a flavor of what you do as a writer. In a sense, you're giving your reader a test drive. If your book promises to explain something to them (e.g. how to day trade or brew your own beer) your ability to explain in detailed, but clear, easy to follow language, is important to the value of the book. Be sure your book description gives the reader the sense that you can make it all easy to understand.
For fiction writers, I'd recommend conveying (not naming, but showing) the genre and style of your novel. Imagine beginning with a first sentence hook that evokes the tone and temperament of your book. For instance, if your novel tells a story of urban city drama, you could evoke the kind of desperate situation which the limited options of life on the street may present to your protagonist. This is a tease, but, if you do it well, it's also an audition.
Here then is the challenge of writing a great book description for self publishing on Amazon: tell what the book is, entice with the benefits it provides, and illustrate the style and tone found between the covers. Make no doubt: a tall task lies before you. It is though precisely because of how difficult it is that authors who do it well harvest great rewards.
Don't be surprised or discouraged if you find yourself doing three to five times more drafts of your book description than you did of the book. Getting it right is taxing work. And, after you've done all that, you still haven't any guarantee of an Amazon bestseller. The truth is that, despite the self-serving claims of marketing type, none of us can be induced to purchase a product that we don't actually want.
That thought doesn't mean that, should prospective readers be open to what you're offering, you can't convince them that what you're offering is their best chance of getting what they're after. It's there, with that prospective reader, that you have the opportunity to close a sale and potential for a return reader, who will trust you all the more next time.
The first order of business, though, is to not have them pass you over as inadequately interesting from the start. And that takes a book description that is gripping from the get-go. Finishing your book wasn't the completion of your writing duties. There's still one more big job to do. Sharpen up that pencil.
It would be unwise though to lose sight of a simple and uneasy fact: a book can only speak for itself once someone reads it. And, alas, that depends upon said same someone buying it. You see where I'm going with this.
Elsewhere I've provided some other valuable tips about how to optimize the author tools for self publishing on Amazon, precisely toward this end. The single most important of these, though, is to get your book description right.
Prospective readers who have already invested cold cash in your book, even if only a modest sum, will generally give you about 20 pages or so to persuade them to read on. They have no such investment in your book description. Clicking away doesn't constitute any loss for them. It's a lot easier to do. Consequently, you have about 20-30 seconds, probably around three sentences, to capture their attention enough to keep them reading.
Failing to capture their attention will have them clicking away and a potential book sale lost. So, the question is, what does your book description need to do to keep prospective readers interested? And, how do you do it? Basically, you have about three sentences to impress such prospective readers in three important ways: tell, entice and show.
#1 Tell them what the book is about. I don't mean by this rehearsing your plot. The point is to concisely provide the genre details. Is your book fiction or non-fiction? Drill down from there. For the sake of discussion, assume it is fiction. Is it fantasy, romance or kitchen sink realism? Is it a period piece? Set in an alternate world or exotic locale? Some kind of evocative comparison could be helpful: e.g., a throw-back to the style of Jacqueline Susann, reminiscent of Salman Rushdie; Michael Chabon-like.
Second: Entice them with the benefit they will achieve from reading the book. Arguably non-fiction writers might have an easier time with this one. Though, it is not necessarily true that most non-fiction self-published authors actually take this advantage. Clearly though any non-fiction aspires to fill a need of some sort. At the very least it aims to increase topic-specific knowledge (though it usually aspires to more than just that). Be clear what the benefit of your non-fiction book is to your prospective reader and be sure to communicate it. What will they do more easily or more efficiently once they're read your book?
This enticement challenges can be a bit trickier for fiction, but it can still be done. An obvious approach is to emphasize the nature of the conflicts your characters much overcome. Tap into the prospective reader's personal experience with similar conflict. Invite them to understand the conflict better, to relive it, or live it vicariously through your book.
3. Show them. The third thing is to give the potential reader a flavor of what you do as a writer. In a sense, you're giving your reader a test drive. If your book promises to explain something to them (e.g. how to day trade or brew your own beer) your ability to explain in detailed, but clear, easy to follow language, is important to the value of the book. Be sure your book description gives the reader the sense that you can make it all easy to understand.
For fiction writers, I'd recommend conveying (not naming, but showing) the genre and style of your novel. Imagine beginning with a first sentence hook that evokes the tone and temperament of your book. For instance, if your novel tells a story of urban city drama, you could evoke the kind of desperate situation which the limited options of life on the street may present to your protagonist. This is a tease, but, if you do it well, it's also an audition.
Here then is the challenge of writing a great book description for self publishing on Amazon: tell what the book is, entice with the benefits it provides, and illustrate the style and tone found between the covers. Make no doubt: a tall task lies before you. It is though precisely because of how difficult it is that authors who do it well harvest great rewards.
Don't be surprised or discouraged if you find yourself doing three to five times more drafts of your book description than you did of the book. Getting it right is taxing work. And, after you've done all that, you still haven't any guarantee of an Amazon bestseller. The truth is that, despite the self-serving claims of marketing type, none of us can be induced to purchase a product that we don't actually want.
That thought doesn't mean that, should prospective readers be open to what you're offering, you can't convince them that what you're offering is their best chance of getting what they're after. It's there, with that prospective reader, that you have the opportunity to close a sale and potential for a return reader, who will trust you all the more next time.
The first order of business, though, is to not have them pass you over as inadequately interesting from the start. And that takes a book description that is gripping from the get-go. Finishing your book wasn't the completion of your writing duties. There's still one more big job to do. Sharpen up that pencil.
About the Author:
Self publishing authors who want to keep up on the hottest news and tips need to follow the Self Publishing on Amazon site. Lance Fallbrook is a frequent commentator on writers and writing. See his provocative piece on famous American authors -- the dead list!
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