Christian Readers discussion

What was it about the last book you bought that made you buy it?

a) Title
b) Cover graphics
c) Story synopsis
d) Author
e) all of the above

Other: Please express

Thanks so much!
- Joseph

e. But it is often the title which I home in on first. Covers can put me off or reassure me to look at the synopsis. However, once I find a good author, I'll just go straight to something else they have written.

Story synopsis and Author

Anna and Samuel,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your input and it will help me pay attention to what matters most to readers as I write my first fiction novel. Obviously, the story is the key but sometimes a great story can be obscured by a poor choice of title and complimentary graphics.

:)

I had not replied because very few of the books I get I purchase. I have a lot of free Christian eBooks that I download from David C. Cook Publishing. Or get the from library. So for me it is what is up next in the list of books I have.

Hi Bob,
Thanks so much for replying!

Covers and titles get my attention, but a good synopsis of the story will go a long way to getting me to buy the book. Of course, if I buy the book and it turns out to be a stinker, I will rarely buy another book by the same author unless it gets amazing reviews by people I trust.

Hi Joseph, I bought my last book based on the synopsis, it was about missionary work, and I was drawn to read the synopsis originally because I was checking out a particular author's books here on goodreads. I feel a bit sheepish now about how my books synopsis's are. Very brief and don't say much. I think I will have to edit and re-upload. I am so new at all of this myself and would like to be accurate about my content, but since they are just random poems, it's hard to be exact. I think if someone likes Christian Poetry and checks them out, they may like them. I tried to use a catchy internal poems name for the title of the book. I would love to know what draws people to my books. Your post has really given me some things to think about. Best wishes to you and your new book!
Kari

Hi Kari:
Thanks so much for the reply. Your answer is so invaluable!

People are drawn to books for many different reasons; but, the initial attention getter is the key: synopsis, book cover, title, etc. Something at the first - attracted and, it is important to think about what it was. It can be a short poem within a relevant image shared in social media to the right audience (those who are Christian and would love poetry about the word of God and how it relates to them).

There are several things you can do with respects to content marketing.

Synopsis - they should be short Kari! Never more than a paragraph if you want a solid hook not to mention keep your readers attention. The elevator pitch approach is always best. Too many authors write a novel trying to explain there book; makes me wonder if they have a handle on their own story.

The key to a great synopsis is after someone has read it they get it and want to know more. Think of great storylines to movies:

The Princess Diaries
A socially awkward but very bright 15 year old girl being raised by a single mom discovers that she is the princess of a small European country because of the recent death of her long absent father, who, unknown to her, was the crown prince of Genovia.

Toy Story 3
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.

These are just examples. I know you have poems, but there is a story within each that can be made into a short and sweet storyline that can be used to attract readers to your books.

For example, I am helping an author friend, a preacher, with marketing his book, My Conductor: An Analogy of a Spirit-Led Life. Now, the analogy pertains to God's plan of redemption from the beginning until now and, that, like a conductor orchestrates a symphony. See http://www.actsii.org/biblical-salvat...

I simply turned a non-fiction analogy into a story by giving it a storyline as shown in the image.

Three things are important tho think on:
1) Your audience
2) Their need
3) Your message that supplies that need

Your author website should:
1) Background your credentials - author name, genre
2) Middle-Ground your poems - audio file of reading a poem or video
3) Foreground a call to action - e.g. subscribe for

Don't ever waste your time trying to post Amazon links in social media. Instead, share a group of your poems for free through blog posts that get shared in social media.

I'll share more later when my membership site is complete....

Barron wrote: "Covers and titles get my attention, but a good synopsis of the story will go a long way to getting me to buy the book. Of course, if I buy the book and it turns out to be a stinker, I will rarely b..."

Barron,
Thanks for taking the time to reply! The synopsis does it for me too. Of course, the cover needs to express it for me as well in order to reinforce I am in for a good read.