Writing Excuses 9.47: Conversation with a Bookseller

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Writing Excuses 9.47: Conversation with a Bookseller

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2014/11/17/writing-excuses-9-47-conversation-with-a-bookseller/

Key points: Be aware of catalog and back cover copy. Get good cover art. Avoid the weird mashup descriptions for the cover copy (it might work for a pitch). Catalog and back cover copy need to say what the book is about, and give trigger warnings. Who can I hand this book to? Authors who come to stores should be ready to engage customers, but not push them. Booksellers and editors may not read the whole book, so make sure the beginning gives a clear idea of character and atmosphere (genre). Howard: make sure the first chapter tells the reader what they are being promised. Be aware that genre crossovers may only sell to the intersection, not the whole two bubbles. Sell the booksellers, and let them sell their customers.
( And in the stockroom... )

[Brandon] And would you give us a writing prompt?
[Sara] I will. I actually got some homework from Mary in a writing retreat that we did. Get three of your friends to send you one photograph of a random object. Anything they want. You have to use all three objects in the first 13 lines of your story.
[Brandon] That is awesome. I guess we can thank Mary who is not here, she's at a wedding. But we wanted to make sure that we got Sara on the podcast before the Writing Excuses retreat ended.
[Whoo! Cheers.]
[Brandon] We're not sure when this one will air, but it is the last episode we're doing at the retreat, so hopefully you all listening will be able to come to our next retreat, and you can be the applause in the background. A thank you again to Sara, and to you listeners... You are out of excuses, now go write.