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Friday, May 28, 2010

Doing it Elizabethan Style


In my frantic and obsessive efforts to become published, I have come across a few articles suggesting that an author needs a tag line in order to effectively market their product. I can do that.
So I brainstorm and come up with all sorts of touchy feely stuff about self-worth and being worthy of love, blah blah blah.
Booooorrrring.

Friend and fellow author Raquel Byrnes has 'Edge of Your Seat Romance.' Good. Catchy. You know what the product promises.

And still I have nothing.

Courtly Love
is a story of a woman who has been in an arranged marriage since she was fourteen. She and her husband hardly know each other. She hardly knows herself any more. Her story is of self discovery and, during her journey, she and her husband find a passionate love together.

Courtly Christmas
is the story of a woman who has settled for the mediocre, always giving of herself to others but never seeking her own happiness because she doesn't think she deserves it. She has to believe that she is worthy of love, and Sir Charles is just the man to teach her.

Both stories have the 'Because I'm worth it' theme, but that one has been taken by L'Oréal.
That's when my husband came into the picture. He is not a writer. He's not even a reader. But he is a businessman and has a better understanding of marketing. I expressed my concerns to him and he immediately suggested, "Doing it Elizabethan Style." We both laughed. I dismissed it a silly and somewhat crass and continued to consider my tag.

After a day or two, I was sold on 'Doing it Elizabethan Style.' It's funny, it's catchy, and it's much more interesting than anything about self worth. Besides, my characters are Elizabethan and they do 'do it.' Plus, it helps me not take myself too seriously.

So, I have my tag line... at least, for now.

And what does any of this have to do with a hamster and a lollipop?

4 comments:

Raquel Byrnes said...

Wow, this Raquel chick sounds pretty brilliant...just kidding. I like your tag line. Its funny and makes me think of the bawdy jokes and passion of a romance in that time period. Plus, you're right, it doesn't seem at all maudlin...Great job. =)

Erin Kane Spock said...

Raquel is pretty amazing. :)
The tag line still makes me smile. I'll rethink it when it starts making me cringe.

Erin Kane Spock said...

I could have Bursting your Corset Romance or Edge of your Bloomers Romance....

Unknown said...

ha ha! I like those other two taglines too!

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