Snaring Your Prey

Prey, victims, readers~call them what you will, they can make or break your writing career. And when that glorious day comes that your book has taken physical form and you're standing at the front of a bookstore, watching as your potential readers walk in the door, you're going to have exactly one sentence to sell them on the concept of your novel. So what do you say?

It's been my experience that most writers say nothing. They give people the helpless deer-in-the-meadow look and then sigh wistfully as their potential readers shrug and keep walking. So clearly saying something is the first step to drawing them in. But what?

Some people mention genre. "Do you like fantasy?" Some people try to lure you in no matter what your tastes may be. "What kind of books do you read?" (This is a huge turn off to me and I can say from firsthand experience that there is no quicker way to lose a potential fan than by duping them) Of all the approaches I've been witness to, I prefer the direct relation to another author or book. With Eighth Grade Bites, I'll likely ask people if they like Harry Potter, because readers of Harry Potter will love Vlad. (I should know, I'm a confirmed Hogwarts supporter) Once they say yes (Because really, who would say no?), I can go into further detail. "Well, my book is about a kid named Vlad who's a lot like Harry...except he's a vampire and all sorts of terrible things keep happening to him and...well, have you read A Series of Unfortunate Events? Because it's kind of like that too..."

Okay, so I still have to work on the description.

It's often not an easy task to find a successful book that shares similarities with yours. Yes, Vlad is a teenager who attends an unusual school. Yes, his parents died a few years ago and yes, he's learning all sorts of things about his father that he never knew. There are similarities to Harry Potter. But Vlad isn't Harry. He's sarcastic. He's witty. He's a bloodthirsty monster. There are staggering differences. But there are enough comparisons that I believe HP fans have the propensity to become EGB fans.

Of course I may be thinking too far ahead. I should probably finish writing the book first.