- Write a good book.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet it can be difficult to accomplish. A good book is unique, with a fresh slant, characters, voice, and plot. It’s not easy to come up with something original when you’re writing within the narrow confines of a genre such as romance, where the tropes are pretty much set in stone and so many writers have already written so many great romance novels. But it CAN be done.
My favorite way to put a new spin on a tired trope is to turn it on its head. Is the heroine normally kidnapped and carried off to the castle by the studly Scots hero? Flip it. Have the heroine kidnap the hero. Instead of the heroine keeping her baby a secret from the hero, maybe the hero is keeping his own child by another woman a secret from the heroine. Play with those tropes. Turn them inside out.
A good book should also have compelling characters that readers will love/hate/care about; strong conflict; good pace; and a plot where stuff happens. Plot is important. More than once, I’ve started a book with a great, kickass opening, good characters, and a compelling blurb; but it fizzles out in the middle, where nothing much happens – no conflict, no interesting twists – just a bunch of characters talking or shopping or thinking about the hero/heroine. Boring.
Every scene should move the action/plot forward, foreshadow something that’s about to happen, provide characterization, reveal a major plot point, show a strong display of emotions, or raise (or answer) a question. Every single scene in your book has a job to do.
- Provide a gorgeous, unique, and eye-catching book cover.
Book covers go through cycles. In the 1980s, romance covers featured ‘the clinch’ – a hunky hero with rippling abs (usually Fabio) clutching a beautiful, bosomy heroine against his open-shirted chest. In the 1990s chick lit ruled, and drawings of leggy, stylish girls shopping/walking dogs/sitting in cafés decorated the covers.
The aughties have seen covers that run the gamut from a photograph of a stiletto shoe or a glittery diamond necklace to cutesy illustrations of a bakery shop or a small seaside town. With the popularity of 50 Shades of Grey, monochrome covers with a title and a stark image of a pair of handcuffs or a mask are all the rage.
Whatever your book cover’s design, make sure it’s eye-catching and original enough to capture a reader’s interest. You want it to stand out. If you use stock art, it’s a good idea to choose images that are less popular for your cover. Otherwise, you could end up with a cover that uses the same stock models/images as half a dozen other covers.
- Generate good word of mouth.
This goes back to number one. Write a good book, and if readers like it, they’ll tell their friends. And those friends will tell their friends. And…well, you get the idea. I get a lot of emails from readers telling me, ‘I love your books – now my friend is reading them, too’.
You can also help your book’s discoverability by retweeting and sharing other writers’ posts, giveaways, blogs, etc. This includes participating in blog tours and offering a free chapter of your book on your website. I did this to great success on the popular “A Woman’s Wisdom” blog, which ran the first few chapters of “And the Bride Wore Prada” for three consecutive Sundays before Christmas.
Most authors and bloggers are happy to feature you or your book on their websites or blog posts, earning you a potential new audience and new readers. And don’t overlook indie authors – they have a large, loyal following and are generally very supportive of other writers, whether indie or published.
Just remember to always, always return the favor. Promotion is a two-way street. Which leads me to my next suggestion…
- Promote, promote, promote.
And by ‘promote,’ I don’t mean inundating your Twitter followers or Facebook friends with a constant stream of buy links to your books. Promote by connecting with readers, friends, and followers. Offer interesting content related to writing, or interviews with other authors. Post cartoons and the results of your Buzzfeed quiz, host a guest on your blog or website, share your opinion on the latest episode of House of Cards or Downton Abbey. Be interesting, be interested in others, and be yourself.
Another excellent promotional tool is a book trailer. Don’t have any money to spend? There are plenty of free programs available (Animoto, Prezi) that will help you create a catchy book trailer. If you have an Apple computer, you have iMovie, a program that allows you to create professional book trailers easily and quickly.
So no excuses. Get out that director’s chair and start creating!
- Sponsor a giveaway.
Make your giveaway exciting and fun. Readers aren’t excited by the same old bookmarks, or a copy of your most recent book; offer them something new and different. I try to ‘theme’ my giveaways to my books. For instance, for ‘And the Bride Wore Prada,’ I gave away a bottle of Prada Candy perfume, a Scottish Barbie doll, and a heather-scented custom candle. Yes, it costs more to offer good prizes – but the excitement it generates is well worth it. My giveaway had 6,234 entries…and the book became my first official best seller.
Coincidence? Maybe. But I truly think the giveaway helped to drum up excitement and get the word out. And after all – that’s what every writer wants, isn’t it?
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My latest Carina UK/Harper Collins book, Love, Lies & Louboutins is out now!
Look for Manolos in Manhattan, coming 20 March 2015!
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