Getting your story in the hands of readers starts with your cover and your blurb – but indie authors often struggle to make these fit reader expectations, while also communicating the unique elements of their story. In this workshop you’ll learn a simple set of techniques for aligning your story with your cover and your blurb, so readers clearly understand what you’re offering. Market awareness is an ongoing job, and you’ll learn to use a set of free tools to stay aware of what’s going on in your ‘neighborhood’ in the market.
Whether you’re an experienced author, or just beginning your writing journey, this webinar will give you tools to tune how your work comes across to readers, and to evolve with your genre in a way that suits your style, and your situation.
00:00 Loving teaching, storytelling, and interacting with people.
03:07 Kindle Trends: Newsletter for Fiction Writers’ Genres
08:25 Stay connected, avoid staleness, discover core elements.
10:12 Neighborhood: Tropes, visuals, comp titles, subgenre elements.
14:32 Story elements avoid trope debates; explore flexibility.
18:30 Covers promise; stories must deliver that promise.
19:28 Identify emotional impact and common features in content.
24:18 Chrome extension downloads Amazon book data.
28:22 Blurb gives plot hints, tropes, character voice.
30:54 Analyze blurb sentences linking to content elements.
33:54 Series branding signals more books available if liked.
38:27 Understanding your neighborhood maximizes author efforts effectively.
42:04 Understanding market norms: series versus standalone works.
43:04 Genre fiction prices have gradually increased over time.
46:16 Cover, blurb, content alignment affects book reception.
50:00 Cover montage, blurb details, sorted, downloadable PDF.
54:07 Reach me at nat@kindletrends.com for questions.