the delicate art of writing copy
May. 12th, 2006 06:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanThe writer likes to think that it's his/her deathless prose that makes a book leap off the shelves and into the hands of the eager reading public. But the truth is that most people have no idea what they're going to buy when they browse the shelves. They may be looking for one particular title or author... but their eye is constantly browsing, scanning the titles like a serial monogamist at a singles' night buffet.
And sometimes a totally unknown book seems to be giving them the come-hither look. Something about the cover art, or the typeface, or something says 'pick me up, I'll show you a good time.'
So the reader indulges. Buys the book a drink. Looks at the back, reads the text that tells him/her what the book is about.
And the reader either puts the book back on the shelf, or opens it up for a closer look.
If the former: no sale, no happiness tonight.
If the latter: the author then has the chance to seal the deal.
But that back cover/inside flap copy has to intrigue, titillate, make the reader think s/he has a good chance of going all the way with this book.
My name is suri. I write that copy.
Sometimes, it's easy. You read the manuscript, and certain phrases or characterizations or plot details jump out at you. Sometimes, you just end up using the author's own words (yeah, Butcher, I'm lookin' at you).
Sometimes... it's a long, cold, rough row to hoe. The book may not be All That. The storyline might bore you. The plot might be so involved and complicated that there's no way that you can sum it up in a hundred words or less -- or, worse, there may be no plot at all.
And, of course, you're not the one who decides how the tone should go. The editor has given you strict instrucitons: 'make it hot.' 'Make it funny.' 'Emphasize the relationship.' 'Emphasize the action.' And, sometimes, the dread 'Emphasize the plot and the action' when there's no discernable plot and all the action is laughable. Not everything can go into the copy -- there're only so many character spaces allotted -- but try explaining that to the editor! That's why editors (and especially authors) don't as a rule write their own copy. You have to love the book to be able to sell it -- but you also have to be dispassionate enough to treat it like a clinical assignment: X pages distilled into Y words, phrased to suit the type of market it's being published into.
So you look for the hook, the thing that will make the reader recognize, immediately, what kind of book this is, and make that type of book so instantly appealing that they have to go further with it.
"Sometimes it's better to have loved and lost. Sometimes, it's better to run away before you get to the love."
"There were three things McDash hated. Two of them were werewolves. The third was the kind of dame who fell for werewolves."
"He was a cop. She was a he. Together, they investigated some of the toughest crimes in T-Town."
My name is suri. I've seen a lot of books come and go. I've written copy for a lot of 'em. I'm writing this to avoid writing copy for one of them right now. But I have an obligation to the author, to do the best sell-job I can. And I have an obligation to you, the reader, to let you know fairly and fully what's waiting beneath the covers, should you choose to pull them back and slip underneath.
Sometimes it's easy.
Some days, it's enough to drive a meerkat to drink.
And sometimes a totally unknown book seems to be giving them the come-hither look. Something about the cover art, or the typeface, or something says 'pick me up, I'll show you a good time.'
So the reader indulges. Buys the book a drink. Looks at the back, reads the text that tells him/her what the book is about.
And the reader either puts the book back on the shelf, or opens it up for a closer look.
If the former: no sale, no happiness tonight.
If the latter: the author then has the chance to seal the deal.
But that back cover/inside flap copy has to intrigue, titillate, make the reader think s/he has a good chance of going all the way with this book.
My name is suri. I write that copy.
Sometimes, it's easy. You read the manuscript, and certain phrases or characterizations or plot details jump out at you. Sometimes, you just end up using the author's own words (yeah, Butcher, I'm lookin' at you).
Sometimes... it's a long, cold, rough row to hoe. The book may not be All That. The storyline might bore you. The plot might be so involved and complicated that there's no way that you can sum it up in a hundred words or less -- or, worse, there may be no plot at all.
And, of course, you're not the one who decides how the tone should go. The editor has given you strict instrucitons: 'make it hot.' 'Make it funny.' 'Emphasize the relationship.' 'Emphasize the action.' And, sometimes, the dread 'Emphasize the plot and the action' when there's no discernable plot and all the action is laughable. Not everything can go into the copy -- there're only so many character spaces allotted -- but try explaining that to the editor! That's why editors (and especially authors) don't as a rule write their own copy. You have to love the book to be able to sell it -- but you also have to be dispassionate enough to treat it like a clinical assignment: X pages distilled into Y words, phrased to suit the type of market it's being published into.
So you look for the hook, the thing that will make the reader recognize, immediately, what kind of book this is, and make that type of book so instantly appealing that they have to go further with it.
"Sometimes it's better to have loved and lost. Sometimes, it's better to run away before you get to the love."
"There were three things McDash hated. Two of them were werewolves. The third was the kind of dame who fell for werewolves."
"He was a cop. She was a he. Together, they investigated some of the toughest crimes in T-Town."
My name is suri. I've seen a lot of books come and go. I've written copy for a lot of 'em. I'm writing this to avoid writing copy for one of them right now. But I have an obligation to the author, to do the best sell-job I can. And I have an obligation to you, the reader, to let you know fairly and fully what's waiting beneath the covers, should you choose to pull them back and slip underneath.
Sometimes it's easy.
Some days, it's enough to drive a meerkat to drink.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-12 11:18 pm (UTC)Please tell me this is a real line from a real book, because I want to read it!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-12 11:28 pm (UTC)*reminds self of things pending that already have contracts, sighns and puts idea back on shelf for a little while*
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 12:57 am (UTC)2) If I've already read a couple of books by that author, I may not pay much attention to blurbs. If I've liked the author's previous work, or if I didn't much like it but considered it probable the author will someday write something I like, I'll look inside the book right away.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 06:02 pm (UTC)Blurbs, too, are not high up on my happy list. I was just working with my agent on the blurb for the project she's going to be pushing at BEA-- I sweated absolute bullets over that one. What was most surprising to me was when she told me I was one of only a couple of her authors who put any thought into it. The others were like, "Yeah, whatever you think works."
I don't know if that means they don't care or they're more petrified of blurbs and copy than I am.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 06:20 pm (UTC)I know that I can't, for example, write first draft of copy for my own books; I'm too emotionally involved with them. I can, however, tweak and trim. Someone else's book, though? Give me the manuscript, a word count, and the direction you want me to go in, and I'm there. It's not glamorous, but it pays the bills. And if that makes me a ho, well at least it's honest work earned with honest sweat...
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 06:26 pm (UTC)This is me. I was presented with the copy, but was given free rein to change things however I wanted. You know what I found really interesting though? When I received my ARCs and they had what I assume is the catalog copy, printed in one of the front pages-- it was fascinating to compare it to the back cover copy and see what they chose to emphasize for each one.
And if that makes me a ho, well at least it's honest work earned with honest sweat...
Oh hell, no, it doesn't make you a 'ho. It makes you multitalented.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 05:47 am (UTC)My favorite back of the book comments were by Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters praising eachother. (Did I get the right authors?)