The Darker Side of Marketing

In my column last month I ragged pretty hard on authors making business decisions (specifically, what to depict on their book covers) via their emotions rather than marketing trends or best practices. This month, I’d like to present the other side of the issue. It started off innocently enough: one of my friends did the virtual equivalent of banging a book against the wall. Was the book badly written? Poorly edited? Riddled with plot holes?
Nope, no, and nada. The book had a beautiful cover depicting a gorgeous Highlander. The problem? The story itself featured a Regency English lord hero!  My friend (who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent) was in the mood for a Highlander, and bought the book based on the cover. (I didn’t want to incur further wrath by asking if she read the blurb, as I imagine the blurb skillfully omitted the Highlander keyword.)

Read the entire article in the October issue of InD'Tale magazine.

Subscriptions are free!

Just sign up on our home page. Once you do, an e-mail validation notice will be sent directly to you. Just open and click the link and you're in - forever!

You will then be able to click on the magazine image on the left hand side of our home page to open the magazine, download and read!  Next month's magazine will be delivered right to your inbox!