Your Book Summary: An Important Marketing Tool (part 2)

 What does a summary need? 

It needs to be short. Consider The Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien--it has 3 paragraphs (about 7 sentences) as a summary even though it is over 430 pages long. These are not overly complex long sentences, either. The summary for A Game of Thrones is also about 7 sentences despite being over 700 pages. A summary should ideally be 2-4 paragraphs long and no more than 25 sentences. The more succinct you can be with your plot, the better--as long as it meets minimum standards. 

It needs to be well-edited and clear. Authors with typos in their summaries usually have typo-ridden books that are difficult for readers to wade through. Summaries that are written so only the author or someone who has already read the book understand them are also not helpful. 

It needs to let the reader know the (correct) genre if that isn't evident. For example, in The Fellowship of the Ring, the summary lets readers know the book is going to be an epic fantasy because it talks about magical elements and a journey. Be careful, however, if you feel you need to blatantly state "this is a historical fantasy." Many times authors who state what their book is don't know exactly what a "historical fantasy" is. I recently read a summary that claimed the book was a historical fantasy in the first sentence, but the book was set in a fictional world and not a real, historical earth setting. An example of a "historical fantasy" would be Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which takes place on earth in an alternate reality of the past, where magic occurs during the 19th century. There are many other genres, such as urban fiction or paranormal romance, that need authors to be aware of what they entail. The reverse of this is my own sci-fi romance mashup and sci-fi cozy mashup serials--I had at least one person say that these weren't sci-fi because they rely on arranged marriages and some "old-fashioned" societal rules--despite being set on another planet in another star system with advanced technology. I think people forget that many sci-fi books and movies use a technologically advanced but societal archaic theme--think about Star Wars, which basically incorporates swords and magic into sci-fi or Dune, which also has a technologically advanced society based on arranged marriages. 

What to keep out of a summary? 

Avoid words that reflect opinions of your book like "award-winning," "new," and "gripping." Opinions shouldn't be in the summary. There are places on your Amazon book page where you can add paid review information. It is expected that you, the author, believes your book should win an award and is a superb contribution to literature--your own opinions about your work don't belong anywhere on your sales page. Using "new" is slightly ridiculous because your book is not going to be "new" forever. 

Avoid plot details. Your added a bunch of really cool details and characters to your book, so of course you want to talk about them. The problem is that you are going to bog down your summary with things that are not necessary to conveying the plot. The Fellowship of the Ring summary mentioned above is a good example. It tells the reader who the main bad guy is and who the main good guy is. Are there other important characters in the book? Of course. But the whole trilogy is about Frodo getting to Mount Doom to destroy the ring and Sauron trying to stop him. In a romance summary, you should only have the main male and female mentioned. In other fiction, if there is a group of good guys/bad guys, you could say something like "Frodo Baggins and his fellow travelers" or "Luke Skywalker and those who gather around him" or "Ponyboy Curtis and his friends." In the summary for A Game of Thrones, which switches viewpoints between many people, the main characters are "the Starks of Winterfell." 

Avoid giving away the end of the story. Some indie authors do give away their work for free, but a summary of your work for the purpose of marketing it (free or not) should never contain the ending. Most readers aren't going to read a long version if you give them access to an abridged version of your story.

Avoid letting AI write the summary without any oversight. I get a lot of scam e-mails talking about my books. In this age of AI--which can read reviews, your summary, and other aspects of your book that you have talked about online--many people use technology to make their work easier. The problem is that AI does awful jobs of actually summarizing stories--I find them easy to pick out. If you struggle writing a summary, AI might be able to give you the groundwork, but if you don't know what you are doing, you won't be able to fix it appropriately. There are some services that will give you free or cheap professional reviews complete with a summary. It is better to use these services than to attempt having AI do it for you.

Your Book Summary: An Important Marketing Tool (part 1)

Before choosing a book to read, most people look at the book summary. Still, it boggles my mind how many indie authors write horrible book summaries. Being able to summarize a book without giving away the ending is something most children are taught in grade school. Some people are naturally better at writing compelling summaries than others, but some people, who are writing entire books that they want others to purchase and read, completely fail the assignment. I have even read some books that were good but which had horrible summaries. In those cases, I usually try to summarize the book in my review, but few people look at the reviews before they look at the summary. 

The problems with bad summaries generally fall into three categories: (1) confusing, (2) rambling, and (3) below minimal.

(1) Most indie authors use rambling summaries for their books. These go on for 6+ paragraphs. Instead of hitting the main points, they add in a bunch of unnecessary details. Summaries should answer the basic: Who? What? When? Where? questions. Who is your book about? When and where does it take place? What is the major conflict (not all the subplots)? It shouldn't take more than a couple of sentences to answer each of these questions.

The conflict is important for a summary because that is the main plot you are selling to your audience. All fiction books need to have a central conflict if the author wants them to be well-received by the audience--even if that conflict is minor in terms of world events (i.e., how does the main character bridge the gap between his daydreams and reality). Non-fiction books often serve a purpose that is useful, which takes the place of conflict--but this purpose needs to be in the summary, too. For example, a book about raised-bed gardening would explain to its readers how to do this. Other non-fiction books, such as biographies or memoirs are interesting because they detail someone's life--and hopefully included the conflicts that person had. 

(2) Authors who haven't really thought about what their books are about tend to write extremely confusing summaries that also tend to ramble. They pick out subplots instead of identifying the unifying plot. One summary by an indie author, for example, talked about the main female character going on the run with the main male character because she saved a dog, and then the male was framed for a crime committed by a prince. It then talks about miners--without explaining how they are significant to the main characters being chased--and a princess who has some undisclosed bad thing happen to her. It goes on to say astronomers and a named bad guy (who is not the guy chasing the couple) see something in the stars, and the bad guy starts murdering people so he can be emperor. Huh? Since none of the above is connected, you probably think I left something out, but that is all the information you get from the indie author's summary. This book has good reviews so far, but I struggle to believe the author can keep all the plots in the book together since the summary is so disjointed. 

I think confusing summaries are also because authors want to make their descriptions "cryptic." They are not merely keeping the ending from readers. Instead, they are not giving us enough of the correct information. Since two bad guys are mentioned in the above summary, I have no idea who is the real bad guy or how either are connected. I also have no idea what the major conflict is? I suspect the real summary should have told readers who should have been the ruler, who was the ruler, who wants to be the ruler, and who is going to try to get the right ruler on the throne. You can summarize what characters are trying to do without telling the reader if they will succeed or not. 

(3)Which brings me to the last point: the less than minimum summary. It's important to not give away the conflict resolution in your book when writing a summary. People often do this by being so ambiguous readers don't really know what the book is about. This usually confuses readers, too, but it can be clear without telling the reader important things that will help him/her select a book. A less than minimum summary would be:

This amazing historical romance has Jamie and Dalton struggling to fall in love after they meet. Read it to find out if they overcome the oppression! 

A better summary would be:

Jamie and Dalton both went to their 1953 Senior Prom with the wrong date and then married them. Years later, they return to their hometowns with a divorce under their belts and excess baggage. When they are recruited to be chaperones for their Alma Mater's Senior Prom will they finally end up leaving with each other?  

Being an Indie Author Is Like Painting a Target on Your Back that Says "Welcome Scammers"

 Goodreads recently stopped allowing private messages. I am still not happy about this, but it was a conduit for numerous scammers. It seems that a lot of people become Indie authors for vanity reasons, and this makes them ripe for scammers. Most of the messages I get are people telling me how amazing my book is, and if only I could get it to a bigger audience, I would be famous. On average, even without Goodreads messaging, I get a couple hundred scam requests through e-mail and phone every month. Publicity is necessary because that is the only way to get your book in the hands of your audience, but it is also extremely important to be aware that the more publicity you get the more you will be targeted. I've decided to share a few of the ways I've been targeted to help you recognize when something is a scam:

(1) A famous author wants to be your friend/correspond with you/ give you advice/promote your book/etc. 

As an author, you are probably busy out of your mind if you are doing it right. This is not just Indie authors, this is ALL authors. Danielle Steel, Stephen King, and even lesser knowns like Hannah Bonam Young or Rebecca Serle are not going to be scanning the Internet looking for Indie authors to connect with. I don't scan the Internet looking for other authors to connect with, and you shouldn't either. I do have a Goodreads account, and I participate in author groups on that platform with other authors. That isn't the same as trying to reach out to other authors in some misguided spam effort to promote your work or give them advice. 

(2) I would like to use your book for my book club/blog post/TikTok video/etc.

No scammer deserves anything more than getting quickly added to your junk/trash/block list or being deleted from the answering machine you are using to screen your calls. However, this is the most ridiculous scam I have seen, and I have been tempted to just reply with a simple, "Go for it." No one needs to get an author's permission to use the author's book for their book club or to review it on their blog or to make a TikTok video about it. Anyone wishing to use any of my books is more than welcome to do so. If someone would like me to speak at their book club meeting or interview me for their blog, they do need to contact me, but they had better be contacting me with important details--primarily do I need to travel and if they are planning to reimburse my travel costs. If it's a blog interview, they can just send the questions up front and save time in correspondence. I don't mind speaking at a book club meeting (either online or in real life), but most of these requests are teasers, and if you follow them through, they are going to ask you for money or books or for you to sign over all your earthly goods to them.

(3) I have 50 reviewers willing to give your book a review.

These are always followed by how much they are going to charge you to get these reviews. Amazon (and most places where authors can get reviews) have strict rules about paying people to leave a review. Now, Amazon does require a $50 investment to create any account that can leave reviews, but let's say this person charges you $250 to leave reviews. S/he would only need 10 people to buy into this scam and the cost of 50 fake reviewer accounts would be covered with only pure profit beyond that. They could also take your money and run without leaving any reviews. Even if they do leave the reviews, though, this is a scam. You are paying someone for reviews and s/he may only be navigating the Amazon rules by a technicality if at all. The reviews you get are most likely going to be AI generated drivel or "This was an amazing book!! I highly recommend it!!!" style garbage. There is also the danger that the person is not exploiting a loophole but rather violating Amazon's terms. This can get both you and the offending (fake) accounts banned. You have more to lose here than the scammer. It may seem like a quick (and certainly easier) way to get reviews, but you put your future writing career at risk. 

(4) I am a famous marketer/book promoter/publisher, and I love your book.

These usually come with a "but." There is always something wrong and this person is going to fix it. Again, whenever someone has contacted you, there is a greater chance you are dealing with a person who will take your money and run without providing any service at all. Book marketing is time consuming and costly when done correctly. It involves press releases, paid advertising, and a lot of research to make sure you are targeting the right market. I have not found one of these fly-by-night wanna-be marketers who do much more than spam people's e-mails with ads for your book or spam websites and blogs with jank ads in the comments sections. Certainly this can get you books sales, but you are going to irritate people more than you are going to convert them into customers. The likelihood of spam actually reaching the person it is sent to and not being removed from a website or auto sent into a spam folder is extremely low (and when I say low, I mean for every 50,000 people you send this kind of junk to you will get 5 of them max to buy your book). At some point, I may discuss targeted marketing on here (although marketing is my least favorite end of the writing business). The people trying to sell you their marketing skills through spam are not prominent marketers (look them up and make sure you compare email addresses if it seems they actually have an online presence). If you really want to promote your book through e-mail, you can always set up a mailing list through your website/blog and a free e-mail service like MailChimp. Then you will be getting people who are actually interested in your work and you will see better results than the random e-mail lists people are selling.

(5) I represent BookBub/Medium/BookBrowse/FilmFreeway/etc. and your book was chosen.

The first clue these are fake is that they don't come with an "unsubscribe" link (be careful when you click these, though). The second clue is that if you dig for the real e-mail address, it is usually from a free provider. These are big companies. They don't use free Gmail or Yahoo accounts. For example, I received an e-mail purportedly from Madeline Milburn who is a legitimate literary agent. The "From:" said it was from Madeleine Milburn <themadeleinemilburnagency@gmail.com> Even though this e-mail address uses what looks to be a formal name, it is the information after the "@" that is most important. If this was coming from the real literary agent it would be @madeleinemilburn.com (Note: To the best of my knowledge, this agency has no need to cold-e-mail people. Submit following the guidelines on the website if you feel your book is in their niches.)

Some may combine a real business with some extra words to avoid legal issues with the real business. Some of these (like Medium) are basically blogging websites and may be a big name but are not focused on books. Others, like BookBrowse, are real businesses that only review Indie authors for fees of $400 or so. Sorry, on one hand, publishing companies pretty much figuratively own the best review services for marketing and can get their reviews free from real editors at these places. In part, this is because they only send polished books to be reviewed. I review and have reviewed probably more than five hundred indie books (professionally and otherwise) at this point, and I would say only about 20% of them meet the standards of a publishing company. Granted, those standards are falling and the buddy system allows books that should never be traditionally published to be published, but I digress. The point is that these companies get boatloads of books to review from traditional publishing companies, so they are not going to reach out to you in an e-mail or phone call and tell you that you were chosen to be the singular Indie book they are going to review. Part of the reason they limit Indie books is because they were inundated with so many subpar books they couldn't afford all the people needed to screen them. This scam is implying that they have a staff not just scanning all the Indie books sent to them but also scanning every Indie book published!! I don't click on any scam e-mail, but my bet would be they charge you $600+ to get you that $400 review from BookBrowse or whichever company they supposedly represent--and that is only if they are trying to make an "honest" business of it, which brings up the question--why would they lie and tell you they represented these companies in the first place if they were honest?

(6) I can make you a better website/app/book trailer/turn your book into a feature film.

If you feel that your website is subpar or that you need any of these other things, then do research, find a reputable company with good ratings, and hire someone. If a person/company is relying on spamming authors to get business, they must be so bad at what they do they can't build good reviews online. 

(7) I am an Amazon Affiliate Marketer...

...and I want to share my commission with you. This should ring all sorts of warning bells, but the way it's worded, the person sending the e-mail makes it sound like s/he has to get permission from you to put a link on his/her website. This is completely false. Amazon Affiliates promote things sold on Amazon and then get paid per click. They do not need permission to promote any Amazon product. Since they can promote your book and get paid whether you agree or not, there is no reason for them to share their commission with you. Run--fast and far--from these. 

(8) May I ask you a question?

These are the most irritating people. I would like to believe these aren't really scammers, but the bottom line is that they are wasting my time. The biggest pet peeve is against people who want to ask me a question, but they expect me to respond just to find out what that question is. (It's right up there with "If you want to get scammed by me, simply reply with the word "DETAILS.") The best way to ask me a question is through blog comments on one of my blogs or through Goodreads--but asking me if you may ask a question is not going to get a response anywhere. Sometimes, however, I have gotten e-mailed actual questions, like "Is your book in hardcover?" I don't like answering questions through e-mail because only one person gets to see the answer. If I am going to answer a question like this, I will do it on my blog. The problem is that I am suspicious by nature. If you like me and like my books, you can clearly see on Amazon which ones are offered in hardcover and which ones aren't. There are many technical reasons why I don't offer all my books in hardcover versions. In the future, I suppose I could add this information to my website, and I might do just that, but that raises the third flag I had with this question: Which book? This question is really like the "May I ask you a question?" because anyone who has read one of my books or even looked at any of my online profiles would know I have written numerous books. To ask if a book (without naming the book) is offered in hardcover without naming it seems to be a fishing expedition to get me to reply and start a conversation, just as asking if they can ask a question is meant to start a conversation. I don't mind having a professional relationship with my readers, but should I ever become more popular, I wouldn't have that kind of time to dedicate to each one, so I'm not going to start now. Since this particular person did not specify which book and asked me a question readily available with minimal research, it raised flags. I feel most of these are actually scammers who are trying to develop a relationship with you first--similar to the my son is dying from cancer can you help me get food for him scams and the I am trying to settle an estate and want to make you the heir scams. 

Believe me, I would love for someone important to read my books--any of my books--and end up a New York Times bestseller the next day with a movie option just as much as the next Indie author. However, I know realistically that even if that happened, I wouldn't be contacted about it by anyone famous or any major publishing/promotion companies until after I was at the top (and then I would have to be even more leery of scammers). I also recognize that my books have niche appeal that does not necessarily appeal to the business models of traditional publishers. Once upon a time, I did query publishing companies about my books. I have a 3-ring binder devoted to rejection letters. I stopped, when I got one that said my book was a perfect fit and they loved it, but unfortunately, their schedule was full for the next 2 years and so they had to decline it. Some might have been encouraged by that and kept going. I chose self-publishing, which means instead of struggling to find a traditional publisher, I struggle to find readers. No matter what you choose, there isn't an easy path. Don't let scammers convince you that there is.