There’s a crazy amount of stuff in this post. You’ve been warned. 🙂
LESSON LEARNED TODAY
I finished Dean Wesley Smith’s course on Fiction Sales Copy as well as read the book he wrote of the same name. Also finished Libbie Hawker’s book, Gotta Read It! (About book descriptions).
I’ve pretty much exhausted my resources, so now it’s time to turn on the turbo thrusters and get sh!t done.
LESSON EXECUTED
I spent the day today rewriting book descriptions. I started with Magic Souls, my very first novel. I mixed Dean Wesley Smith’s method with Ray Edwards’ method. Check it out.
THE BEFORE DESCRIPTION:
What if YOU could commit any illegal act without getting caught?
The name's Bebe, and I'm a pushover.
A co-worker sabotaged my career at work, and in true Bebe fashion, I just let it happen.
I wished that I could make her pay.
Enter a demon, Ladouche, who grants me the power to get revenge with complete immunity. No cops, no jail, no nada.
Revenge feels good. Really good. But now the demon is asking for the souls of three innocent people in return for my new power. If I fail to procure the souls, then I'll lose my own.
Not quite what I bargained for…
Magic Souls is an interactive urban fantasy much like a Choose Your Own Adventure. You'll control Bebe as she navigates through Ladouche's lies and deception. Read it multiple times, unlock different endings, and relive your childhood.
Click the buy button to download your copy now!
Formerly published as How to Be Bad: A Decision Select Novel.
THE AFTER DESCRIPTION:
Choose Your Own Adventures meets urban fantasy in this hilarious interactive novel!
Bebe McFerrin practices law in a fancy downtown firm where her coworkers mock her and steal the credit for her hard work.
Bebe desperately wants to stand up for herself and prove she isn't a wimp. Enter a mysterious demon who offers to make her dream come true.
The price? Her soul…and the end of life as we know it. Oops.
Magic Souls is an interactive urban fantasy inspired by Choose Your Own Adventures where YOU, the reader control what happens. The spectacular decision system will leave you guessing how the author did it. If you loved Choose Your Own Adventures as a kid, you'll love this reimagining of the childhood classics!
I actually wrote 3 variations on this, but this was the first. This is a tougher book to write descriptions for than most because I not only have to introduce the character and the stakes, but I also have to identify the genre which is both urban fantasy AND interactive. Yeah…
If you want to buy Magic Souls, grab it here: http://www.michaellaronn.com/magicsouls
Anyhoo, I like the second one better. I also did this with my novel, Dream Born (Book 1 in my Magic Trackers series). I also practiced with my short story collection.
And then I started working on the automated swipe file I talked about. I started off with a grand idea of automation, but actually, when I sat down and thought about it, it’s simpler than that.
What I ultimately need is structure. Since I forget the different book description structures (I have found around 10 so far, and there are more), I need an easy way to recall them AND a way to structure my writing so that I hit all of the copywriting elements need it.
What I came up with was a ridiculously basic spreadsheet. Here’s the one for fiction
And by the way, you should totally buy the books by Libbie, Kevin, and Bryan because the picture doesn't do their methods true justice:
Get Kevin's book: https://geni.us/byjK
Get Libbie's book: https://geni.us/qiP7r6K
Get Bryan's book: https://geni.us/NGnovg
All I have to do is write the different element in the spreadsheet. Then, when I’m done, I can copy all of the cells and it will copy over just fine into Word, KDP, or wherever.
Nonfiction book descriptions are a bit more involved, so here’s what I came up with:
Get Ray's book: https://geni.us/BsiP2
As you can see, the Ray Edwards method is very nuanced so I had to modify it drastically for book descriptions as it's typically used for copywriting sales pages. The stuff on the right is there to remind me of what the different elements mean. Again, I can write the description in Excel and then copy everything over. Super easy, and something all of you can do in literally 2 minutes.
I also loaded up one of the tabs on the spreadsheet with all the phrases I’ve gathered in my publishing endeavors. Lots of smart phrases, “money words” that are proven to convert, and hype phrases. Again, all of this is here to remind me. I think of it as a letter to my future self that says “Hey. Don’t forget X, Y, and Z.”
This will help keep me on the right track. Anyway, this is a big step for me in staying organized the next time I need to write copy. Might seem obvious for some folks, but this is a pretty big deal and leap forward for me, as it will ensure consistency and that I don’t just “make stuff up in a hurry,” which is what I usually do…and to my detriment.
Now, it’s time to reassess many of my book descriptions and run them through this new tool so I can improve my conversion. Some of my books may not need it, but there are some that could benefit from better conversion.
So, I’ll be:
- Retooling all of my book descriptions, including writing some for my short stories just to get some extra practice. That’ll be about 50-60 descriptions, which will be enough to lock in some muscle memory.
- As I write new descriptions, I’ll turn on a battery of Amazon ads for some of my target books to see if I can get some extra sales.
And after that, it’ll be time to start doubling down on Amazon Ads.
Anyhoo, if you’ve made it to the end, thanks for reading this.
MARKETING PARKING LOT
- Develop a tool to help me transition into “marketing mode (DONE)
- Clean up old lead magnet links and redirect them. ROI: Could add a few more subscribers to my list per year.
- Convert unnecessary links in my nonfiction to footnotes to improve “reader stickiness.”
- Zero in on any broken links and redirect them. ROI: Improves user experience on my website.
