How to Finally Get Your Book Discovered on Amazon

6.5 million shoppers go to Amazon every day looking for their next book.

But if Amazon doesn't know what keywords or categories to put your book in, it won't get discovered – no matter how great it is.

That's the problem Publisher Rocket was built to solve. Publisher Rocket is a book marketing tool that shows authors:

● The exact keywords readers are typing into Amazon to find books like theirs.

● Which categories are realistic bestseller targets for a given book.

● The search volume, competition level, and estimated earnings for keywords.

● "Ghost categories," roughly 1 in 4 Amazon categories that can never produce a bestseller tag no matter how many sales a book gets.

● How to use Amazon's own algorithm to get discovered by more readers 

I've used it many times to identify the best categories and keywords, and to find comp titles for ads. Over 100,000 authors already use Rocket to sell more books.

Right now, Publisher Rocket is $199 for lifetime access. That's a one-time payment, not a subscription. It covers every book you write, for as long as you're writing.

● If you make about $2 per book sold, and Rocket helps you sell just a hundred extra books over your entire author career, it's paid for itself. 

● If it saves you 10 hours of guesswork and research, it's paid for itself in valuable time freed up for writing.

Rocket is switching to a subscription model soon, which means this is your last chance to own it outright for a one-time price. Grab lifetime acc    ess before it's gone.

Exercises from the SWW Pacing Techniques Workshop with Chris Eboch #writing

These are follow-up exercises from my SouthWest Writers class on pacing techniques. If you’d like to take my complete plotting class, visit Writing Classes.

EXERCISES

Review published books.

Do they have strong chapter ends?

Would you rewrite the endings?

Review published books in different genres. How do they compare? What difference does genre make in reader expectations?

 

Review Your Work:

Do you show the character’s goals, motivations, and conflicts in every scene? Should you show them more?

How do your chapter endings answer the scene questions?

 

Find an action cliffhanger and rewrite it to be more dramatic:

Add detail (slow the pace)

Use sensory details (sounds, smells, physical sensations etc.)

Go for emotional impact

Pay attention to sentence and paragraph length

 

Rewrite a quiet chapter ending:

Is there a question (direct or implied)?

Does the chapter ending look forward to what’s next?

Is the main character worried, afraid, excited, expectant?

 

Review your chapter endings:

What changes if you use shorter paragraphs?

What changes if you use shorter sentences?

How much is too much? What works best?

Learn more about Chris’s Critique Services & Writing Classes

ADVANCED PLOTTING: KEEP THOSE PAGES TURNING

Learn advanced techniques that will make a decent plot dynamic. Start with a “grab you by the throat” opening, pack the plot full, maximize your pacing, and use cliffhanger chapter endings to drive the story forward. 8 chapters, 21 lessons, $100. Work at your own pace.

Chris Eboch is a developmental editor, writing teacher, and the author of You Can Write for Children and Advanced Plotting. Her 100 books for children include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure used in many schools; The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; and the Felony Melanie series featuring the characters from the movie Sweet Home Alabama as teenagers. 

Chris writes mystery and romance for adults as Kris Bock, including The Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, the Tales of a Reluctant Psychic mysteries, The Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, and The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series featuring the employees and customers at a cat café. Learn more or see her online, on-demand writing classes at https://chriseboch.com/.

How to Pitch a Novel: Finding Your Hook #writing #publishing #kidlit

[Reposted because I'm giving a free online pitch seminar soon]

Twins discover they are really genies. 

Death narrates a World War II story. 

The young descendants of Sherlock Holmes tackle one of his unsolved cases. 

A hook—in this case the “high concept” idea—can grab the reader’s attention and make a book stand out. Here are the books with the above hooks.

Children of the Lamp series, by P. B. Kerr

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.

The 100-Year-Old Secret, by Tracy Barrett

       

Do you need a hook? Well, in today’s competitive market, it can definitely help. It’s a quick way to summarize your idea for an editor or agent, handy for writing conferences. So how do you figure out what yours is—or if you have one?

One option is comparisons—I So Don’t Do Mysteries was described as Nancy Drew with a Devil Meets Prada makeover by the publisher sales team trying to sell the book to bookstores and libraries. After Die Hard, action movies were often described as “Die Hard on a plane” or “Die Hard on a boat.”

On the jacket flap, books often used an “except” or “but” twist. The second part is the twist on a common plot. — A woman thinks her ex-husband is going to try to kill her, but he kidnaps her daughter instead.

If your book isn’t trendy, don’t despair. What hooks the reader is individual to that reader. Some may read any book set in a certain time or place, or love talking animals. Don’t try to make your book sound like it fits some hot trend, if it doesn’t. Instead try to hook your readers. Who are your target readers, and what will draw them to this book?

A good hook is simple and short—sometimes it’s referred to as a one-sentence synopsis or an elevator pitch (from the idea that you might have 30 seconds in an elevator to grab an editor’s attention). It’s not long-winded, where you are trying to cram everything into one run-on sentence. The hook doesn’t necessarily tell you the plot, but it gives you the flavor of the book and arouses interest. It may be simply the premise.

For example: In The Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. 

This sentence identifies the MC as a journalist turning fifty, it says she'll solve crimes, and it identifies the setting of Arizona. "Witty" suggests this will be humorous (as does calling the series a "humorous mystery series"). 

There is no specific plot in that series pitch. Here's the pitch for Book 1, Something Shady at Sunshine Haven: 

When patients are dying at an Alzheimer’s unit, a former war correspondent must use her journalism skills to uncover the killer and save her mother. 

That sentence identifies the MC and her challenge, with high stakes, since her mother is one of the people in danger. 

You can find books similar to yours on Amazon, Goodreads etc. and look at the first sentence of the book description, which may be in bold or italics. This is often a good hook. For example:

Fatima Tate Takes the Cake, by Khadijah VanBrakle: 

Fatima Tate wants to be a baker AND enjoy some innocent flirting with her hot friend Raheem—but her strict Muslim parents would never approve of either.

Bunnybirds #1, by Natalie Linn:

Princess Aster must leave home to discover why her people are disappearing—even if it means journeying over the rim of the world itself—in this animal fantasy graphic novel perfect for fans of blockbuster series like Warriors and Wings of Fire.

This works for picture books too.

Too Much: My Great Big Native Family, by Laurel Goodluck, illustrated by  Bridget George: 

A little boy wants a chance to shine on his own but discovers that being apart from his large and lively Native family isn’t necessarily better in this heartwarming and humorous picture book.

(Note that it can be risky to compliment your own work in a query. I might call my own book humorous, but I wouldn't claim it's "laugh out loud funny." Leave the big praise for marketing.)

EXERCISE: For practice, name a favorite or recent book—how would you describe it to a friend? Would you pick it up if you heard that description? Then check the opening of its marketing description. Is that a good hook? Why or why not? Try this a few times.

EXCERCISE: Write a simple synopsis of your work. Don’t worry about length or clarity. Jot down the who, what, when, where, and why. Now you have some idea of the most interesting and important aspects of the work. Turn it into a one-sentence synopsis with your hook.

To start focusing on your hook, ask, What is the conflict, in terms of X versus Y? Once you have your hook, you can expand upon that one-sentence pitch for a query letter or longer conversation. (Please note that it's better to have two or even three short, snappy sentences than one very long sentence where you try to cram in everything. A good hook is one you can remember and share verbally fairly easily, without worrying about getting exactly the right word in the right place.)

Pixar is said to rely on this structure to get at the heart of a story:

• Once upon a time there was ... (Introduce the character, set the stage with when and where the story takes place.)

• Every day... (Show the MC’s ordinary world.)

• But one day... (Something changes to upset that routine—the inciting incident that gives the MC a new goal and forces them to act.)

• Because of that... (Describe the consequences, how the MC reacts, a brief explanation of how Act II starts.)

• Because of that... (Something else happens to push the story towards its conclusion; what the MC must do next to reach their goal or a new goal.)

• Until finally... (How it resolves at the climax)

Try writing your synopsis this way in five or six concise sentences. Look up “Pixar Story Structure” for more detail.

More examples:

     In The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan girl in ninth-century Guatemala rebels against the High Priest who sacrifices anyone challenging his power. 

     The Eyes of Pharaoh: When their friend disappears, Seshta and Horus spy on merchants, soldiers, and royalty, and start to suspect even The Eyes of Pharaoh, the powerful head of the secret police. 

     Coffee and Crushes at the Cat Café: Kari doesn’t have time for love when she’s opening her new cat café. But when a sexy master baker walks in, how can she resist?
    The Billionaire Cowboy’s Christmas: Carly has crushed on Josh for years, but when he wins a fortune in the lottery, how can she prove she wants him for himself? 
     The Teenage Adventures of Felony Melanie: Meet teen “Felony Melanie” years before the movie Sweet Home Alabama and follow the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends as teens in this fun-filled romantic comedy series. 

(This one is more vague, because it relies on the movie as the hook for the series. FYI, I cowrote this series with my brother who wrote the original screenplay for the movie, which is why we were legally able to do this.)

More advice on writing a pitch:

How to Write a Book Pitch (and Why it Matters) at The Novelry.

How to write a killer one sentence pitch (or logline) for novels and memoirs, by Nathan Bransford

How to Pitch a Book – Your Guide to Writing the Perfect Book Pitch, by Alyssa Matesic

Chris also offers online, on-demand courses (start whenever you want and work at your own pace) 

Advanced Plotting—Keep Those Pages Turning: Learn advanced techniques that will make a decent plot dynamic. Take this online course at your own pace. It includes six videos plus handouts with notes and more resources for $100. Get Advanced Plotting here. 

You Can Write for Children: Learn about children’s publishing—opportunities and challenges, genres, age ranges, book and magazine markets, and resources to keep you going. Watch this three-session video course at your own pace. It's five chapters for $60. Get You Can Write for Children here. 

Educational Publishing: Make Money Writing for the Educational Market: Do you want to make money from writing? Are you willing and able to write on assignment if given a topic, word count, grade level, and deadline? Then you may be perfect for educational work for hire! 7 chapters, 14 lessons, $150 or the $350 subscription option lets you send your work to me for feedback. Get the Ed Pub course here.

Chris Eboch is the author of over 100 books for children, including nonfiction and fiction, early reader through teen. Her novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure used in many schools; and The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy. Her writing craft books include You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers, and Advanced Plotting. Learn more at chriseboch.com. 

Chris writes mystery and romance for adults as Kris Bock. Learn more at KrisBock.com. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. In the Tales of a Reluctant Psychic mystery series, a quirky loner who can read the history of any object with her touch gets drawn into mysteries at the museum of oddities where she works.

The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, a Texas ranching family wins a fortune in the lottery, which causes as many problems as it solves. Sign up for the Kris Bock Mystery and Romance newsletter and get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material, a free 30-page sweet romance set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café, and a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the cat café novels.

Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Teenage Adventures of Felony Melanie follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for the romantic comedy newsletter to get a short story preview