by Scott Lorenz | Author Advice, Blog, Book Marketing, Book Publicity, Book Publishing, Book Reviews, Marketing a Book
New Behind-the-Scenes Story by FOX-5 NY Sheds Light on the Meticulous Process
by Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
As a book publicist, I talk to authors and clients on a daily basis. Many have one goal in common: To become a New York Times bestselling author. One way to do it is to get reviewed by the New York Times Book Review. This is no surprise as the New York Times Book Review is one of the most prominent book review publications out there. It’s a weekly paper magazine that comes with the Sunday New York Times, which has a circulation of 1.5 million. A one-fifth page ad in the Book Review will cost a whopping $8,830 for small presses. You can expect to dish out even more if you’re a major publisher. For more information click here.
If your book gets reviewed by the New York Times Book Review, you’re almost guaranteed an increase in sales and publicity. So, how does the New York Times Book Review select books to review? Good question! Pamela Paul, who’s been the New York Times Book Review editor since 2013 sat down with FOX 5 NY to shed some light on this very common question. Check out the terrific story here.
“We love the publishing industry, and we support what they do, but really we are here for readers.” Pamela Paul, Editor, NY Times Book Review
She explained that the New York Times receives hundreds of books that would like to get reviewed each day. Believe it or not, all the books, except for self-published books, receive some kind of look by a staff of critics and freelance reviewers. The type of look each book gets, however, varies. While one book’s look lasts a few seconds, another book gets read cover to cover.
“Only 1% of all the books we receive make the cut. We’re always on the lookout for new and interesting voices. Since we view books as a form of art, we strive to recognize innovation and diversity,” Paul explains.
Paul was asked whether critics ever get tired of looking at books. “The kind of people that work at the Book Review are always excited to check out a book. They really love books and are doing exactly what they want to be doing,” she says.
All NY Times book reviews are fact-checked for accuracy. Paul states that fact-checking is very important for them because while you can disagree with a book review, you shouldn’t distrust it. Once the reviews are fact-checked, copy editors write headlines, credits, and more before the review goes to press.
You can see that the New York Times Book Review is run by people who love books and why they take extra care to make sure what they recommend is worthy of their audience’s time. That’s why a mention in the NY Times Book Review is so powerful.
From the NY Times Website:
During the Covid-19 pandemic, The New York Times Book Review is operating remotely and will accept physical submissions by request only. If you wish to submit a book for review consideration, please email a PDF of the galley at least three months prior to scheduled publication to [email protected]. Include the publication date and any related press materials, along with links to NetGalley or Edelweiss if applicable. Due to the volume of books we receive, we cannot respond to individual requests about our plans for coverage. Thank you.
When things return to normal, if you would like to have your book considered for review, please send it to:
Editor
The New York Times Book Review
620 Eighth Avenue,
New York, NY 10018
[email protected]
If you are sending a children’s book, please send it to the attention of the Children’s Book Editor.
The Bottom Line: While earning a spot on the New York Times Book Review is no easy feat, it’s not impossible. As long as your book has a unique twist, is well crafted, has an important message, or a new voice that must be heard, it stands a chance and is certainly worth sending in.
Final Recommendation: Watch the FOX-5 NY piece a few more times so you can really understand what the NY Times wants. https://www.fox5ny.com/news/a-day-in-the-life-inside-the-ny-times-book-review-process
You can also watch an hour-long interview with C-SPAN’s Book TV and New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul from 2015. https://www.c-span.org/video/?326362-1/tour-new-york-times-book-review
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
Would you like help promoting your book?
If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?
Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!
by Scott Lorenz | Blog, Book Publicity, Book Publishing, Book Title Generator, Marketing a Book, Social Media
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Book Marketing
Some people say a book’s success is based on luck. Some say it’s the right opportunity at the right time. But the real secret? Publicity. As a book publicist, I have seen firsthand what publicity can do for authors. It is not the same as advertising or marketing. Publicity happens much more organically, and it can be the key factor for an author’s big break.
From Obscurity to Stardom: The Power of Publicity for Authors
Let’s look at four amazing success stories by well-known authors!
Ever Heard of SLOW HORSES?
British spy novelist Mick Herron began his career as an obscure author who wrote mostly for himself. He had a day job, and he didn’t expect his literary career to ever get off the ground, especially when he got dropped by his publishing house due to low sales of his first spy novel, Slow Horses.
His agent reached out to an independent publishing house in New York, Soho Press, for his second book, Dead Lions. At first, it didn’t seem like much had changed. Then, his new publisher nominated him for the U.K. Crime Writers’ Association’s Best Novel of 2013. He went home with the top prize, and the attention immediately increased his sales. A U.K. production company even optioned for television rights for Herron’s book. Even so, it wasn’t life changing.
It wasn’t until four years later when librarian Nancy Pearl raved about Slow Horses on National Public Radio. In the following month, the book sold 20,000 copies—more than the past seven years combined.
His novels boomed in popularity, earning him connections with a British publishing company, allowing him to reissue the two books. The relaunch of his writing career put him in the spotlight, and Slow Horses was picked up by Waterstones, Britain’s largest bookstore chain, as their Thriller of the Month in 2017. This was seven years after the book was originally published.
Herron has now sold over three million copies under his British publisher, and even more in the U.S., as well as being picked up for an Apple TV+ series.
It wasn’t an interview or typical advertisements; Herron’s success came from someone praising his book on public radio. That’s the power of publicity.
Dan Brown: The Role of Timing and Radio Interviews
Timing is everything when it comes to publicity. Authors can go years without being recognized. Thriller author Dan Brown is a perfect example of this. At the start of his career, he was a failed songwriter and an unknown author. His first three books sold less than 10,000 copies each. He signed with a new publisher and a new agent, who released the fourth novel of his Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code. To Brown’s shock, it made its way quickly onto the New York Times bestseller list. This boost of attention drew curious eyes to his other works. Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons, and Deception Point, the first books of the series, soon became bestsellers as well. He has now sold millions of copies.
The difference? Brown dove head-first into publicity for his fourth book. He met with executives of major bookstores as well as smaller ones. He created a new image for himself, one that painted him as a scientific researcher. He deleted all evidence of his weak self-promotion and failed career.
By painting a specific image of himself to go along with his book, he got people’s attention. Not to mention, his rank on the New York Times bestseller list was an instant spotlight on his work. His book was thrilling, gripping, and left people talking about it for years after. However, this wouldn’t have happened without publicity. In a Masterclass episode, which I highly recommend, Brown credits Radio TV Interview Reports (RTIR) a printed publication which was mailed to thousands of media outlets announcing new authors and their availability for interviews. He booked himself on dozens and dozens of radio and TV shows, and then his book began to sell. That mailer has morphed into the National Publicity Summit a virtual meeting where authors can pitch themselves to show bookers via ZOOM. Check it out here: http://j.mp/PR-Summit
Rachael Ray: From Cooking Demonstrations to TV Stardom
A successful career in the writing field can also open up many other opportunities. Everyone knows who Rachael Ray is, whether it is from her TV shows, bestselling books, or product lines. Did you know that her career began with some in-store cooking demonstrations, which led to cookbooks and radio appearances?
Before her big break, Rachael Ray had sold around 10,000 cookbooks and was appearing regularly on her own TV segment. However, working behind the scenes, her publicist was booking her on a number of radio shows to promote two of her cookbooks, Comfort Foods and Veggie Meals. While on these programs, listening in was a friend of the Food Network’s VP of Programming as well as Al Roker the weatherman from The Today Show. Their praise of her segment led to hit appearances on both networks. Then, she received the call from Oprah that launched her daily TV show.
Rachael Ray can trace her “big break” to that one radio interview.
The Real Secret to a Book’s Success: Publicity
I personally worked with Jared Knott, author of Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters. His terrific book began with few reviews and little attention. Westwind created a press kit, book trailer, solicited book reviews, posted on Twitter and other social media. We booked Knott on dozens of radio interviews and podcasts. Jared is an engaging interview and his enthusiasm drove sales. With the newfound spotlight, Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters made its way onto eight Amazon Bestseller lists, and it now has more than 3,000 reviews. At one point the reviews were coming in so fast, we could even watch the number of reviews tick up on Amazon right before our eyes!
Knott says, “It is one thing to have a very good book. It is something else for the world to know about it, like it and want to buy it.” With the help of publicity, his book has kept up its popularity for over a year and is still growing. Knott was very complimentary about our services and has graciously thanked me. “No one gets better or more powerful results in a shorter time than Scott Lorenz of Westwind Book Marketing. He knows the industry inside and out. He and his very professional team know what works, what doesn’t work.” Thank you, Jared!
Keila Shaheen: TikTok’s Role in Book Publicity
Even self-published books can become hits with the right publicity. Social media sites such as TikTok allow authors to reach a new audience. Keila Shaheen, self-published author of the book The Shadow Work Journal, became a bestseller thanks to the app. Fellow influencer Kohn Gray (@girldadsos) raved about Shaheen’s work, making many short-form videos about it, leading thousands to purchase the book directly from TikTok Shop. It has now sold over a million copies.
While TV shows and radio programs are still around, social media has taken the new generations by storm. One hit post or video can bring millions of people to an author’s page. It’s a new form of publicity that is already showing its incredible success.
Interviews on podcasts, radio, TV, and print help truly motivated book readers to buy a book. If they like an author interview, they’ll read the synopsis, check out the reviews, and then buy the book. If they like it, those book buyers become advocates themselves and tell their friends, family, and associates. For authors, there are tons of resources out there for publicity. Hiring agents, using social media, and traditional marketing are just some first steps.
Still unsure? Check out this list of 127 ways that publicity can benefit authors.
The Bottom Line: Word-of-Mouth IS FREE, but it takes a financial commitment from the author or publisher to get the publicity going so that word-of-mouth can do its work.
About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Book Marketing, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Book Marketing at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award-winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net
by Scott Lorenz | Blog, Book Marketing, Book Publicity, Book Publishing, Marketing a Book, Writing a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Book Marketing
Biographies and memoirs are commonly confused, both telling personal stories about an individual’s life. However, there is a distinct difference, and this plays an important role in the purpose of the book and how it is marketed. Let’s take a look at both!
Biography
A biography is a nonfiction account of a person’s entire life. It includes key events that shaped them as a person, as well as information about their relationships, work, education, and defining character traits. Biographies can be written about both people who have passed or people who are alive today. Sometimes, biographies are written by the subject themself, and this is known as an autobiography.
The information presented in a biography is objective and factual, often taken from first-hand accounts such as interviews, letters, diaries, newspapers, and more. Biographies are often written in the third person. The main goal of a biography is to present a fact-based record of someone’s childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Here are some examples of well-known biographies. All of these extend over their subjects’ entire lives and come from reliable sources.
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson: “Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries.”
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: “Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah. Deborah was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Had they killed her to harvest her cells? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?”
- Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges: “This New York Times bestselling biography of the founder of computer science, with a new preface by the author that addresses Turing’s royal pardon in 2013, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life.”
- Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera: “This engrossing biography of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo reveals a woman of extreme magnetism and originality, an artist whose sensual vibrancy came straight from her own experiences.”
- Mad Girl’s Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson: “Drawing on exclusive interviews with friends and lovers who have never spoken openly about Plath before and using previously unavailable archives and papers, this is the first book to focus on the early life of the twentieth century’s most popular and enduring female poet.”
Memoir
A memoir is a story of a person’s life as told by that person. Unlike an autobiography, a memoir centers on emotion and reflection rather than a timeline. Memoirs tend to be limited to a specific time or experience. Memoirs generally fit into one of the following structures: flashback, chronological, themed, or overcoming a struggle.
Memoirs come directly from the source and don’t take an objective approach, since they focus on how the author perceived a situation or event. They are written from a first-person point of view. Memoirs take aspects of fiction novels as well, as they include scenes, dialogue, and an engaging narrative. The main goal of a memoir is for an author to explore a specific theme or situation in their life in an emotion-based way.
Here are some examples of memoirs. Each one focuses on a theme or event that had a profound impact on the author’s life.
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.”
- Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer: “A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that ‘suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.’ He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event.”
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert: “This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and set out to explore three different aspects of her nature, against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.”
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion: “This powerful book is Didion’s attempt to make sense of the ’weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness, about marriage and children and memory, about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.’”
- Night by Elie Wiesel: “Night is Elie Wiesel’s masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps.”
Why does this distinction matter?
Websites like Amazon categorize biographies and memoirs into the same section, so why should they be marketed differently? In a nutshell, biographies and memoirs hold different purposes for readers. A person researching an individual will likely prefer the fact-based biography, while someone looking for a relatable story will gravitate towards a memoir. Therefore, books should be marketed as such to reach their intended audience.
When marketing biographies, focus on the factual aspects. Highlight the first-hand sources, such as photos or interviews. Emphasize what your book offers that a source like Wikipedia does not.
When marketing memoirs, use the emotional aspects to your advantage. Many memoirs focus on childhood events, marriage, divorce, or other life events that readers can relate to. Memoirs can be marketed similarly to fiction novels, although the non-fiction aspect sets them apart as unique stories.
The Bottom Line: Biographies are factual accounts of an individual’s entire life, while memoirs focus on the emotional aspects of a specific event or theme in the author’s life.
About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Book Marketing at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award-winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
by Scott Lorenz | Blog, Book Events, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Book Publishing, Book Title Generator, BookTok, Marketing a Book, Writers Conferences
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Book Marketing
The popularity of romance books has been steadily on the rise for several years now. Stemming from the trend, the latest phenomenon in the reading community is brick and mortar stores exclusively for romance novels. According to an article by Alexandra Alter in The New York Times, romance bookstores are scattered throughout the nation “and have become vibrant community hubs for romance fans.”
The Rise of Romance
“The current romance craze traces to the early days of the pandemic,” says Alter. Romance books began to trend as people were in search of exciting love stories in times of boredom and uneasiness. Alter continues, “Print sales more than doubled in the last few years, from 18 million copies in 2020 to 39 million in 2023.” A significant turning point in the world of romance novels pre-pandemic was the 2016 release of Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us. Hoover’s novel topped the charts, selling 6.9 million copies and remaining on The New York Times’ Best Sellers list for 131 weeks, according to Vox. The book gained tons of attention on social media, especially BookTok, because of its subject matter of abusive relationships. The iconic romance novel has now been made into a movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
Dream Me Home
Another notable novel intertwines romance and mystery: Dream Me Home written by psychotherapist Laurie Elizabeth Murphy. Murphy says her book “is about characters that are real, and face real dilemmas, they make irrational decisions even with the best intentions, and cannot always control the outcomes of the most well-planned lives.” The book was published in 2023 and Murphy won first place with Dream Me Home at the 2024 PenCraft Book Awards for Best Fiction in the Mystery category. Visit Murphy’s website to learn more about her award-winning novel.
Darzik
Physician Fionne Foxxe Farraday’s science fiction fantasy Darzik is a continuation of her Mates of the Alliance series. This compelling series tells the story of the love connection between a human and an extraterrestrial being. Farraday says, “In this story, Emily has been through something horrific which altered the course of her life. She is a survivor and doesn’t see herself as a victim. Most of this book is her journey to reclaim her life and how Darzik is there for her through it all as her staunchest cheerleader, the one who sees her bravery and supports her as she steps forward into a new life.” Find out more about Darzik here.
Get Involved in the Romance World
More and more people have jumped on the romance novel train. The industry has grown far from its old “smut” and guilty pleasure stereotypes. As the community has grown, there are now events for romance fans to come together in celebration of their shared interest. Here are a couple of upcoming events for romance fans: Romance Con taking place September 6-7, 2024, in Milwaukee, WI and Black Romance Book Fest taking place May 30-June 1, 2025, in Atlanta, GA.
Advice for Romance Writers
In every good romance novel, there are common aspects that are keys to its success. For example, to write a good romance story there needs to be tension. According to The Book Coach, readers become more engaged as the tension between characters strengthens, building up the story and creating an emotional connection with the reader. Similar to other genres, a good romance includes some kind of character development.
A blog post on QinPrinting says to “avoid creating a one-dimensional character and instead focus on making your heroine human, flawed, and capable of growth.” This allows readers to relate to the character, which heavily influences how much they will enjoy the story. You can also implement character development with the use of tropes; everybody loves a good enemy to lovers’ trope! A final piece of advice is to have a happy ending to your book.
As The Urban Writers stated, “Real life doesn’t always guarantee happy endings, especially when it comes to love… readers understand this and are drawn to romance bestsellers because they know that a happy ending is in the cards.” Readers expect a “happily ever after” to follow the whirlwind of drama they’ve just been taken through.
Romance Bookstores in the US
- The Ripped Bodice in Los Angeles, CA as well as Brooklyn, NY
- Love’s Sweet Arrow in Tinsley Park, IL
- The Last Chapter in Chicago, IL
- Meet Cute in San Diego, CA
- Blush in Wichita, KS
- Under the Cover in Kansas City, MO
- Tropes & Trifles in Minneapolis, MN
- Grump & Sunshine in Belfast, ME
- A Novel Romance in Louisville, KY
- Beach Read Books in Wilmington, NC
- Lovebound Library in Salt Lake City, UT
- …And more!
The Bottom Line: If you’re a romance reader or writer, dive deeper into the community. Visit these romance bookstores, join/start a romance book club, or write a romance novel of your own!
About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Book Marketing at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award-winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
by Scott Lorenz | Blog, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Book Publishing, Book Title Generator, How to title a book, Marketing a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
The saying goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but in the marketing world, the cover and title are crucial to the book’s success. No one picks up a book that doesn’t catch their attention with the cover and title. As a book publicist, I have gathered the tips and tricks for titling books in my awarding-winning Book Title Generator, which outlines 4 key factors for naming your book:
1. Make it Memorable
You want your title to stick with potential readers, so make it stand out! Use words that evoke emotion, try out some literary devices such as alliteration or allusions, or capitalize off of the popularity of “clickbait,” aka dramatic or sensational phrases that encourage the reader to seek out further information. Ask yourself, “among the hundreds of thousands of books out there, how can my book title stand out?”
2. Make it Descriptive
What is your book about? The title is the first indicator for readers, so you want your title to reflect the plot of the book. A single-word title may have worked decades ago, but with how many books exist now, it can easily get lost. However, you want to avoid overly complicated or difficult-to-remember titles, so consider using a subtitle. On Amazon, you can put 200 characters in your title, so take advantage of it! Subtitles increase searchability and pique the interest of potential readers. Use the title and subtitle to explain the theme, the genre, a character, or another aspect of your book that makes it unique!
3. Tell them the Genre
Genre is very important when it comes to book marketing, as people will often be seeking out specific types of books, so make it clear from the start. Include a reference to the genre directly in your title or subtitle. For example, if your book is about the paranormal, include that in the subtitle. If your book is part of a series, include that. Reaching your target audience is key to a book’s success!
4. Use Keywords to Increase Searchability
Keywords are what people enter into a website when searching for a product. For most products, this is straightforward, i.e. search “car wax” for car wax. For books, however, keywords are more subjective. This is why descriptive titles are so important; you want to include words or phrases that accurately describe your book but are also common things that people would type into a search bar. Figuring out keywords can take some effort: try typing a similar title or genre into Amazon or Goodreads and see what comes up. Are the results comparable to your book? If not, you may need to rethink your title. Additionally, there is new technology that many writers use to help with keywords. Software such as Publisher Rocket can analyze data directly from Amazon and determine the profitability and competition for specific words or phrases.
These four points are just the starting point to developing a strong title but are easily the most important. Taking the time to develop a title using these tools is crucial to your book’s reach, profitability, and long-term performance. Don’t be afraid to change your book’s title if it will increase your chances of success! For more information, check out Book Title Generator, which offers even more details on these key points, as well as more tips and tricks, a plethora of real-life examples, and a list of resources for authors to use.
The Bottom Line: The title is the first thing readers are drawn to when looking at books, so make it descriptive, make it memorable, incorporate the genre, and utilize keywords to increase your success!
About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Book Marketing at https://westwindbookmarketing.com/ or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award-winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net
