Tag! You're it!

Another peruse of the taglines of epublishing. Do you know what I see? Tags are not everybody’s cup of tea. A lot of publishers don’t even have them. Now that I am on the trail…. I miss them.

As a writer, I realize the difficulty of selling a 50K manuscript with one teasing sentence, maybe two. As a reader, a consumer, a shopper, I’m starting to see the value.

Don’t get me wrong. I'm still more visual than verbal, and the cover draws me first. But the tag and the cover can work in perfect harmony to compel me to take the ever important next step. Read the dang blurb….

My next Tag! You’re it! evaluation is a book from Cobblestone Press. Another eye-popping cover on the book titled A Fireman for Christmas by Piper Denna

Here’s her tag:

Every fireman knows the value of a controlled burn...

Holy crap that’s an awesome tag! It’s clever, it’s suggestive, it’s true. I went on to read the blurb, and learned there probably isn’t thing one in her book about fire fighting, but who cares!

What a wonderful lesson. I’ve been truly trying to digest my stories onto the head of a pin and explain them in the tag. Not necessary. Let’s see – I love analogies. I think the tag is the hors d’oeurve before an elegant meal. It doesn’t need to contain the indgredients of every dish on the menu. It just has to compliment the main meal and make you hungry for more.

See ya next time!

TAG! You're it!

I'm starting a new and (hopefully) recurring thread on my blog called TAG! You're it. This idea was suggested to me, probably because I'm not so good at tag lines. A monthly survey of some winners will be good for me. 

Grabbing interest in my story with one line? Yikes. Isn't that like a job interview where they say "tell us a little bit about yourself." It took me several botched interviews to realize they truly meant a little bit. I'd ramble forinutes on end. 

So in book speak, tell me why I should stop here and read your blurb, in one sentence. That's what's really scary. A tag line is PRE-BLURB.

My first tag is a delicious looking book by MJ Frederick. 

Here's her tag:

When past and present meet, secrets lie beneath the surface. 

I have to say, what made me stop on this book, more than anything else, is the cover. It's a winner. Number two is the tag. Beneath the surface of what? The water? The skin? The scum on the gravy bowl? We don't know, but that's not important. We get the idea that somebody has a secret past. 

Combined with a dreamy watery cover, I was convinced to read the blurb. As a writer, I'd be tickled pink to have potential readers get this far.