Appetizers

Don't you love those little bites of food that prep your taste buds for the main course? I can fill up on crab wantons or chips with salsa and forget there is still something even yummier to come.

Marketing copy found in catalogs and on back covers are appetizers that will hopefully draw the reader to the main course. Sometimes we ask the author to help us write this, but most often we hire a writer to come up with good copy. Generally we don't have a complete manuscript before this copy needs to be written and presented to the sales and marketing teams. So we draw from the author's book proposal. Details in the story like character names can then change between time marketing copy is written and the book is actually completed. This presents some challenges for us to stay on top of.

I’m in copy writing mode right now for our Fall 2008 list and have our freelancer loaded up with projects to write. Some of my authors on that list are still finishing up their final book summary and have barely started writing their book.

The next time you sit down to write a summary for a book proposal, consider how you are writing what could very well become the seeds for copy that the publisher will use to promote your book. Yes, what you write in the proposal is that important. And, yes, deviating from what you have proposed can create a trickled effect of copy errors. I'm sure published authors could share times those errors didn't even get caught on the book cover.

Truthfully I’m out of the office today on vacation in North Carolina and trying not to think about marketing copy I’m sure. (Written Friday, October 19) Giving you a taste of Ohio fall from a local festival in the attached picture.