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Discoverability

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

For the last few weeks, we have been talking about keywords and categories—and why you might want to change them.

I was contacted by someone this week who also republished his books with new covers and titles in order to garner more sales. He said it was well worth it.

However, if you want to save that time and expense, let’s review what you need to do in order to begin where you are and go forward.

Many readers want to “follow” an author. Others like to read “books in a series.” 

So, make sure there is a similarity in your book titles. I wrote a series a few years ago in which I used all titles of children’s games: Simon Says, Truth or Dare, Tug of War, and Cat’s Cradle. Sadly, these titles may not have been related enough. 

If I were creating titles, now, I would make sure that one or two of the words are the same in each title. For instance,  Playing Cards; Playing Sports; Playing Instruments. These aren’t intriguing. That’s not my point here. I am simply showing that just by using one or two identical words, the titles show readers these books are in a series.

Covers are much more obvious because we have all seen many examples of these. Even if you are not writing a series, your covers will help your discoverability if they are of a similar color and font. Or, you might have a similar landscape, romantic hero, or murder weapon on the cover. It will be easy to tell they’ve all been written by the same author.

Finally, let’s talk about branding. It you want to sell more books, it will help if you find one genre you like to write and stick to it. For example, A. Author, Writer of Extreme Gore. Though each book has a different story, as long as they contain “extreme gore,” your readers will be able to “find” you. 

Are Re-covering, Re-branding, and Re-titling good options for boosting book sales? I believe they can be. But if you’re not looking to do all that work and spend all that money, simply starting fresh where you are right now, may prove to be the perfect answer for you.

The Query Letter

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

As promised, I read about query letters in several sources this week. Here’s what I learned. All in one place.

Note: you can send a query letter in an email -OR- standard letter. Put QUERY in the subject line, if using an email.

Use a professional font. Nothing quirky. No color. No cartoons or pictures. Your writing—and only your writing—should be used to make your query stand out amongst others. 

Include your personal contact information in a header (if using a standard letter) or at the end (if submitting by email).

Create a strong hook and place it in the first sentence of the first paragraph. Its purpose is to get the reader’s attention and inspire them to keep reading. 

This should be followed by a synopsis, or overview of the storyline or main points and key elements of your book. This may include setting, characters, style, and genre.

The synopsis should be followed by the addition of your credentials: List your published works, including publications, websites, short stories, and so on. If you have educational achievements, add those, also—especially if your book and your achievements are related. 

Close your letter with a statement of gratitude for the person taking the time to read your letter. 

A physical letter should have a place for your signature.

Suggestions: Address to a specific agent and use the agent’s name throughout (not: Dear Agent). Use block formatting. Double-space between paragraphs; single space within. Left-justify. 12 point.

Use your real name, even if you publish under a pen name.

Hope this is enough to get you started, but not so much as to be overwhelming!