I just updated our website with information for our newest published member, C.C. Wiley, and I really like her tagline. Passion and adventure worth fighting for. That got me to thinking about what our other authors' taglines are and if any of our pre-published members have thought about taglines. How important is a tagline to an author? Our authors write in a variety of genres. C.C. is an historical author, so her tagline does her justice. The title of her first book is Knight Dreams, and I'm sure there will more such titles in her future. Stacey is an historical author but she focuses on westerns. Take a wild ride is perfect for her and her books. And in her video trailer she uses Unleash the West!, another terrific tagline. Our Melissa's tagline is Romance full of snark, which if you know Melissa, there's not a better fit for her stories.
How difficult was it for you to come up with your tagline? Was it a process that took months? Or did you just get lucky and it came to you out of the blue? Did you come up with several to choose from and that made it hard to pick one? Or was there no question when you found the right one, no further searching was necessary?
For those of you out there still working toward publication and if you have thought about a tagline, have you done research to make sure it's not used by someone else? Did you think it through as far as down the road if you consider writing in a different genre, will it still work for you then? Or is a tagline all that important to you now? Or even later when you are published?
I also noticed that several of our published authors do not have a tagline. Did you choose not have to have one? Or still thinking about it maybe? There's time to find one later? If you've chosen not to have a tagline, what was your reasoning at the time for that decision? Is it something you might rethink down the line? Or you just feel one isn't needed? Are you just undecided, still trying to figure out what the best tagline is for you?
Lastly, what's your opinion about how effective taglines are? Do they work? It's branding. If a reader, agent, editor, whoever sees it enough, will it stick so that they will remember you and buy your book the next time they see one in the bookstore, ask for your full manuscript when a partial or your query letter comes across their desk? Is it worth the headache going to all the trouble to figure one out?Personally I like taglines. When it's the right tagline for the right author, I think they work. It's just an added extra something that makes up the complete package when it comes to your books. But that's just me. What about you?
Sandy
This is very interesting, Sandy. I'll be honest in that having a three or four word tagline has just never occured to me! I think it is a very good idea though and will be giving it some thought. Might look nice on the next batch of business cards I order.
ReplyDeleteI know my tagline would be something along the lines of: "A beliver in happily-ever-after" or "Where the honeymoon never ends" Something liek that, but I will have to get clever. After Nationals! Right now the mind is on details, not being clever! LOL.
I'm a bad author. I once heard it was a good idea to have a tagline, that sums up what you write. I slapped one on and never thought twice about it. Until people started saying it back at me. "Oh, you're that snark author?" Even though I didn't put a lot of thought into, it does fit.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
You hit on that in this post. It's your slogan. It's your brand. You may have to live with it for a while so you might as well make it fit.
I loved your post Sandy. I have worked with taglines for individual books before but no one has suggested a tag line for myself. I will have to spend some time thinking on this. Need to finish something first.
ReplyDelete