Branding - Tag lines
You’re not going to believe it - a real post from me! And maybe even a series of posts on Branding. I say maybe because it’s very possible I’ll forget about it in like 5 minutes.
Sometimes I have trouble sleeping, and during this insomniac period in the middle of the night, rather than get up and do something productive (writing anyone) I let my mind wander.
Last night after a long meandering stroll of the mind, I got to thinking about tag lines. Lots of authors use them. I’ve even thought that eventually I’ll need to come up with one myself.
Last night, as the clock contined to tick away the hours, I decided to come up with as many tag lines as I could. Unfortunately, I don’t remember many this morning (the problem with insomnia is that I remember NOTHING but not being able to sleep), but I think I came up with…several.
The problem though? I couldn’t match any names with the tag lines.
Which got me to thinking - I’d much rather someone remember my name and be able to google that than a random tag line, right?
So here’s my question, how important are tag lines really? Especially if no one remembers your name to go along with it. I’d really like to hear from lots of people on this one.
Do you have one? What should a successful tag line have? How do you get people to remember your name along with the tag line?
And don’t forget to check out the Word Flirts today!
July 5th, 2006 at 11:00 am
I came up with mine recently. Stacy Dawn — Giving Romance a Wake Up Call. I based it on a little fun with my last name there. But it also describes a bit of me and what I write, fun flirty with a little attitude. Will people remember it? I don’t know but it fills a bit of the site and business cards with something more than just boring names and addresses.
July 5th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Stacy I like your tag line. :)
Emma ~ *sigh* I’ve been thinking about this lately and I can’t come up with anything. I know what I want to convey but how to convey it? I have to agree - I’d much rather have them remember my name so they can search me rather than a catchy tag but don’t know who the heck I am.
My mind is obsessed with self-promo right now. I have to say that when I signed up w/ your newsletter, I liked how it’s called EmmaSins (uh forgive me if I can’t remember it exactly) I thought that was cute in a naughty way, lol.
But yeah I’m terrible at that stuff. :(
July 5th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
That’s one of the good things about being an aspiring writer, as opposed to a published writer (okay, the only good thing) - I don’t have to think about these things just yet! Well, if I were smart I would. But coming up with tag lines are so hard. And whenever I see someone else’s, I think “That’s such a cute tag line. I’ll never come up with anything that cute.”
But I think Stacy’s right - they’re good to have to fill the space. But the actual name is what counts.
July 5th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
I like that Stacy! And I like that it does connect back to your name!!
So if I remember the “wake up call,” I’d know to connect that to Dawn. Very good idea!
July 5th, 2006 at 8:35 pm
I don’t know how important they are, but I’m thinking they should tell people about what you write which means I”m in deep doo-doo, ya’ll. I thinik I’m gonna have to replace Sultry Southern Fiction with Snarky Southern Smut. :)
Sultry tells you it’s hot but not that it’s funny, or smutty.
I also like a short tag line but that is definitely a personal preference thing.
July 5th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
I don’t often remember an authors tag line. However, when I’m considering reading an author, and they have a tag line, it’ll often give me an impression of them. For instance if it says sweet and touching… Then they probably don’t write steamy and sexy romance. You know? I think that’s one of the benefits of a tag line. But I think it goes both ways. Which means it’s important a tag line doesn’t misrepresent you. That way you don’t turn off readers who might read you except they got the wrong impression of your writing. And you don’t draw in readers expecting something different than what you write.
July 6th, 2006 at 7:09 am
Well, the subtitle on my website is Sassy Erotic Romance, but that’s more a description than a tagline. I tend to give my books taglines instead (Love Can Be Murder for instance, from Almost Human, or ‘…because seriously, who sleeps in a coffin these days?’ from She Who Dares if I’m promoing the Sundown series).
I haven’t come up with a good tagline for Cat Marsters yet. But my alter-ego, Kate Johnson has one. It came from the tagline for the first book. The website (www.katejohnson.co.uk) is subtitled Madcap Spy Fantasies, but the tagline that I’m putting everywhere is Never Underestimate the Blonde.
July 6th, 2006 at 10:52 am
I don’t really remember them at all. I have one, but I doubt if it’s that important in the long run. What really matters is good books! :)