BookBub Getting Some Competition: eBookSoda has LGBT Fiction Category!

e_soda_white-out-horizontal_logoLike any writer I’m always trying to keep up on the current trends in marketing and discoverability and as a reader I’m always looking for a good read. But queer fiction still seems to be marginalized in most of the booklist. The book lists I’ve come across really don’t seem to be gay fiction friendly or it gets buried under other categories making it hard to find. BookBub is probably the best marketing list out there right now but it is hard to get onto, kind of expensive right now, and last time I looked they don’t have a queer fiction category, which means you can’t target your readership. Then I found eBookSoda.

I’ve been following Kristine Rusch’s series on Discoverability and she mentioned a new service called eBookSoda which is giving writers free listings while they build up their list. I went over and check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to see a LGBT category. I also like that they had more friendly requirements on what they are accepting. I signed up for their booklist and submitted my novella The Three of Us to be listed.

This morning I opened my email and found a message promoting my book. That is very cool. Now they are just starting out and I imagine the list is pretty small at the moment, so I don’t know if I’ll get any kind of sales bump. But I think this could be a great service for those who like reading LGBT fiction and those of us who write it. I urge you to go over to eBookSoda and sign up for a book list or two and if you are a writer submit your book! It is free right now, why not do it? If they take off, it can only help all of us.

Writing Back Cover Copy

image of a pile of booksWas going through my feeds this morning and ran across a great article on The Book Designer site about 7 Secrets to Writing Persuasive Back Cover Sales Copy, by Casey Demchak.

Although I don’t plan on doing any physical publication of my books (I just like trees too much) I think this is good advice for writing any copy about your book. His suggestions were:

  1. Start with a headline that makes or implies a promise.
  2. Make your copy “at-a-glance” friendly.
  3. Chose exactly the right voice.
  4. Create a powerful rhythm.
  5. Focus on what your book is about – not what happens
  6. Stir up human emotions.
  7. Leave them wanting more.

Read the article for information on working these into the copy. I also recommend adding The Book Designer to your feed list.

Okay back to editing.

Pax,

Stephen