Seeking that perfect tagline …
I get a look of panic on my face when asked to produce tagline for a book I wrote. I can either think of nothing (how can I possibly capture all that rich detail in a few words) or I can think of a whole bunch of them and they all sound stupid.
But, I’m trying, because I do understand that a tagline sells.
In late May I entered the first book in my new collection in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (affectionately known as SPFBO). Three hundred books are allowed in (first come first serve as long as you meet the qualifications), ten finalists are chosen and there is one winner. As you can guess, at least 290 entrants aren’t delighted with the results.
However, it presents a great opportunity to virtually meet other authors and to do a little promotion too. My book is in limbo at the moment, waiting on my reviewer to probably cut it (I have to be honest with myself) when he finishes reading and reviewing his remaining three novels. Because he isn’t as fast as some reviewers, my book has outlasted others. Because his isn’t as slow as some, it’s likely to happen soon.
So, I’m trying to make hay while the sun shines. (What a quaint agrarian expression. In a weird way aren’t our over-used expressions just taglines?)
My artistic efforts are now making their way onto Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and here, as I roll out the taglines and give them a try.
Well, what do you think? Do I need to try, try again? Or should I quit while I’m ahead? đ
The Code is based on the slick premise that two fictitious characters are allegedly telling the âtrue storyâ of how each of them created a celebrity.
Layers of Light is FREE on Kindle thru Sunday Dec. 1 at 
A little poking around showed me I had another choice called Individual Products. It involves picking products (books) similar to mine, and advertising to those who buy them. It took forever to seek out these books, although it probably was a good exercise for me to get to know more about what was out there. None-the-less, all this effort yielded even fewer clicks and cost almost nothing.
In contrast, Facebook offers the promise of being able to select potential ad readers with a LASER like precision. Oh boy.
Iâd tried a mess of keywords for first book âOne of Oneâ and got one impression. Thatâs right, one. It was a very cheap ($0.22) and highly ineffective experiment. Forget keywords.
Perhaps itâs because I didnât target every genre and category I could possibly fit into. I only targeted womenâs fiction and I wrote the ad for the audience. I got 98,215 impressions, and 439 clicks. Cool, huh?
Over the years, Iâve eliminated all the hyperlinks in the book, and the text that went with them. Iâve made corrections and done minor clean-up. Why not. But Iâve refrained from doing anything major.
As with my first two books, x0 and y1, Iâve never totaled up the exact sales, because itâs not easy to separate a sale from a give-away. Iâm pretty sure Iâve been paid for over two hundred copies, and have gifted at least as many more. Iâd hoped for more sales, of course, but every time a stranger liked my book and let me know, it delighted me. No regrets.
On January 1, 2019 my second novel is scheduled to die. I admit the prospect makes me sad. This book, with its fiery sunset-themed cover, has been part of my life for a while.
I can change the title of my book? Apparently I can. I do need a new ISBN number (no problem). I also need to acknowledge to the new reader what has been done (just in case he or she is one of the 800 humans who already read this story.)
The problem is that we are all complex creatures. Pretty much anything you do or say is yourself. Some sides of you are more likeable, or more fully developed, or more integrated into the whole you, but if it is coming out of your mouth without an intent to lie, it is you.
I already know it is admirable and interesting to not care about making money, or to pretend not to care, as the case may be. Being an artist who is driven to create for the sheer joy of it has great appeal. Greed is ugly. Creativity is cool.
I knew I didnât want the image of Teddie, my hero, to be a photo. This was a book about out of body experiences, and a clear likeness seemed too stark. I wanted something vague, more like a sketch. She had to be young, dark-haired, and there had to be green involved. I didnât expect a lot of results when I combined all these search parameters, and I didnât get them. However, the one image I got had potential.
S. R. Cronin 