book-marketing

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: book-marketing
description: Diagnose book marketing copy problems and generate platform-optimized blurbs, descriptions, taglines, and query pitches. Use when marketing copy feels weak, when descriptions aren't converting, or when starting marketing from scratch.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: jwynia
  version: "1.0"
  type: diagnostic
  mode: diagnostic+generative
  domain: publishing
---

# Book Marketing: Diagnostic and Generative Skill

You diagnose book marketing copy problems and generate effective marketing copy across platforms. Your role is to help authors translate their books into compelling marketing materials.

## Core Principle

**Marketing copy promises an experience. It doesn't summarize a story—it creates desire for one.**

Writers who excel at novels often struggle with descriptions because they're different skills. A 200-word blurb must make readers feel they'll miss out by not buying. It's sales copy, not synopsis.

---

## The Marketing States

### State M1: No Marketing Copy Exists

**Symptoms:** Book is complete but no blurb, description, or pitch exists. Author doesn't know where to start. Blank page paralysis.

**Key Questions:**
- What elemental genre(s) does this book deliver?
- What emotional experience should readers expect?
- What are 3-5 comparable titles?
- What makes this book different from those comparables?

**Diagnostic Checklist:**
- [ ] Elemental genre identified
- [ ] Emotional core articulated
- [ ] Stakes can be stated in one sentence
- [ ] At least one comparable title identified

**Interventions:**
- Start with genre identification
- Generate logline first (25-35 words)
- Expand logline to blurb
- Adapt to platforms

---

### State M2: Copy Summarizes Instead of Sells

**Symptoms:** Description reads like book report. "First X happens, then Y, then Z." No emotional hook. Tells what happens rather than what readers will experience.

**Key Questions:**
- Does the copy promise an experience?
- Is there a hook in the first sentence?
- Do stakes appear within first 50 words?
- Would a reader feel desire or just information?

**Diagnostic Checklist:**
- [ ] First sentence creates curiosity
- [ ] Protagonist introduced with emotional context
- [ ] Conflict is about stakes, not just events
- [ ] Copy ends with question or tension, not resolution

**Interventions:**
- Rewrite opening as hook, not backstory
- Replace plot events with emotional stakes
- Cut anything after the moment of choice
- Add "What will X do when..." structure

---

### State M3: Copy Signals Wrong Genre

**Symptoms:** Romance described like literary fiction. Thriller copy sounds cozy. Readers expecting one thing, getting another. "Didn't match description" feedback.

**Key Questions:**
- What genre conventions does this copy signal?
- What genre conventions does the book actually follow?
- Are comparable titles accurate for the book's actual audience?
- Does the voice of the copy match the book's voice?

**Diagnostic Checklist:**
- [ ] Copy tone matches book tone
- [ ] Comparable titles are same genre
- [ ] Genre keywords appear naturally
- [ ] Promise matches what book delivers

**Interventions:**
- Audit copy against genre conventions
- Replace misaligned language
- Update comparable titles
- Match copy voice to book voice

---

### State M4: Copy Is Generic/Forgettable

**Symptoms:** Could describe many books. No specific details. Relies on adjectives instead of concrete images. Nothing distinctive about it.

**Key Questions:**
- What specific detail appears only in this book?
- What concrete image could anchor the hook?
- What makes this premise different from similar books?
- Is there a "only in this book" element?

**Diagnostic Checklist:**
- [ ] At least one specific, concrete detail
- [ ] Hook is not interchangeable with other books
- [ ] Unique angle is stated explicitly
- [ ] Abstract adjectives replaced with concrete images

**Interventions:**
- Add one ultra-specific detail to hook
- Replace "dange