If I’d wanted to be a marketing expert, I would have studied business in college instead of nursing. Even my career switch to novelist didn’t prepare me for today’s publishing climate. Log lines, branding, high concept, tip sheets, and press releases. When did we stop being merely authors and turn into publicity demons?

So now I’m more than an author.  I’m also a brand.  If I knew what that was, I wouldn’t have to ask readers what to expect when you see my name on a book cover. Fun, fast-paced mysteries with a Florida flair?  Murder in the tropics? Humor, romance, and suspense?  What DO you see in my stories?

We’re advised to create a one liner that will sum up our story.  Easier said than done.  Ever try to condense 75,000 words or more into a single sentence?  I’ve never been good at copywriting. That’s why I’m glad an editor writes the back copy blurbs for my books. But now I’m expected to come up with these zingers. I could spend all day trying to come up with the perfect tag line. Believe me, it’s easier to write the story. As in any business, marketing is the key. It seems to me, though, that this environment steals creativity from writing novels and applies it to marketing techniques.  Change isn’t always a good thing. I didn’t sign on to this job to become a publicist. I only want to write compelling tales.

Congratulations to Ellie Wright of Garland, TX, who won my October contest at www.freshfiction.com.  For the rest of you, there’s still a chance to enter for November.

I just went through this trying to come up with something to put on bookmarks. Other people see your books so differently than you see your own. I like Florida Flair, but what about something to do with hair?

Good point, Lori, which is why I put Bad Hair Day mysteries on everything. That's really my brand for the Marla Shore stories. But I want my author brand to be more than that in the event I write something else. What is it about my writing style that people expect when they read my work? Coming up with these blurbs and high concepts and branding is harder than writing the book.