What Makes a Reader Want to Buy a Book

      I am constantly thinking about what I can do better to make my book more appealing to someone browsing for a good read. I read so many advice posts and books insisting the cover of a book matters. Next the first sentence matters. Jeff Gerke even talks about a recipe for success using a point system that will determine if your book will be the one selected.
      Today I walked unknowingly in the shoes of a reader looking for a good read. As I passed the books on the shelves, they were all saying, pick me, pick me. I looked at the book covers to see what the book was about. If the cover wasn't interesting I put it back. I didn't even flip to the back cover or look inside. I moved on.
      I recognized the author's name typed boldly and colorfully on the spine of a book. I had never read anything by him so I picked it up to see the cover. Very nice cover. I opened the book, A Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mystery. I liked it. I looked at a few pages and you won't believe what I thought; beautiful page. The font was crisp and neat.  The page was like a picture.
      I laughed at the first sentence. I read the entire prologue and laughed.  Now it's home with me waiting to be read. It made me think about all the advice on having a great cover and a smashing opening line. Today I was someone looking for a book to read. I had to stop and think, this is what it's all about, getting the reader to choose your book. And choose I did based on the cover and the first sentence and prologue. The book is Bloody Mary written by J.A. Konrath.
Brigitta Moon
Author of Mistake

Shortening a Web Address

Have you written a post or a tweet and wanted to add in a web address? After you added in the web address it was just too long. It took away from the symmetry of your post or article or Twitter wouldn't post it because there were too many characters. Well, help is here. A while back I found a website called tiny url. This was a golden find. I was able to condense a long web address down to a few letters and symbols. Here is an example:

The link to my new book is http://www.amazon.com/MISTAKE-Brigitta-Moon-ebook/dp/B00NLSS852/ref=la_B00D6XTDV0_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412529209&sr=1-2

Wow, it doesn't look to appetizing in my post. You agree? Now here it is using the tiny url:

The link to my new book is http://tinyurl.com/nm8ck4y

Simple and quick to use. Here is the address http://tinyurl.com/