How to find the phrases that sell your books
Anyone who’s paid attention to advertising and marketing can tell you that the right phrases and words get a reaction from consumers. And that definitely goes for the marketing of your books. So how can you find the phrases and words that work for you and sell your unique books to your unique audience?
What’s the point of your marketing?
Marketing is communicating the value of a product, service, or brand, according to Wikipedia. Basically, if you want to sell your book, you need to market it.
Marketing is more than selling. It’s identifying the consumer you want to buy your book and figuring out where that consumer hangs out, crafting a message that connects with that consumer, and then delivering it to that consumer at a price they’ll pay.
The marketing mix is composed of four “Ps” (as first defined by marketing guru E. Jerome McCarthy)—product, price, place, promotion. Your product is your book. Later versions of that mnemonic stress connecting with the consumer and being authentic. You can do that, easy-peasy.
Who’s going to buy it?
You know your book. Who’s going to read it? Publishing has established some basic genres (paranormal, fantasy, erotica, historical, contemporary, literary) and categories (children’s, young adult, new adult, for example). Start there. You could try writing a new topic to a specific audience because it’s hot. That’s risky, because not only is it inauthentic to you, but you could be writing for a demand that vanishes before you finish. Too bad for your disco epic.
How can they get it?
Then you have to get it to the consumer. Digital or print? Traditional publishing or self-publishing? Will you emulate an author like Ann Charles, who sells her Deadwood fiction through shops in Deadwood, S.D.?
How much do you charge for it?
Should you sell it for 99 cents? Should you sell it for $19.99? Whole other topic!
How do you communicate your product to its audience?
How can you tell everyone about it? That’s promotion. When you communicate, it’s important to choose the correct words, or else potential readers will skip right over what you say. (Advertising tool AdBeat has reported that consumers will tune out ads in as little as 1.7 seconds.)
What words catch your eye?
Words are how we get our point across and capture the imagination of the reading consumer. The right words attract the editor, and in particular the (paying) audience.
For the sake of the art and science of marketing, the five most persuasive words in the English language are (according to marketer Vertical Response):
- You (and your name). There’s something personal about seeing our own name, and the use of “you.” It makes us feel warm and cozy. You know me! You really know me!
- Free. Studies show that even if you’re given the choice of something expensive (like a pricy Teuscher chocolate truffle) or a considerably less expensive something (like a Hershey’s Kiss), you’re going to think that the truffle is better because it’s expensive, so it must be better, right? But if the choice is between the Hershey’s Kiss and the fancy truffle but the Kiss is free, the choice flips. Because the Kiss is free. People love a good deal!
- Because. Give ‘em a reason and the consumer is more likely to listen to you. Don’t flat-out say “Buy my book!” Say why: “Buy my book ‘cause it’s the kind you’ll like!” (It’s sexy. It’ll make you cry. Bad guys die. Amazon says it’s like these others.)
- Instantly (or, Now). “Act now!” “Subscribe now!” People also love instant gratification. Impulsive items for purchase at the checkout stand are designed that way. That happens on Amazon a lot. And that can include your book.
- New. There’s a curiosity about something that’s new, and that draws in the consumer.
Wait, there’s more!
Why stop at five? According to Vertical Response, these also work powerfully:
- Sale.
- Off (not quite “free,” but you give your customers a reason (“A cozy mystery with a twist, 25% off right now!”)
- Best sellers. People like what other people like.
- Be the first. People like being trendsetters. This works well with sneak peeks, heads-ups, deleted scenes.
- Thank you. People appreciate being appreciated. Very powerful when combined with “and.” “Thank you and here’s a special deal.”
- Remember. Busy people need reminders. Just don’t remind too much.
Bad words
On the other hand, these words can kill a potential sale:
- Hurry. “Instantly” intrigues, but “hurry” irritates. Nobody likes to be hurried.
- Look inside. It can sound ominous, but it can also sound like you’re not being on the level. (Of course, if you’re already on Amazon selling your book, an invitation to look inside often works just fine.)
- Groundbreaking. Who cares? Being an early adopter is one of those pros and cons things.
- Huge. Is your book oversize or something?
- Once in a lifetime. Anything in print is always.
- CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! Okay in comics, but otherwise it looks amateurish and makes people suspicious.
What do readers want?
What you say and where you say it will reflect the book you’ve written and the readers who want to buy it. Why not start with what you want? Not as a writer, but as a reader. When the shoe’s on the other foot, what do you look for? Figure that out and use it to inform your word choices.
Money, sex, desire, bed … all words that draw the eye (you know they do). Wordplay can also connect with readers: puns, alliteration, or anachronisms not often seen in modern-day speech.
Two examples from author Sabrina Jeffries:
- A Hellion in Her Bed: “Hellion” is an anachronistic word that clicks directly with fans of historicals; “bed” targets an audience looking for sexy reads.
- Wed Him Before You Bed Him: Alliteration and plot with the bonus of calling back to the author’s earlier works. If you’ve got an established audience, that could help make your product unique and memorable, specific to you.
Or play with puns. They were good enough for Shakespeare! Examples include:
- The Toyminator by Robert Rankin
- Ska’d for Life by Horace Panter
- No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk by Tamar Myers
Words that are contemporary will click with the audience of the day. Because Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series was hot, titles like Sabrina York’s Hannah and the Highlander or Shelli Stevens’s Good Girl Gone Plaid suggested to readers they might like those books. You can combine readerships with a title like “Cops in Kilts.” With a title like that, you get cops, Scots, and alliteration!
Branded
These authors are relying on words to reinforce their brand. What you write and how you write are your connection to your readers; that’s your brand. Marketing words and phrases used in branding are important too. Who are you? What’s your brand? What do you write? Who do you want to attract?
Key phrases that market your brand differ from genre to genre, ranging from writing sweet to writing hot, writing historical to writing seductive bloodsuckers, to writing Fifty Shades erotica.
Your brand strategy tells the consumer why your product is the one to buy. Is your work a fresh twist on an old theme? If you’ve begun to build up a series, are the stories consistent and reliable and just what its fans clamor for? Your brand promises that and more.
Once you decide on your brand, make sure everything you write about yourself and your fiction reflects that. From your email signature to your blurbs, choose the words that express the essential truth of your writing. Use those words when you’re interviewed. Use them in your YouTube videos. Include them in your website meta tags. If you’re writing ads for Amazon or BookBub, or posting to your blog or on your social media pages, you can choose the words that people search on (“sweet romance,” “cozy historical mystery,” “young adult music”) and your ads will be shown based on how much you bid and how relevant they are. One way to make them relevant is to have those words on your website landing page and on your blurb copy.
My husband, the professional marketer, also believes that one keyword (okay, acronym) to all of your marketing is WIIFM (short for “What’s in it for me?”). That’s what anybody considering a purchase asks themselves. If they understand your brand—and your words reinforce what they want—they’ll be your readers.
References
- AdBeat. Adbeat.com
- McCarthy, E. Jerome. Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach. Irwin Professional Publishing, 1994.
- Vertical Response. Verticalresponse.com https://verticalresponse.com/blog/20-powerful-marketing-words-phrases-that-sell-or-repel/
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Elizabeth MS Flynn is a professional editor and has been for almost 50 years, working in topics as diverse as academia, technology, finance, genre fiction, and comic books.