Tweet We’ve had the pleasure of targeting (or, to be more realistic, eliminating) the largest swathe of readers with BISAC. We’ve also re-visited how cover and promotional copy will hook specific readers once your category has narrowed them significantly. Today, though, I want to talk about how to hook someone’s interest. And this person doesn’t […]
Tweet Once upon a time there was a man named Aaron Pogue. He worked every day as a writer, and yet he dreamed every day of working as a writer. You see, he worked as a technical writer translating Engineer into English. But he wanted to be a fiction writer so he could translate words into dreams. […]
Tweet We spent the week discussing the role categories play in your books’ success–from the initial story design through cover design and promotion. I’d like to wrap that up with a brief discussion of where the categories fit in your publishing plans. As Joshua pointed out on Thursday, the official category list provided by BISAC […]
Tweet Every now and then, I decide I want to be stylish. I’m able to dress myself reasonably well; it isn’t all superhero emblem t-shirts and blue jeans. I have some nice dress shirts and good-looking sweaters. I’ve been known to rock the fedora and the newsboy cap. I own more than one pair of […]
Tweet In a couple of posts, I threw around the phrase “weaponized plot.” This is a phrase that I invented (as far as I know). It’s a phrase used often by me and by the staff at Consortium Books. But it occurred to me it might not be immediately obvious to everyone what it means. […]
Tweet Guts & Bolts is my catch-all dissection and deconstruction of various parts of book promotion. Since promotional copy is my theme this month and with Courtney’s review fresh in mind, I decided to take a look at promo copy in one of the most beloved facets of the fantasy genre…Epic Fantasy. Most beloved by […]
Tweet Last time I explained how unexpectedly good promotional copy caused me to be crowned King of Promotional Copy. (Kings and czars? I definitely have delusions of grandeur.) This time, I’m going to tell you how a really good job making bad copy led to discovering the Consortium Formula for promotional copy. But before that, […]
Tweet Rachel is dead on when she says creating a good cover is half the battle of hooking a new reader. The back cover copy is definitely the other half. I use the phrases “promotional copy” and “back cover copy” pretty much interchangeably. I probably shouldn’t, if only because there are so many other areas […]
Tweet Ladies and Gentlemen, please direct your attention to the CENTER RING! What’s up, party people? I’m Joshua Unruh, novelist and Czar of Marketing for Consortium Books. Here’s why you should care what I think. Crimes and Misdemeanors I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life. That’s pretty normal for everybody. But I’ve also […]
I’ve found self-publishing success without spending a dime on any kind of advertising. I’ve done it with a good story, some good sales copy…and good friends. This is a brief overview of the many ways my fans have contributed to my success.
