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    How to Write Fiction Sales Copy: WMG Writer's Guides, #9
    How to Write Fiction Sales Copy: WMG Writer's Guides, #9
    How to Write Fiction Sales Copy: WMG Writer's Guides, #9
    Ebook104 pages34 minutes

    How to Write Fiction Sales Copy: WMG Writer's Guides, #9

    By Dean Wesley Smith

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    About this ebook

    USA Today bestselling author and former publisher Dean Wesley Smith knows how to navigate the complicated world of publishing. And now, he shares his experience to help writers tackle the most challenging writing of all: Fiction Sales Copy.

    In this WMG Writer's Guide, Dean addresses the major challenges that lead to bad sales copy—including using passive voice and too much plot—and offers 32 examples from his own stories to illustrate his points.

    Want to make your books stand out from the pack and grab the reader's attention? Then learn from Dean's experience and discover how to write copy that best sells your stories.

    "Dean Wesley Smith's blog gives both a slightly different view of the publishing world than I'd seen before and detailed hands-on 'here's how to get from A to B' instruction."
    — Erin M. Hartshorn, Vision: A Resource for Writers

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWMG Publishing
    Release dateOct 27, 2015
    ISBN9781519919533
    How to Write Fiction Sales Copy: WMG Writer's Guides, #9
    Author

    Dean Wesley Smith

    Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA TODAY bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith published far over a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres. He currently produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series staring Poker Boy. During his career he also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds.

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      Book preview

      How to Write Fiction Sales Copy - Dean Wesley Smith

      INTRODUCTION

      In July of 2015, I managed to write one short story a day. Actually had one extra, so ended up with 32 stories.

      I did a cover for all of those stories as well, usually the next day.

      My goal seemed simple on the surface:

      —Write 31 or 32 short stories.

      —Put them all in a book titled Stories from July.

      —Later publish all of them as standalone stories in electronic and paper.

      —Also put each story in my monthly magazine (Smith’s Monthly) one or two a month, mixed with other stories and new novels.

      —Include the stories in themed collections.

      In the book Stories from July, I wanted the blogs about writing each story, a cover, a blurb, and then the story.

      To do that, I needed first to write the story each day. Check. Got that done. And it was great fun, more fun than I had imagined it would be.

      Second, I needed to do a cover for each story, branded to me, the author. Check. Got that done.

      Also fun.

      And third, each story needed some sales copy. It would need it for the blurb on all the sales sites and for the back cover on the paper versions of each story and at the start of each story in Stories from July and in Smith’s Monthly.

      So that’s what this series is all about.

      Sales copy.

      I need to write the sales copy for all 32 stories. A couple people asked about how I was going to do that. So I figured why not explain some about how to write the sales copy, since I also teach doing this in a workshop, among other things.

      I will include my thinking about each story as I wrote the sales copy for it and how I got out of author problems and wrote sales.

      Maybe I can help a few writers with their own sales copy if I talk about this process and show examples. At least that’s the hope.

      So onward.

      CHAPTER ONE

      I figure the best way to do this is just start with the very first story I wrote on July 1st and work my way though each one. I will put the covers here with the blurbs.

      A few basic thoughts about sales copy writing first off.

      This is difficult for most fiction writers to do for a couple of reasons, both of which I call The Author Problem.

      I will go into this more later, but the author problem comes in basically two parts.

      First: Can’t see beyond the plot.

      Second: Can’t write anything but passive voice when talking about their own work.

      Keep that in mind as I dive into these first few. In later chapters I will deal a lot with more details about The Author Problem in writing sales copy.

      I’m going to put up two blurbs I wrote for the first two stories and then talk about them in this first chapter before moving on.

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