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.
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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.
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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.
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.
Symptoms: Book is complete but no blurb, description, or pitch exists. Author doesn't know where to start. Blank page paralysis.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
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:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Romance described like literary fiction. Thriller copy sounds cozy. Readers expecting one thing, getting another. "Didn't match description" feedback.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Could describe many books. No specific details. Relies on adjectives instead of concrete images. Nothing distinctive about it.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Same copy used everywhere. Amazon description ignores HTML. Back cover too long. Query pitch buried in credentials. Platform conventions violated.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Tagline is forgettable. Hook doesn't stop browsers. No memorable phrase. Can't be quoted.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
This skill acknowledges elemental genres as useful shorthand for marketing promises:
| Elemental Genre | Marketing Must Promise |
|---|---|
| Wonder | Awe, discovery, new perspectives |
| Horror | Fear, dread, can't-look-away tension |
| Mystery | Puzzle to solve, clues to follow |
| Thriller | Stakes, countdown, will they survive |
| Romance/Relationship | Emotional connection, satisfying resolution |
| Adventure | Excitement, what happens next |
| Drama | Character transformation, emotional journey |
| Humor | Laughter, wit, entertainment |
| Idea | Intellectual stimulation, perspective shift |
Integration: If genre is unclear, consider using the genre-conventions skill first.
Purpose: Physical book browsers; library patrons Length: 150-200 words (physical constraints) Structure:
[HOOK PARAGRAPH - 25-50 words]
Character in situation with intriguing detail
[SETUP PARAGRAPH - 50-75 words]
What they want. What's stopping them. What complicates things.
[STAKES QUESTION - 25-50 words]
What they risk losing. Question that creates tension.
Key principles:
Purpose: Online browsing; mobile-first Length: 200-400 words (uses HTML formatting) Structure:
<b>Opening hook in bold</b>
Regular paragraph expanding the hook.
<i>Italicized stakes question or tension builder</i>
<b>Subhead if needed</b>
Brief editorial quote or comparison.
Perfect for fans of [Comp Title 1] and [Comp Title 2].
Key principles:
Purpose: Ads, social media, memory Length: Under 10 words Types:
| Type | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Promise | [Emotion verb] + [experience] | "A love story that will break you and rebuild you" |
| Question | [What would] + [stakes choice] | "What would you sacrifice to save everyone you love?" |
| Contrast | [X]. [But also Y]. | "She hunts monsters. She is one." |
| Comparison | [Comp] meets [Comp] | "The Night Circus meets The Hunger Games" |
Key principles:
Purpose: Agent/publisher submission Length: 150-200 words Structure:
[HOOK - 1-2 sentences]
Core conflict + what makes this book unique
[SETUP - 50-75 words]
Protagonist name + essential identity + situation
What they want
What's stopping them
[STAKES - 50-75 words]
What escalates
What they'll lose if they fail
The impossible choice they face
[META - 1 sentence]
[TITLE] is a [word count] [genre] novel, perfect for fans of [Comp 1] and [Comp 2].
Key principles:
When an author brings marketing copy (or lack thereof):
| Situation | State |
|---|---|
| No copy exists | M1 (Starting Fresh) |
| Reads like book report | M2 (Synopsis Trap) |
| Wrong audience feels | M3 (Genre Mismatch) |
| Could describe any book | M4 (Generic) |
| Same everywhere | M5 (Platform Mismatch) |
| Nothing quotable | M6 (No Hook) |
Before generating, establish:
Match output to need:
Each platform has rules:
Problem: Copy summarizes plot instead of creating desire. Symptoms: "First X happens, then Y, then Z" structure. Fix: Focus on emotional stakes, not plot events.
Problem: So mysterious it conveys nothing. Symptoms: "Nothing is as it seems" without specifics. Fix: Specific details create better intrigue than abstract mystery.
Problem: Gives away too much, killing tension. Symptoms: Describes climax or resolution. Fix: Stop at the moment of choice, not the outcome.
Problem: Lists elements without emotional connection. Symptoms: "Features magic, romance, and adventure." Fix: Show how elements combine into experience.
Problem: Wastes precious words before getting to hook. Symptoms: Backstory or world-building before story. Fix: Start with protagonist in motion.
Problem: Copy voice doesn't match book voice. Symptoms: Literary copy for commercial fiction (or vice versa). Fix: Marketing copy should echo the book's voice.
Problem: Author voice overpowers book voice. Symptoms: "I wrote this because..." in description. Fix: Let the book speak for itself.
Author: "I have a completed fantasy novel but no description at all. I don't know where to start."
Your approach:
Author: "My description is: 'Kira discovers she has magic. She goes to a school where she learns to control it. Then she uncovers a conspiracy and must choose between her new friends and her family.' It's not getting clicks."
Your approach:
Diagnose: This is M2—summarizes events, no emotional hook, no stakes in first sentence.
Identify emotion: "What does Kira feel? Fear? Wonder? Isolation? What do readers feel reading this?"
Find stakes: "What does she lose if she fails? What's the cost of each choice?"
Reframe: Transform plot summary into emotional promise:
Before: "Kira discovers she has magic." After: "Kira has spent sixteen years hiding her fire—from the authorities who'd execute her, from the family who'd disown her, even from herself."
Generate new version with hook-first structure that creates desire, not information.
Author: "I'm getting reviews that say 'expected a cozy mystery but got a thriller.' But I call it a mystery!"
Your approach:
This skill writes primary output to files so work persists across sessions.
Before doing any other work:
context/output-config.md in the projectmarketing/ or book-marketing/ in the projectFor this skill, persist:
| Goes to File | Stays in Conversation |
|---|---|
| Final deliverables | Brainstorming variants |
| Marketing diagnosis | Clarifying questions |
| Logline | Draft iterations |
| Comparable titles | Genre discussion |
Pattern: {book-title}-marketing-{date}.md
Example: starfall-marketing-2025-01-15.md
| Skill | Integration |
|---|---|
| story-sense | Book should be substantially complete before marketing makes sense |
| genre-conventions | Genre promise must match marketing promise |
| cliche-transcendence | Avoid marketing cliches too |
| naming | Sound-meaning principles apply to taglines |
The best marketing copy makes readers feel they'll miss out by not buying. It's not about conveying information—it's about creating desire. Writers who write beautiful prose often struggle here because the skills are different. Marketing copy must be sales copy, not literary prose.
The question isn't "What happens in this book?"
It's "Why will readers regret not reading this?"