Signed by the Author

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Books may not be judged by their cover but they are sold by them. With today’s talent in graphic art, marketing and the psychology of sales, the cover is extremely important to the success of a book. The font size of the author’s name as compared to the font size of the book title is a telltale sign of the author’s fame and following. Many books have far better covers than content. With competition for the readers becoming greater than ever, more sophisticated marketing techniques are needed. Here are some I have observed.   

On a trip to Orange Beach, AL I discovered in a gift shop Andy Andrews’ bestseller The Noticer displayed alongside a Points of Interest brochure. The brochure compiled points of interest in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores AL "that have special meaning for New York Times best-selling author Andy Andrews.” How brilliant! The connection with the book and the author are much stronger when you can see where the story took place. This was discussed in a Suite T posting Getting Closer to Elvis which discussed connecting the book with the place of interest. I would think this is a great marketing tool to have the book available at the point of interest.

On a recent return trip to the same gift shop I found the follow up to the first book displayed. The Noticer Returns was displayed with a sticker on it stating it was an autographed copy. If you know this author you know he has autographed most of the books found in the stores in this area. Autographed copies weren’t a new revelation but seeing the sticker was.    

Rick Bragg is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and author of Southern Journal in the Southern Living Magazine. In Bragg’s April 2014 Southern Journal entry Saving Face he said of his book All Over But the Shoutin’, “It was a beautiful book - not the inside, I mean, but the outside. The cover, which had the feel of old parchment, showed a photograph of my young mother, taken about the time I was born in ’59.”

Rick went on to tell of siting in a hotel ballroom and signing copies. He said he was about two hundred copies into the signing when he noticed his mother’s photo had been defaced with Signed by Author stickers. They had been randomly placed and appeared to be pirate eye patches or Band-Aids on her cheek forehead or chin. There needs to be some consideration towards placement where it isn’t detrimental to the work put into the cover.

I find these ideas could be very beneficial for the sale of the book. I am sure there will be more to come. Should you find one that interest you please share it with us here at Southern Writers Magazine. We can pass it on. Someday you may want to use these methods to help the sale of your book. 

And What’s So Wrong with Being Personal Anyway?

By Rose Johnson

Remember that line from “You’ve Got Mail?”  Kathleen Kelly, played by Meg Ryan, is responding to Joe Fox’s (Tom Hanks) assertion that it’s not personal, it’s business.

“What is that supposed to mean?” said Kathleen Kelly. “I am so sick of that. All that means is that it wasn't personal to you. But it was personal to me.  It's “personal” to a lot of people. And what's so wrong with being personal, anyway?

“Uh, nothing,” said Joe Fox.

“Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.”

I thought about that statement, and how it might apply to writing, when the first two reviews for my devotional journal, God,Me, & Sweet Iced Tea, noted that my writing was “personal” and “relevant.” After some reflection, I decided that perhaps those are qualities which draw us into any story.  Someone puts into words a story which breaks into our lives, grips our imaginations, touches our hearts, and thus, resonates in our souls.

I know I love those moments of clarity and courage when the written word perfectly communicates something inside of me that I’ve felt but been unable to articulate. I think everyone loves those “yes, yes, I know what you mean” moments.  When a message connects with that common thread in us, in reality it is a universal theme which ties us all together.  We can take what we need from it, draw strength, find peace, encouragement, and, most of all, validation. By making my writing personal, I make it uniquely mine, yet universally human.

In fiction writing, part of the “personal” is through word choice and voice.  As I perfect my style, I learn to be true to myself.  I must let my words be my words.  I must string them together like I would string them together in real life. 

Eva Marie Everson commented on a novel I’m writing.  “I love your voice,” she said.  But as she got further into the novel, she halted at a scene and said, “What have you done here?  You’ve lost your voice.”  And she didn’t mean laryngitis. I had to rewrite and find my voice again. The personal needs to ring true in order for the reader to connect.

As a Southern girl, when I read something authentically southern, like Eva Marie Everson’s Waiting for Sunrise, or Rick Bragg’s All Over But the Shoutin’, I feel like I’m home.  For me, it’s like hearing the sound of a train’s whistle.  Growing up by the railroad tracks, that sound is indelibly impressed upon my soul.  Even now, when I hear the train, I close my eyes and I’m back on the screened porch, sipping sweet iced tea with Mama and Daddy, sitting in the front porch swing.  That sound has the power to conjure up my childhood, to transport me to a different time and place.  Words have that power too when they are personal to us.

And what’s so wrong with that anyway?

Uh, nothing at all. 

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Rose Chandler Johnson’s devotional journal, God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea:Finding God in the Midst of Everyday Moments was released in June 2013.  Her devotions, poems, and articles have appeared in numerous Christian publications. She enjoys writing for her popular blog, Write Moments with God, and engaging with its readers.  Rose enjoys baking, gardening, French, and spending time with her large family.  She is the mother of six children. Blog: http://www.writemomentswithgod.blogspot.com 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rechanjo  

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