Why did you write a book?

The amount of effort that goes into crafting a manuscript, revising it, sharing it, eating some humble pie while you revise it again, and then entering into the publishing process ... it can be a huge burden for normal humans.

What is it about writers that drives them to not only begin a manuscript but to actually see it through to the end product: a book?

Why do we do it?

For some writers, particularly fiction, it's the incessant voice of the muse pushing them to tell a story. They cannot help but write. If they have an audience already waiting for the next installment, they've not only created a fictional world where their imagination has been able to develop, but they've created a real world of people who want to share that imagination because it sparks something in them: emotional memory, living vicariously through the characters, or maybe just the entertainment of an alternate world. They connect through stories.

For other authors, the need to share a message with the world is so strong that a book -- or two or three -- is the place they can place all their thoughts and have those ideas reach an audience. Not only do these tomes offer a place of expression to share a passion, but they help the author and the readers connect with each other over a message. If a book's message is strong enough and is shared by many, it can create change. Nothing is more powerful than a message supported by passion and connection.

For business people, a book is a way to share expertise. It is a format that potential clients can take home with them, study, read, and learn from an expert. It can even be a way to prime a client before they embark on hiring you for your specialty. For example, a company that sells knitting supplies: yarn, needles, patterns, and that even offers classes, would benefit from having a book about knitting for beginners. How? Not only will the beginning knitter be better informed about the process, the need for practice, the tools they'll require, and exactly what to expect, but the book will have them already believing in the knitting store as their source for all their questions and supplies. They'll trust the store because they wrote the book on the subject.

We often get bogged down in the idea of how to sell a book, how to market it and find an audience--all incredibly important details to the success of the work. However, with all the time and effort that goes into a project as determined as a book, it is good to remember what your intentions were, are, and will be.

How to Launch a Book: A Report from Bill Glazer's Book Launch Party

Last weekend my colleague Grael Norton and I attended the launch of Bill Glazer's first book in Orlando, Florida. For three days about six hundred people from all over the country convened in a ballroom ... doing the ... book launch thing. What's more, they all paid to get in.
Paid to get in? Plus airfare and hotel for three days? For a book launch? Of a first-time author?

Absolutely. Let me explain how that's possible. I should also mention that the book was on many bestseller lists prior to its launch, including USA Today and Amazon.com.

Bill Glazer (seen here with me and his book, Outrageous Advertising That's Outrageously Successful), has spent years and years building his platform as a retailer, copywriter, and as an expert on direct marketing. In our materials we call this platform an author platform--regardless whether you've written a book or not. Therefore, by the time he wrote his first book he was already in a great position to sell lots of copies.

The secret to his "outrageously" successful book launch party last weekend, however, was that even as he organized this event, he kept in mind the question that's on every customer or prospective customer's mind: "What's in this for me?" (In fact, this question should be on your mind every single time you market a service, a product, or book.)

How did he persuade over 600 entrepreneurs to come to his book release party (who not only paid to get in, but were expecting to spend on additional products and services)?

Well, definitely not by inviting them to attend a "book launch party." As you know well, nobody cares about your book or its release unless there is something in it for them. Bill Glazer understood he needed to answer the question, What's in it for them? so he organized a three-day direct marketing workshop and conference with high-profile marketing experts and copywriters like Dan Kennedy (pictured right), Yanik Silver (he got away), Paul Hartunian, and many others. People may not come to a book party, but they would certainly come if there was something in it for them!

This was not a free event, but many attendees had the opportunity to get tickets by purchasing copies of the book ... in bulk. This did not only further boost the sales of the book, but also provided attendees with instant gifts (the book) to give to family or business clients. As my wife, who is not into marketing, observed: "Very smart! Everybody wins!"

Think about it. What was in it for me? I got to hear some of the best minds in direct marketing share their secrets and strategies. In other words, I got to attend a high-profile marketing conference. Not only that, but I was able to give away a number of these books as gifts.

What was in it for the author? A successful book launch with well over a million dollar's worth of books presold before the book even launched.

Now, think about this: Would I have gone to attend a book launch? Definitely not halfway across the country. But the author, Bill Glazer, asked the question, What's in it for Atilla? So he organized a marketing workshop and conference instead ... and we all went, paid, and came away thinking we got the better deal.

Meanwhile, Bill Glazer thinks he had an outrageously successful book launch party. And he did, all because he kept his customers' question in mind: "What's in it for me?"

Now, I realize that a book event of this magnitude is beyond the reach for most authors. However, it ought to give you a vision of what's possible, even if on a smaller scale, if you you, too, just ask that question every time you try to sell your book to your market: "What's in it for them?"

---

Not everything went smoothly on this trip. After Grael and I (pictured in this "celebrity" photo) left the conference and went to the Orlando airport, we stood in the security line for a very long time. We took off our shoes and placed all loose items in the security baskets to be scanned. After going through the scanner and putting our shoes back on, Grael commented on how long the whole thing took me, and that we'd better hurry. I didn't say a word, just followed him out to the gates. However, we must have taken the wrong turn somewhere, because when we realized we were in the wrong place, we had passed the "point of no return" security sign and had to get back in line again to pass through security. We didn't talk much on the plane flying back to Tucson.

Achieving Success from Wheatmark Author Paul Kelso

We asked Paul Kelso, author of the Great Expectations title, Kelso's Shrug Book, and also the author of the upcoming title, Jack Ruby's Last Ride, to tell us a little about how he found his audience and then made his book a success.

Wheatmark has asked me for a few thoughts on how I came to connect with the firm, and some insight as to how I, make that we, created a modest niche book on weight training that has surprised everyone by selling over 6,000 copies.

My remarks will apply primarily to nonfiction and “how to” works.

Here’s how Kelso’s Shrug Book developed. I hold a MA in American studies and had written for newspapers when younger and magazines later, so I was at least literate. I also loved weightlifting and wrestling and competed in both, and in my forties became a college weight coach as well as an English prof.

One day in the weight room I had a brainstorm. I accidentally discovered how to apply an old training principle in a number of new ways. These variations became known as The Kelso Shrug System. This concept was spread by my magazine articles beginning in 1984.

I have to date published over one hundred articles on weight-game subjects and reported on eight World or Asian powerlifting championships and a World Games. I developed a lot of name recognition before I proposed the Shrug Book for POD. In fact, I was fortunate to be well known in the field before going with the book. But a lot can be done to build that recognition.

How did I come to choose a POD company? I had heard of the process and in 2001 simply cruised the net to investigate. Wheatmark seemed to have a good program and were responsive to my queries.

When I decided to put Kelso’s Shrug Book together, I was living and teaching in Japan (1989–2006). Obviously, printing off a thousand or so copies to get started, and finding a place to store them in my tiny apartment there, while I attempted to operate a 95 percent stateside mail-order business nine thousand miles away, was ridiculous. Hiring a fulfillment house in the USA or finding a knowledgeable old pal back home was a shaky proposition. Or, I could go with a traditional hard-copy publishing house.

Were I living in the States, I could have made more money per book by doing it all myself. That may still be true, but for me the services of Wheatmark outweigh such considerations, especially as I am now well into retirement (age 73 in February, 2010). I’d rather spend my time writing another book than licking stamps.

How did I market the Shrug Book? In addition to Wheatmark services, I used my contacts in the game to set up a number of retail distributors and sent out about four dozen freebie copies to website operators, equipment sellers, magazine editors for reviews, and net forum operators for comment. Before publishing I solicited a dozen editorial blurbs for back cover and ad one-liners about how great my ideas are. Most of those guys already knew my work, but advance manuscript copies to them helped.

But—first—a would-be author should consider whether he or she HAS a book. Another book I published with a conventional house was put together from fourteen Powerlifting USA stories about the adventures of a gang of demented college lifters and a suffering coach in Texas. Kelso’s Shrug Book was drawn from sixteen articles spread among five magazines. I expanded where pertinent and put additional info in each book. Both run about 44,000 words and one hundred pages. That's a master's thesis each time.

Not everybody can have a breakthrough brainstorm or enjoy wide name recognition to help kick-start a book. But a writer might keep these approaches in mind for getting a book together.

BUILD NAME RECOGNITION

• Write articles on the same subject for half a dozen different mags.
• Write a series of articles on different subjects for the same mag.
• Become a regular contributor for one or more mags or websites, Attend live functions in person. Interview established people. Arrange to do some straight reporting in the field as well as writing features or human interest pieces. Attend conferences, expos, contests, whatever, and report them.
• Contribute regularly to Internet forum discussions.
• Correspond regularly with big names in the field, and always answer those seeking advice. Network.
• Stay at it for a number of years. Doing or taking part in what you are writing about usually comes first.

By publishing my ideas as a series of articles first and then compiling them into a book I got paid multiple times for the same material. This is an established way to proceed and not my invention. I got paid to write my books. A writer should query mags in his or her area of expertise about doing an article or series of articles. Write 1,200 – 2,500 words a month and pretty soon that is the basis for a book.

Even if you are already established as a contributor, it is a good idea to query a magazine editor outlining your proposed article before you write the piece. If the editor says your article sounds interesting and he would like to see it, you have a leg up. You know you are on the right track, with less chance of rejection.

Using the POD services of Wheatmark has been to my advantage.

Kelso’s Shrug Book has sold several thousand more copies in seven years than the traditional-method Texas book has in thirteen. My articles on related subjects in the years leading up to it increased my name recognition, as did my reports from international contests. It all came together nicely.

The Shrug Book also received excellent reviews and forum comments. I doubt it would have without the years of buildup.

If one has a novel published by a major New York house and it sells six thousand, that’s a borderline so-so result. In a nonfiction niche field six thousand is pretty good. The result is that I have enjoyed a nice side income since the fall of 2002.

As Wheatmark authors and customers will soon discover, my eclectic short story collection Jack Ruby’s Last Ride will be published in April. I began writing straight fiction in the '90s, as a side activity. I played the snail-mail and SASE game for years, and began publishing short stories in the journals in 2001. To date I have published four in USA literary journals, presented four others in ex-pat rags, and two at a reading at Temple U. in Tokyo. One is new as of 2009.

I will of course send out comp copies and hope for reviews, but the truth is I have very few literary contacts stateside any more. (I’ve been teaching in Asia for twenty years). Getting published in lit journals is a very different game from breaking into iron-head mags, cactus-breeding weeklies, or model railroading monthlies. Some top literary journals, like Beloit Fiction Journal or Prairie Schooner, may get as many as eight thousand short story submissions a year. Beloit published only twenty-four stories in 2002, so I feel pretty good about getting Jack Ruby’s Last Ride in there.

And, it has occurred to me, the success of the Shrug Book is paying for the publication of the short story collection.

How about that?

-- Paul Kelso, early January 2010

Two Powerful Programs for Authors at Changing Hands Bookstore

This past Saturday I took part in a fantastic event at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ. The program was called Two Powerful Programs for Authors: Red Hot Internet Publicity and The 7 Steps to Publishing Success.

My co-presenter was Penny C. Sansevieri, President and Founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. If you haven't heard of Penny, you must not have a computer! She is seemingly omnipresent on the Web via her site, blogging, twitter, Facebook, Squidoo, podcasts... you name it, Penny's on it! She's full of energy and inspiration, and it was truly a pleasure to spend a few hours learning with her.

So, what did we learn? I'll start with my presentation. In my opinion, the most important "take-away" from my presentation of The 7 Steps to Publishing Success is Step #1: Find the Market for Your Book.

Authors frequently skip this critical step before they start drafting their manuscripts, and sometimes even neglect it until after they've published their books! The savvy author keeps their audience in mind before they draft word one of their new project.

And remember: even if we know who our audience is, we don't necessarily know where they are. That's what finding the market for your book is all about: knowing exactly to whom you're going to be targeting your marketing efforts, as well as where those readers are. We might even add that you'll want to figure out how you're going to reach those readers, too. The Web? Advertising? Bookstores? All these questions should be considered early in the process.

Now let's talk a little about Penny's presentation. I thought it was packed full to the brim of useful information, which is typical of the kind of high-quality content Penny provides her audiences. At the same time, she broke down the often-overwhelming task of marketing a book on the Web into simple steps.

Penny recommends that authors focus on using just a few specific tools very well: a website, a blog, a twitter or facebook account, and the website Squidoo.

I learned a bit about Squidoo from the call Penny and I held earlier in the week, and I must say: I was impressed. Squidoo seems like a great way for authors to stake a claim on their niches -- be they fiction or nonfiction (though probably nonfiction in particular.)

Penny stressed that a professional-quality website is a must, and I'm inclined to agree. As more and more content reaches viewers via the Web, the bar has risen for what readers will stick with and what they'll ignore. It's just like books: amateur-created websites are easy to spot and many people will simply move on without another thought.

I could go on and on about all the valuable insight Penny shared, but I've got some good news: Wheatmark filmed the whole event!

We'll keep you posted about when we've got this great content available for you to watch.

I'll also notify my family, because I don't think they've seen the new winter beard I've been sporting!

By the way, The 7 Steps to Publishing Success minicourse can also be accessed by email here.

FIVE New Year's Book Marketing Resolutions

As we prepare to leave 2009 behind, it is a good time to focus on your goals for 2010 in regard to book marketing.

Did you mean to create a Facebook fan page but never got around to it? Did you create an email news list for a targeted audience? No? How about starting a blog? Oh you started one but you've only posted on it a few times?

Guess what? NOW is the time to buckle down and recommit yourself to your author platform building! "Oh, but Kat," you say, "my manuscript isn't finished yet! My cover design isn't complete! I don't have a title yet!"

That's even better! You can really begin building your author platform from the ground up at those fledgling stages and there is no better time than 01-01-10.

The nice thing about New Year's resolutions and book marketing is that none of it will require abstaining from fattening foods. The hard part though will be staying disciplined!

So here are five items to work on to kick off your book marketing with gusto in 2010!

1. Identify your target audience
With every book there is a specific niche group that can be identified that are going to be your biggest fans. Remember, these aren't the people who should read your book. These are the people who will read your book. Are you writing a book about spiritual healing? Your core audience are people who already read books about spiritual healing. Not necessarily all the spiritually bereft potential readers that haven't yet decided to seek healing help. Or maybe your book is a recipe book for whimsical desserts. Your target audience is not potential readers that are on a diet.

Tools to use to identify your target audience:

• Internet - Easy and available, the web is a great place to search out people interested in your genre or topic
• Book retailers - How are books in your genre or topic being marketed there?
• Organizations - Are there some special groups that specifically deal with your genre or topic?
• Yourself - Aren't you now an expert in your genre or topic? You are one of your best sources!

2. Lay the foundation for your Author Platform

You've already identified your target audience, now it is time to grab a figurative bull horn and tell them about your great new book. This is the elbow grease period. You have to communicate with your target audience, an audience that isn't always aware you exist. You're going to have to do a lot to garner some attention. Social media marketing is one great way to do this. Another way is through multi-media publicity.

Tools to use to start your Author Platform

• Social Media
• Email
• Press Releases online and hard copy
• Web site

3. Schedule time to Author Platform build

I hear a lot of whingeing from authors: "I don't have time" or "I have a friend who is going to help me but they aren't available for another month" or "I don't see how [enter whatever task you don't really want to do here] is going to help me sell my book" or my favorite "I posted a blog but no one commented. It wasn't working so I just neglected it." If you are one of these excuse makers, I'm looking at you now sort of like Nurse Ratchett: amused but uncaring. Get to work! There is no instant gratification in book marketing. It takes time, consistency, and planning.

Tools to use to help you manage Author Platform building:

• Email news lists - anytime you have something to say you can say it quickly by maintaining a news list of emails you will always send information to. With a news list you will be able to shoot out a lecture invitation, a new book release date, or even a simple holiday greeting with ease.
• Blog posting options - blogging frequently can be hard to work into a busy schedule. Many authors also find that it is feast or famine in the inspiration area. By using your post dating feature on your blog, you can write multiple posts in a day, but slowly release them over a scheduled set of days. One hour of blogging could mean that you've written three posts for the week!
• Priority lists - use free calendars such as Gmail Calendars to help you organize and schedule your author platform building activities. That way you will always know what is next and can be working toward your next goal.

4. Set your marketing goals realistically

"I will sell one million books in six months" is frankly an overly ambitious (not to mention ridiculous) goal. What are your true goals? Are you using your book to help lend your business credibility? If so, what are some ways to set book marketing goals for yourself that will help you do that? I always tell my authors, just try to sell more books this month than you did last month. Don't fret over your Amazon ranking. Worry about your reviews, your sales, and if your marketing activities are fruitful. Often your goals and your marketing techniques don't support each other. Make sure you are tailoring your marketing to help you reach your goals!

Tools for setting goals

• Tracking your marketing techniques - keep track in a spreadsheet, a database, or even on a napkin what avenues you are using for your marketing. By watching what you are doing, you can better see where your efforts are fruitful.
• Quarterly Sales Reports - if you haven't had any sales in a quarter it is time to look at your marketing techniques and consider some new ideas
• Be realistic - you won't likely be able to quit your day job and survive off of your book royalties. If you are wanting your book to generate more income, look at different ways you can use your book as a tool to help you do that. For example, many authors are paid lecturers who use their lecturing money to help supplement their income as well as having book royalties.

5. Don't give up

Just about every author has the same initial experience. When their book is first released they have a surge of book sales from their initial marketing efforts (i.e. their mom buys a copy) and said author is riding high on the enthusiasm of the completed book in hand, the initial sales, and the optimism that they are on their way to publishing success. Suddenly, the sales slow to a crawl. Demoralized, the author's enthusiasm for publishing success is crushed and they give up. They stop tagging key search terms on Amazon. They don't blog. They stop talking to their twitter friends. Their Facebook status hasn't been updated about book-related events in weeks. The only way to get passed this is to NEVER GIVE UP. This is the time to really put your nose to the grindstone and continue working on your author platform. In time, you'll see your book sales increase. The increase might be incremental to begin with, but all increments are better than zero. So don't give up! Get marketing!

Tools to help you through your book depression

• Your account manager - If you are a Wheatmark author, your account manager is going to be one of your greatest assets. Your AM is your coach, cheerleader, and teammate wrapped into one. We'll help you brainstorm marketing ideas. Talk you out of your funk with constructive advice and criticism. If nothing else? We are willing to listen when your family and friends just can't take it anymore.
• Book Marketecture - Our free book marketing guide is full of great information and may be just the evening read to help you get back on the book marketing boat.
• Wheatmark Author Resources - Besides the guide, our website has tons of information to help you get back on track: from the blog to our tutorials, there is bound to be something to inspire you to keep at it.
• Wheatmark monthly newsletter - The article by the president often highlights a Great Expectations success and how that author accomplished their goal of becoming a GE title. Read some of the back editions to read how those authors kept going and are now our bestsellers!

Now get out there and find your publishing success!

Why Good Friends Make Bad Reviewers

"I had some friends read my book, and they thought it was good."

We've heard this refrain at Wheatmark many times, usually when the subject of copyediting comes up. Whether the author hasn't budgeted for an edit or simply believes it's unnecessary, his first line of defense is often the opinions of the friends and family members who have seen his manuscript.

When an editorial analysis comes back with suggestions for improvement, the reaction may include a dash of defensiveness. "I had some friends read my book, and THEY thought it was GOOD!"

Despite said praise, these unedited works generally aren't ready for prime time. Some contain a lot of spelling errors, some aren't organized clearly, some are difficult to follow, etc.

Whenever an author's friends have given a manuscript high marks despite what I would consider obvious problems, I've wondered why.

Maybe they didn't want to hurt the author's feelings.

But a recent experience gave me new insight into the friends-and-family bias. While visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, a close friend asked me to read the novel he'd started and tell him what I thought. My friend is a good writer, so I was happy to do it.

Sure enough, it was brilliant. The unique premise! The well-worded descriptions! The clever turns of phrase!

Then came the aha moment.

I wasn't evaluating his work in the same way I would if I picked it up in a bookstore.

Instead, my thought processes went something like, I couldn't write fiction in a million years. How does he come up with these ideas for his plot and his characters? It's like magic.

So I took a step back and forced myself to read the pages again. I pretended I was in a bookstore, scanning the content to see if it was worth my time and money, expecting a certain level of quality.

I still found the story highly entertaining. But I also realized it wasn't ready for print yet. After a great, hooky first sentence, many paragraphs of description and backstory followed. They were very well-written paragraphs—which is why I didn't notice a problem at first—but if I were skimming the first chapter in a bookstore, I'm not sure I'd have enough patience to wade through all the telling to get to the action.

The lesson? Even your most brutally honest friends and family members aren't the best people to screen your work. They may be too dazzled by the fact that you could write a book at all to notice its flaws.

Where, then, should you go for unbiased feedback? Here are a few ideas.

• Get a Wheatmark Editorial Analysis
  We always recommend the Wheatmark Editorial Analysis, which evaluates your manuscript in terms of mechanical issues (spelling, grammar, punctuation), organization, clarity, and style. However, you should be looking for critiques elsewhere as well.
  
  
• Take a writing class
  Are you new to the publishing biz? Try a writing class at your local community college. Your teacher will be willing to provide real constructive criticism. Even better, she will be able to articulate it more clearly than the average reader.
  
  
• Join a writing group
  The quality of feedback in writing groups may vary, but the potential rewards are great. In the right group, you'll get reactions from writers who want to help you improve. Just as importantly, you can learn a great deal by critiquing other people's work. When you discover what bores you, confuses you, or compels you to read further, you can apply this knowledge to your own writing.
  

Eventually you will get your book into print. At that point, your target audience will decide whether it's worth a read. If you've done your homework, sought out criticism from people outside your immediate circle, and eliminated the flaws based on that criticism, the rest of the world will be much more likely to judge it favorably.

What's It About: How to Write Enticing Back Cover Copy for Your Novel

You stand at the doorway of your favorite coffeehouse, scanning the area for your friend. Julie is tucked away at a corner table, reading a paperback. She doesn’t notice you until you take the seat across from her.

"Oh, sorry!" she says. "I've been completely engrossed in this novel. It's really good!"

"Cool. What's it about?" you ask.

"It starts out in Baltimore, when Lisel—that's the main character—is fourteen. Her parents pretty much ignore her because they're so focused on her older brother. The brother's name is Carl, and he's really smart. All he's ever wanted to do when he grows up is become a doctor. The parents are immigrants, and they've done okay given that their English isn't great, but they really want Carl to achieve the American dream.

"Okay ..."

"Lisel resents this a little, but it's the way it's always been, right? So she doesn't think about it much. But then the whole family takes a trip to Boston so Carl can do a college interview, and while they're driving there they get blindsided by an out-of-control driver. Carl ends up with permanent brain damage. He has to relearn how to tie his shoes."

You nod, grateful that Julie has gotten to the point. "So it's about how the family copes with this."

"Well, not exactly. The book skips ahead to when Lisel is in medical school. See, her parents transfer all their ambitions for Carl onto her, and she doesn't want to disappoint them. She gets into Harvard, and she meets this guy who seems perfect ..."

Your friend tells of Lisel's struggles to get through medical school, her painful breakup with the aforementioned guy after she discovers he's been cheating, and the challenges of building a practice. Your mind begins to wander as she describes, in intricate detail, Lisel's attempts at a love life.

"So she agrees to a blind date set up by her mom, and she totally doesn't want to go," says Julie. "But he actually turns out to be really cool, maybe someone she can trust. She tells him she used to like acting in high school, before the thing with her brother, and he convinces her to audition for this theater group really close to where she lives—"

"Okay, okay," you say, waving your hands desperately. "But what is the book ABOUT?"

"That's what I've been telling you for the last seven minutes." She blinks a few times, clearly mystified. "Hey, I've gotta use the restroom. Could you watch my stuff?"

As Julie cheerfully makes her way to the other side of the coffeehouse, you pick up the book, flip to the back cover, and read this:

Most of Lisel's childhood was spent in the shadow of her brilliant and ambitious older brother, Carl. When a car accident left Carl severely brain damaged at the age of seventeen, she quietly took on the dreams he would never fulfill in an attempt to ease her parents' grief. She went to medical school, graduated with honors, and now maintains a thriving practice.

But cracks appear in Lisel's seemingly perfect life. The only human beings she interacts with on a regular basis are her patients and the men she meets on disastrous Match.com dates. When she joins a community theater group, she finds that rekindling her interest in acting only magnifies her dissatisfaction with everything else.

Should the choices we make in high school determine the course of our entire life? Are parental approval and the trappings of success enough to sustain us? In turns heartbreaking and hilarious, A Hand-Me-Down Life is a deeply satisfying story about one woman's quest to find her own path.

Here's the million dollar question. Assuming this is the kind of book you might enjoy, which description is more likely to make you want to read it: the blurb on the back cover, or the blurb as Julie might have written it?

* * *

At Wheatmark, we've encountered many authors who are capable of penning interesting books, but become absolutely lost when it comes time to create the promotional copy for those books. Too close to their own work to know how to sell it, they often fall back on Julie's rambling monologue approach to plot summary.

If you've run into the same problem, take a few deep breaths and relax. We're here to help.

The key thing is to keep it simple. Pare it down. Don't tell the entire story in your blurb.

That's great, you say, but how do I know what to leave out?

Good question. There are actually many ways to summarize any given plot, and the one you choose should depend on who you think will read it.

For instance, the Hand-Me-Down Life blurb is geared toward readers who like stories about quarter-life or mid-life crises. If we wanted to hook people who are into family dramas, we could play up the pressure Lisel's parents put on her to fill her brother's shoes. If the overall tone of the book is light and humorous despite the serious subject matter, we might emphasize the romantic interests—neither of whom even get a mention in the current blurb.

Obviously, you shouldn't make your book out to be something it's not. You just need to focus on certain elements of what it is so you can present a coherent narrative.

Still don't know which plot points to highlight? Try writing different versions of the blurb. Put the samples up on your blog (if you don't have one, you should) and show them to friends. Which version makes people want to flip open to the first page?

If you've done your job, then readers will want to know the whole story. And to find out, they'll read the whole story!