Instant Gratification: Why Someone Should Want to Read Your Book

We live in an instant world. The Internet offers news at our finger tips. We click – we read. Our photos are virtual – snap – no developing – we share. At every turn, we seek the quick fix. We don’t have time to absorb too much. We’re on the move. So give it to me fast. Make it simple. Headlines please. USA Today format. Sure the Sunday edition of the New York Times is great – but I have a life.

Okay. We get it. Authors need to package their books into sound bites. Witty snapshots that encapsulate the emotion and plot while stimulating immediate recognition. We want our customers to associate with our work. To know instantly that this is their genre – or their favorite TV show. We want them to say, “Oh yeah. I loved that movie. I bet I’d love your book.”

So we think. Think hard. Hmmm. What is popular? What approximates my work? Return to the Planet of the Apes? No. There are no monkeys in my story – and it isn’t science fiction. The Notebook? No – no one is struggling with Alzheimer’s. Gone with the Wind? Nope – no southern accents – and it is kind of a dated reference. Fifty Shades of Grey? No. No one is tied up.

What’s an author to do?

If you tested your book with beta readers – they’d give you the answer. For my debut novel The Intersect, I was told it was like Crash meets Tales of the City.  Not bad. A simple reference if you know the Academy Award winning movie and Armistead Maupin’s work. A snapshot is instantly formed. “A plot full of twists and turns” meets “fascinating characters that defy convention, and surprise and delight”.

You sigh. Got it. You try it out on your next door neighbor. Crash meets Tales of the City. A confused look crosses her face as she repeats her question. “How was your weekend?”