The Journal: Writing Sales Copy

In today’s Journal

* An excellent example
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

If you’d like to see an excellent example for now NOT to write sales copy (your book description), take a look at what the publisher did to describe Steven Pressfield’s latest novel, 36 Righteous Men.

I saw an ad for the novel in CrimeReads, and I clicked through. What the hey? It’s Steven Pressfield, right? So I might as well at least read the blurb.

And I did. And I won’t buy the book.

Rather than enticing me to buy the book (that’s the job of your book description), the description of 36 Righteous Men actually dissuaded me.

Not because it isn’t a great premise or because I think the book won’t be exciting. If I thought either of those were true, I wouldn’t have clicked through in the first place.

I won’t buy the book because there’s no need. I already know the whole story. Whoever wrote the sales copy for the description laid out the plot: lock, stock, and barrel. If I tried to read it now, I’d be bored because I already know not only how it ends, but several of the major plot points along the way.

I hope Mr. Pressfield didn’t write the description himself. And I hope whoever did write it takes a gander at Dean’s book, How to Write Fiction Sales Copyhttps://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/project/how-to-write-fiction-sales-copy/. Because seriously, folks, what’s on the cover of 36 Righteous Men isn’t it.

If you’d like to read the description for yourself, visit https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324002895.
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I probably will write fiction today. If I do I’ll report the numbers in the next edition of the Journal. Tomorrow I have a follow-up appointment with a doctor. Just routine, but it’s in Tucson so it will consume much of the day.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “What One Thing is Your Novel About?” at https://killzoneblog.com/2019/11/what-one-thing-is-your-novel-about.html.

See “THAT I Write is important” at https://prowriterswriting.com/that-i-write-is-important.

The Numbers

Writing of Blackwell Ops 7: Philip Dunstan
(Brought forward…… 25849)

Day 16…… 1700 words. Total words to date…… 27549
Day 17…… 1018 words. Total words to date…… 28567
Day 18…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Fiction words yesterday…………………… 0
Nonfiction words today…………… 320 (Journal)

Total fiction words for the month……… 9199
Total fiction words for the year………… 394292
Total nonfiction words for the month… 17380
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 298460
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 692752

Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 7
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 43
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 197
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31