It is, I suspect, a combination of vanity and fatigue. Once we finish our book, we believe it speaks for itself. Hell, we put all that work in: it had better.
Our book can only speak for itself, though, once someone reads it. And reading it requires buying it. You see where this is going.
Elsewhere I've provided some other valuable tips about how to optimize the author tools for self publishing on Amazon, toward this end. While all those tips have big-time value, most importantly, and most challenging, among them all, is getting your book description right.
After someone invests money, even a modest sum, in the purchase of your book, it is likely - unless they just hate it - that they'll give you at least 20 pages or so to convince them to keep reading. Your book description requires no initial investment and so it's a lot easier for them to simply click away. You have about 20-30 seconds to win them over, before they go looking for greener literary pastures.
If you don't win them over, they won't be buying your book. So, what is it you have to do in your book description and how do you do it? In just a few short sentences, you want to accomplish three things.
First: Tell them what the book is about. Don't confuse this with rehearsing a plot line. It's about given the genre details as concisely as you can. Is the book fiction or non-fiction? Let's say the latter. Then, is it mystery, romance or thriller? Is it set in the present the past or some speculative future? For the more discerning reader, you might want to inform if it's a first or third person narrator. Some kind of evocative comparison could be helpful: e.g., in the tradition of John Grisham; Tolkienesque; Toni Morrison-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, can you convey (not name, but show) the genre and style of your book in the description of it. You could start with a throwaway first sentence that evokes the tone. For instance, were your book an atmospheric cloak and dagger spy novel, you might begin with a description of the anxiety of sheltering in a doorway on a rain drenched cobblestone street, awaiting a dubious contact who, for all you know, may have sold you out already. Or, 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. Again, this is a tease, but if you do it well, it's also an audition.
So tell your prospective reader what the book is, entice with a clear statement of the benefits your book will provide, and illustrate a flavor of what can expected between the covers. It is a tall order, no denying that. That is what makes it difficult and why those who are able to do it well will enjoy the fruits of their efforts. It's a key ingredient for success in self publishing on Amazon.
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.
Getting that job done requires having a book description which they won't just breeze by. You have to have a description that grabs them and holds their interest. A description that gives the sense they've already started the book and want to read more. The bottom line is that you may think you're finished writing when the book is complete. But you're not. One more big writing challenge remains. Sharpen up that pencil.
Our book can only speak for itself, though, once someone reads it. And reading it requires buying it. You see where this is going.
Elsewhere I've provided some other valuable tips about how to optimize the author tools for self publishing on Amazon, toward this end. While all those tips have big-time value, most importantly, and most challenging, among them all, is getting your book description right.
After someone invests money, even a modest sum, in the purchase of your book, it is likely - unless they just hate it - that they'll give you at least 20 pages or so to convince them to keep reading. Your book description requires no initial investment and so it's a lot easier for them to simply click away. You have about 20-30 seconds to win them over, before they go looking for greener literary pastures.
If you don't win them over, they won't be buying your book. So, what is it you have to do in your book description and how do you do it? In just a few short sentences, you want to accomplish three things.
First: Tell them what the book is about. Don't confuse this with rehearsing a plot line. It's about given the genre details as concisely as you can. Is the book fiction or non-fiction? Let's say the latter. Then, is it mystery, romance or thriller? Is it set in the present the past or some speculative future? For the more discerning reader, you might want to inform if it's a first or third person narrator. Some kind of evocative comparison could be helpful: e.g., in the tradition of John Grisham; Tolkienesque; Toni Morrison-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, can you convey (not name, but show) the genre and style of your book in the description of it. You could start with a throwaway first sentence that evokes the tone. For instance, were your book an atmospheric cloak and dagger spy novel, you might begin with a description of the anxiety of sheltering in a doorway on a rain drenched cobblestone street, awaiting a dubious contact who, for all you know, may have sold you out already. Or, 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. Again, this is a tease, but if you do it well, it's also an audition.
So tell your prospective reader what the book is, entice with a clear statement of the benefits your book will provide, and illustrate a flavor of what can expected between the covers. It is a tall order, no denying that. That is what makes it difficult and why those who are able to do it well will enjoy the fruits of their efforts. It's a key ingredient for success in self publishing on Amazon.
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.
Getting that job done requires having a book description which they won't just breeze by. You have to have a description that grabs them and holds their interest. A description that gives the sense they've already started the book and want to read more. The bottom line is that you may think you're finished writing when the book is complete. But you're not. One more big writing challenge remains. 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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