So there I was, in the elevator, and who walked in?

Misty MasseyMisty Massey
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Blurb /blɜrb/: 1. a brief advertisement or announcement, esp. a laudatory one 2. to advertise or praise

Yesterday, in her excellent post on “bait and hook”, Faith mentioned an agent meeting that served as a turning point for Kim Harrison. In the weeks prior to the meeting, Faith spent a good deal of time helping all of us learn how to blurb our work. I’m sure you’re familiar with blurbs on book covers, lines of praise that are used to help sell the book. Blurbs are also excellent tools for the author approaching an agent or editor. I don’t know how many of you have been to any writing conferences or met many agents. Sometimes these events are so crowded that your chance at a one-on-one may come in an elevator, or while waiting in line for the lunch buffet. Trust me…if you luck onto two minutes of [...]

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November 20th, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , | | 18 comments - (Comments are closed)

Bait and Hook

Faith HunterFaith Hunter
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Last week I blogged on the reason why a first book by UnPub usually has to be so much better than the bestseller by Author X, Y or Z. Question four I left hanging so I could devote a bit more time to it. And it was…

Let’s say I don’t have mega-luck on my side. What can I do to make my chances of a first-book-sale better?

The answer is – a lot! It’s a writing (and advertising) device called Bait and Hook. Not Bait and Switch, which a lot of writers (and stores) try, but Bait and Hook. And yeah – think advertising.

 

I love to tell the story of the way my mystery agent does business. He’s a one man agency, [...]

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November 19th, 2008 | Tags: , , , | | 36 comments - (Comments are closed)