The Ad Man Answers #77

Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers

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the Ad Man agreed to give advertising make-overs to three readers who submit a brief synopsis of their published or unpublished novel.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.

Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for over a dozen years, working on accounts like McDonald's, KIA Motors, Suzuki Automotive, and the San Diego Padres. His first mystery, KATZ CRADLE is on submission while he's working on the sequel. The first 100 pages of his novel are linked here. For general advertising questions, leave a comment or send e-mail to katz @ gregoryhuffstutter dot com with 'Ask The Ad Man' in the subject line.

Comments

[Donna Glaser]

I get why Margay's battle with MS is "humanizing," but as an aspiring author who has her own battle with an illness, I wonder if I would be courageous enough to mention that on a website. Wouldn't that be something that might give potential agents or editors pause regarding my abilities to deliver on time?

[M.K. Hobson]

Hi there! I'd love to get the Ad Man's feedback on my site + upcoming book ...

Synopsis:

The Native Star

Coming September 2010 from Bantam Spectra.

It’s 1876, and business is rotten for Emily Edwards, town witch of the tiny Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine. With everyone buying patent magicks by mail-order, she’s faced with two equally desperate options. Starve ... or use a love spell to bewitch the town’s richest lumberman into marrying her.

When the love spell goes terribly wrong, Emily is forced to accept the aid of Dreadnought Stanton — a pompous and scholarly Warlock from New York — to set things right. Together, they travel from the seedy underbelly of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, across the United States by train and biomechanical flying machine, to the highest halls of American magical power, only to find that love spells (and love) are far more complicated and dangerous than either of them could ever have imagined.

Website URL: www.demimonde.com

The book is due to come out this fall, so I haven't posted any excerpts yet, but they're coming.

[gregory huffstutter]

Donna,
My thought is that an agent will or won't sign you based on how much they fall in love with your novel... not because of down-the-road deadline considerations. [If any agents are reading and have a differing opinion, feel free to share.]

To me, it comes down to how you manage the message. Would you rather a potential agent find out about your health challenges from an outside interview, or on a forum you control?

Maybe it's not in the first paragraph of your author bio, but you could work it into a longer Q&A on your website.

What you need to be asking yourself is 'What's MY storyline?' Are you the writer that used to run a Fortune 500 Company then quit and became a monk for 5 years? Are you the ex-cop who worked Vice in Boystown before writing a thriller based on his experiences?

What separates you from all the other writers out there?

And if your story is that you've overcome a chronic illness to still pen your first novel -- that's better than no story at all.

[Margay]

Thank you so much for taking the time to make all of these suggestions for me. I'm really going to study them and see what I can do with them.
Margay

[gregory huffstutter]

Glad you found the comments helpful. My hope is that in a few months, your website sparkles as much as your writing... then you will have the complete package going on!