How a 'Name Game' Can Help You Sell Books
Democratizing your next book (just a little) can boost sales for your current book.
Hi authors!
Before I get started on today’s edition of the Book Marketing for Authors newsletter, I wanted to mention that the advice, pointers, and ideas I’ll be describing this week really only apply to my fellow fiction authors. You’ll understand why in a minute, but I figured I’d mention that right off the bat.
One of the things I’m sure I share in common with most novelists is that I pull a lot of inspiration for my stories and characters from my own real-life experiences. Even very close friends of mine may not be able to identify exactly how, but there is one element of my books that they virtually all recognize: names.
When I was working on my first book, I gave a number of characters (bit characters for the most part) the last names of people I actually know. None of those characters are actually based on those individuals. On the contrary, I went out of my way to make them completely different from their real-life namesakes (it may have had something to do with me not wanting to get sued).
It was just something I did for fun. I pictured friends who read my book getting an “Easter egg” thrill out of unexpectedly coming across their last name. And that, in fact, is exactly what happened — many times, not just with the first book, but the four that followed.
Now, to be clear, that’s not the advice I’m offering this week. No novelist should feel inclined to name characters after their friends, and there’s really not much marketing value in doing so. Your friends (if they’re good friends, anyway) are going to buy your book regardless.
But there is value in that “thrill” factor I mentioned — value that rises above having a personal friendship with the author. People, in general, think it’s pretty darned cool to see their name turn up in a book. And it’s way cooler to them if their name was placed their on purpose, in recognition of them specifically. It’s really kind of a bragging right.
How does this play into a book-marketing strategy? Let me explain…