Respect The Product

A friend of mine is entering
a Harlequin Presents contest.

Harlequin Presents is a very successful line.
One of the reasons
it is so successful
is because they put their product tags
right in their titles.
Their titles are monstrosities like…
The Spanish Billionaire’s Virgin Secretary
or
The Sheikh’s Captive Mistress
or
The Prince’s Waitress Wife.

Readers will buy all the Billionaire books
or the Sheikh books
or the Virgin books.

Marketers love it.
Authors cringe.

My author buddy submitted an manuscript
called something entirely different.
She insists that if she wins,
she won’t budge on the title.

She won’t win.
Why?
Because she doesn’t respect the product
and when you don’t respect the product,
it shows.
Selling is difficult enough
when you believe in what you’re selling.

There are millions of products out there.
Work with a product
you believe in.