Onesheet Worksheet

How would you like to be contacted while promoting the book?

List social media platforms and handles you would like to use for promotion.

In publishing, books always release on a Tuesday. This date is up to you. Many are excited to get the finished book as soon as possible, but serious promotion efforts usually require time before publication. Most review magazines, such as Kirkus, require at least four months to complete a review. Consider your advance readers and those who might blurb the book, they will also need time to read it.

What formats will release on the date listed? It is fine to release everything at once but you may want to release one version first and promote it. Most people won't buy a hardcover if a paperback is available.

List ISBNs for each format. We can provide these for you if you don't know them. Epub often doesn't use an ISBN.

NOTES
If you are unsure about anything in this section, write your concerns and questions here. We have all of this pre-planned in your project schedule. This is a good time to make sure you are really clear about publishing dates, marketing, and formats. We have a template for each project but if you have a preference about hardcover vs. paperback or anything else, just let us know! There are many ways to market a book.

A narrative is exactly what you think it is, stories about the book. A narrative tells the full story of the book in sections like chapters.

SALES TEXT

Sales text is one line of text printed in boldface that is the main takeaway for the book. It isn't a summary of the plot and characters but rather a description of what it is like to read the book.

Fans of Jeff VanderMeer's Borne will love this psychedelic sci-fi thrill ride. The fate of the universe hangs in the balance when one interplanetary traveller discovers the truth about the tesseract.

This is good sales text. It mentions another author to give a sense of where the book fits. It mentions the genre and the reader's experience (thrilling!). It states the central question of the book but doesn't summarize the action or tell us anything about the characters, just enough to tell us what it might feel like to read the book.

MAIN CONTENT / DESCRIPTION

What is the book about? The story goes here. One concise paragraph is enough.

RESPONSE

What are people saying about the book? The best blurbs go here. If you don't have any blurbs ask someone close to you to respond to the book. Most people just want a better understanding of the book and won't care about the credentials of the endorsement.

BLURBS

Blurbs are short quotes about the book. Reviews usually include a single summary statement intended to be used as a blurb. You can ask for a blurb from anyone you know. Getting a blurb from a famous author is amazing, but the truth is most readers will just read the quote and not pay too much attention to the attribution. Your book should have at least three blurbs. If it is intimidating to ask authors for blurbs, just start by asking friends and family members and working on the blurbs together. You absolutely need blurbs to market your book, so don't be sensitive about it. Blurbs are a marketing tool, not an answer to the question, "Is my work good enough?"

Do not over-inflate an attribution. It should just state their name, maybe their profession if it can be done in one word, and if they are an author, the title of their most recent book. If you do get a blurb from a bestselling author, always include "bestselling author" in the attribution.

A good attribution:

—Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author of Borne

A bad attribution:

—Joyce Vallheim, Nurse Practitioner whose innovative work as chronicled in her book, The Heart of Care, represents a breakthrough in the field of nursing

AUTHOR BIO

A few sentences to one paragraph work great here. This can be whatever you want to say. Please mention previous publication / writing experience. It is totally fine to say that this is your first novel!

AUTHOR RESIDENCE

The best place to promote your book is where you live. List your city, state, and even your neighborhood. List your local libraries and bookstores. These are the first places to send your marketing materials. Use this area to write an extra sentence about what you love about your town. Local events mean you don't have to fly to participate!

COMPS

What is this book similar to?  Similarity to other authors is a strength not a weakness. Readers always have their favorite authors, and if you are able to identify some comps (comparable works) it really helps readers understand your book. Comps can be similar in subject or style or whatever connection you feel between your book and others. One book and author per line.

BISAC

Codes maintained by the Book Industry Study Group are the standard for all bookstores and libraries. You can explore the categories here. 

Remember to select the main category first (usually Fiction)

We are good at positioning your book using BISAC. Have a look and add any categories you wish for your book. We'll work through it too and add our own.

Amazon Categories

Amazon does not use BISAC, they have their own categories and there are hundreds more than BISAC. In order to explore Amazon Categories, you have to work through their main book page. Click the categories button in the top bar and you will see all the main categories. If you choose one you will see the main category page. It has a ribbon at the top filled with buttons that let you explore the sub categories.

You can find the books page here and explore Amazon categories. 

Add any Amazon categories you wish for your book. We'll work through it too and add our own.

AUTHOR PHOTO

It helps to have an author photo for promotional materials. It is great if your book attracts interest on its own but most events will be centered around your presence as an author. It is not a judgement on your work or status if a bookshop doesn't want to host you for a book signing. In our town, our favorite bookstore only has one employee, and they can't possibly host events. Another bookstore in our town has a no-event policy, just because it is a lot of work for them and they don't make any money because authors sell their own books at a signing. Just keep persisting and find the right place for you and your event. Often this is a bigger store like Barnes & Noble just because they have the staff to handle it. Also try things other than an author signing / reading. Why not teach a workshop on plot or character development based on your novel? A teaching approach might make your event more appealing at different venues.

Let's talk about it! Marketing can be a lot of work and it is hard to just jump into it. Write a list of questions about this form and email us. We will review your answers and fill in the blanks with you.

editors@emerald-books.com