Advertising
Make-Over #1
Last time, the Ad Man
agreed to give advertising make-overs to three readers who submit a brief
synopsis of their published or unpublished novel. It’s not too late to enter, so if you’d like to throw your
name in the hat, leave a synopsis of your novel in the comments below.
After pulling a name from
the proverbial hat, our first “winner” is Margay Leigh Justice. Her first romance novel, NORA’S SOUL
(Second Wind) was published in 2008, and for her make-over, she chose a
yet-to-be-released YA novel, THE GOODE GIRL.
Here’s the book jacket
copy:
Driven by her obsession with the power of the right name, the socially
accepted standards of physical beauty, and the neighborhood ‘It’ girls who seem
to have it all, Irene Goode navigates through the murky waters of teen life
with wit, charm, and the ability to draw attention to herself despite her lack
thereof. Growing up in a family of physically unremarkable sisters, Irene is under
no illusions about how she is perceived by the world. She simply doesn’t allow
that to keep her from pursuing her own dreams. Dreams that include hooking up
with the boy next door.
Sam Cassidy is the only guy – the only person – who’s ever taken the time
to look beyond the wild hair and public perception of Irene to find her true
beauty. And appreciate it. At times frustrated and amused by Irene and her
antics, Sam appoints himself her protector following an incident with a rival
that puts her in danger of being compromised. But the more time he spends with
her, the more Sam realizes that he actually likes to and his sense of
obligation to watch out for her transforms into a genuine desire to be with
her. She is unlike any of the college girls he’s dated and he decides that he
likes that, too.
But if there’s one thing that Irene and Sam learn during the course of
their budding friendship, it’s that the road to happiness is often pitted with
challenges and complications. Like their own mixed up feelings for one another,
the prospect of playing the title roles in a modernistic high school version of
Romeo and Juliet, and the revelation of family secrets.
Life is anything but boring when you’re a Goode girl.
There’s an old saying in
marketing: Before advertising, make sure your house is in order. If you own a restaurant, that means
making sure menus are printed, silverware is polished, and your liquor license
is approved. The last thing you’d
want is to hang your sign prematurely, have customers show up for dinner, then
give them a bad first experience.
Chances are, they’ll never walk through your doors again.
For aspiring authors, your
“house” is your website. It’s your
24-hour storefront, a way for readers to connect with your brand. In Margay’s case, her website is not offensive
like an overcooked filet mignon, but it’s thin on details and doesn’t present the
best first impression possible. So
instead of jumping the gun on external advertising, most of my comments are
focused on improving her website.
Lets look at the homepage
of an author at the top of the bestseller lists: Nora Roberts. What
immediately stands out from Nora’s website? A bold, central image of the author on the landing page,
links to social media, and easy navigation to additional information (Q&A’s,
book excerpts, contests, multimedia).
Not a fair comparison, you
might argue. After all, Nora’s
probably got a bevy of underlings to design and maintain her website. But the basic tenants of a solid homepage
are within reach of any author.
Sample chapters. A
picture. A compelling bio.
In Margay’s case, her
“About” page doesn’t divulge any personal details – not even where she lives –
and reads like she’s almost embarrassed to have a book on Amazon:
Though I
started out writing just for me, somewhere along the way I came to realize that
others might be interested in what I have to write. It started with family and
friends, then teachers, but still, it took some time to convince myself to
pursue publication.
In Ad Man Answers #36, we
covered the tendency of new authors to disclaim. So let’s look at the opening of Nora Roberts’ bio:
Nora Roberts was born in Silver
Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children. After a school career that
included some time in Catholic school and the disciplines of nuns, she married
young and settled in Keedysville, Maryland.
She worked briefly as a legal
secretary. "I could type fast but couldn’t spell, I was the worst legal
secretary ever," she says now. After her sons were born she stayed home
and tried every craft that came along. A blizzard in February 1979 forced her
hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three and six
year old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of
chocolate.
In the first two
paragraphs, you get a lot of Nora’s personality and background info (hometown,
family size, religious upbringing, work history, sweet tooth, streak of self
deprecation). Now I happen to know
that Margay can do better with her homepage bio, because it’s an interview with
her on a different blog:
Novelist Margay Leah Justice lives in Hudson,
Massachusetts.
At various
stages in her life, she has worked as a waitress, an aerobics instructor, a
paralegal and as an administrative assistant in a computer company.
This same interview (which
also contains a picture, eureka!) also includes humanizing details, like how Margay
battles through a MS diagnosis and has a daughter challenged with bipolar
disorder and Asperger's Syndrome.
So why do I have to leave her website – and do a Google search -- to
learn that about her? And why is
this excellent blog interview not mentioned prominently on the author’s
homepage? When you’re new to the
scene, any and all media attention should be celebrated to help legitimize your
career.
More questions: Why no link to NORA’S SOUL on
Amazon? Why no samples of her
writing? Why no buttons to
Margay’s pages on MySpace and Facebook?
If you’re going to take the time to engage in social networking, you
better be driving fans to those destinations. And in Margay’s blog, there’s several mentions of other
contests hosted by other authors, but no contests around her own debut.
It might be time consuming
and cost prohibitive to execute a reader reward as well as Erica Spindler,
who’s offering custom wine charms and signed bookplates for all fans who send
in a receipt of her latest novel, BLOOD VINES. But as a writer, I’m sure Margay can find a clever tie-in to
her novels that fits within her budget, even if it’s just a chance to win a free
copy of Romeo & Juliet on DVD for any fans that friend her on MySpace and
Facebook this month.
Notice that very few of
these suggestions involve the design of her website. For a romance writer, I think the overall look of her
homepage fits the genre. But
Margay will get into trouble if her new YA novel finds publication. Imagine how quickly an insecure
13-year-old boy will bolt from her website once he sees a red rose and “Open Your
Mind…And The Heart Will Follow.”
Here’s how another author
– Chris Grabenstein – handles the dichotomy of writing within different genres.
Once Margay tidies up her
own house, making it YA compliant, then she’ll be ready to take THE GOODE GIRL
to market. Based on her synopsis,
my initial thoughts would be expose her YA novel to the “Gossip Girl”
crowd. She could buy banner ads
around Gossip Girl’s Hulu and CW video players, for example.
But first things
first. And know that $1 spent
improving your website is worth $5 spent on an ad that drives people to a
homepage that doesn’t yet deliver the “Goode”s.
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Remember, authors, it’s
not too late to enter this round of Advertising makeovers. If you’re willing to open up your novel
and marketing efforts to outside scrutiny, leave a book description and
homepage URL in the comments section.
I’ll draw the next “winner” from the pool of all entries, including the
authors who signed up last time.
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