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Post updated: 5/22/2020
How to do stuff is a concept I've thought a lot about. I've found that in writing, a lot of "how to" advice is really just "how to make it better" and not actually "how to start with nothing and then end up with something."
The same is true of taglines. There are tons of examples of taglines out there, but not really any practical, easily applicable steps for developing your own author tagline.
The catch with a tagline is, of course, the short part. As authors, we're great at writing lengthy and beautiful prose that is engaging, descriptive, and exciting all at once. But writing something that is less than six words long? It's difficult. Especially when you're starting at zero, and especially when you're talking about yourself.
You have to take everything you know about the one thing you know more about than anything else (you) and distill it into six words or less.
Difficult, yes, but thankfully, not impossible.
Writing Taglines For Authors
There is a LOT of advice on what taglines should look like: short, reflective of your personality, catchy, informative, creative, succinct, etc. It should hook a potential reader, be easy to remember, and also be profound and meaningful at the same time. Not to mention unique. Purposeful. And representative of your core message, purpose, and vision.
And since we are writers and, you know, write for a living, writing a tagline should be easy!
Well, it's not.
We know what it should be, and we know a good one when we see it, but where do we get the perfect idea for our own perfect tagline? How do we craft our own tagline that is catchy, unique, and all of the things we mentioned before?
Where do we start?
1. Make a list.
I know, I’m a genius! Just kidding—but I'm serious about the list, though.
Make a list--but not of potential taglines.
Make a list of words or phrases that reflect you and your passions and values. List out things you like about you, things about your books, your favorite words, things you like to think about, things you like to do, anything that helps define you as a person or as an author.
If the tagline is for your blog, make a list of everything that defines your blog as an entity. If it's about your dog--well, you get the picture.
A few types of words or phrases to consider:
Colors
Descriptions of your writing style or voice (quirky, fast-paced, expletive-riddled, lyrical)
Genre-specific words (romance, paranormal romance, avant-garde)
Personality traits of you
Brand descriptions
Things that inspire you (dogs, the universe, ideas, imagination, religion, nature)
This is a similar exercise to what you might do if you were trying to map your author brand or brainstorming a vision or mission.
Here is an example of what my list might look like:
universe quirky stars space space travel astronaut books science fiction science trees bare feet planets fiction parallel worlds humor dirt petrichor rain weather leaves seasons hiking cats love fur writer sun green screwdriver reading books books books unicorn sheep oliphant sky clouds flying monsters apocalypse exploration a new perspective upside-down
If you are having difficulty coming up with words or concepts, never fear. Try out a few of these strategies:
Ask someone.
It’s a simple concept, but it can often help generate ideas you might not have thought of. The trick is, however, don’t ask someone to write a tagline for you (copyright might get tricky there). Instead, ask for words that describe you or for help brainstorming what your brand might look like.
You could try posting one of those Facebook posts that says "write one word about how we met" or "write one word that you think best describes me!"
Ask people how they would define your work or your identity from a distance--ask copy editors, other authors and professionals that you interact with who know of you but don't know you that well. Ask them what is unique about you. Everyone has different ideas, and you never know what ideas about you someone will have that will trigger the perfect tagline.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to ask outright, go back and look at comments people have made about work you’ve shared in the past. Maybe you remember comments a member of your writer’s group made. Read through your positive reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. Go back and sift through old emails, Facebook posts, messages, and comments on old blog posts to see how other people have described or talk about your work.
Make art.
Still struggling? Make some art. After all, sometimes the words just get in the way.
Instead of trying to write a tagline, try drawing a tagline. Painting. Scribbling. Making a sculpture tagline. Dancing a tagline. Focusing your creative energies elsewhere can help guide you towards whatever you are looking for.
Then, try to use words to describe the art that you made.
When I was working on my tagline, I went on this ink painting kick. I painted probably 25 pictures of rain and grass and planets and stars and alien creatures. It was fun. If I did it now, I absolutely still would have painted a planet or tried to construct a weird-looking nebula out of wire and pom-poms.
It's about letting your ideas flow without forcing them into a structure, and allowing your subconscious mind guide you towards the right ideas.
Trigger a memory.
Sometimes the thing you are looking for (in this case, the tagline) is already in your head--you just need a way to dig it out. This is a strategy I use frequently for all different types of brainstorming.
Basically, I look at things I have written or created and use those to remind me of past experiences or ideas with the goal of triggering the thought that has been eluding me. For example, I might flip through old sketchbooks, read old short stories, or read my own published work. My journal often provides me with something to focus on that is raw and personal.
The key to this one is to NOT go looking at other people's work. It's not their ideas that matter--it's yours! So if you're trying to think of a tagline, don't go reading other author's taglines, because then all you'll be able to do is think of how awesome theirs is and how much you wish yours could be as cool as theirs. Instead, go read your own work until something triggers the awesome tagline you've been searching for.
Free write.
I’ll be honest—I’m not a huge fan of free writing. I get bored and antsy. I actually have pages and pages of free writing about how much I hate free writing from several workshops I’ve done where they make you free write at the beginning and the end.
That said, it is a strategy that actually works. The trick for me is having a purpose behind it, and looking for a tagline is a great purpose.
Grab a notebook or your computer, set an alarm for 15 or 20 minutes, and then write whatever comes into your head until the alarm goes off. This one is hard for me, because in 15 minutes I can write 600 words of gibberish, and it can take a while to sort through. But often, somewhere in that gibberish, is the thing that I've been looking for.
This strategy essentially allows your subconscious to direct the words, and if you've already told it you're looking for a tagline, hopefully it will take you in that direction. And hey, who knows, maybe you'll solve a major plot hole while you're at it!
2. Play with the tagline.
I’m going to assume that at this point you have a pretty extensive list of words and phrases. The next step is to play with them. Interact with them in some way that is more than just staring at them.
For example, you could put them on post-it notes on a wall somewhere, so you can move them around. you could draw them in fancy lettering or write them in calligraphy. You could put them on a white or chalk board. Throw them onto PowerPoint slides or into a new Photoshop project. Sing them or say them over and over again. Make a vision board using the words cut out of magazines. Make a word map.
The trick is to manipulate yourself into slowing down, into experiencing the words, to let them simmer in your mind, to let your subconscious parse out any associations, feelings, or thoughts you might have about the words. Don’t rush. Take your time.
As you interact with the words, eliminate any that you don't like, or add ones you didn't think of before.
Ask yourself:
Does this word feel right?
Do I think this word is boring or interesting?
Does this word truly represent my whole brand, or just a part of it?
Do I like this word?
Is there another similar word that might work better (the thesaurus is a great tool for this)?
What imagery does this word evoke?
What other words do I think of when I see this word?
As you’re doing this exercise, don’t worry about what other people might think. It doesn’t matter if a word is cool or interesting or boring or dumb to someone else. The only person whose opinion matters is yours.
Eventually, you should narrow it down into just a few words. Don’t throw away the rest of the list—keep it, in case you need to swap things out or change things up.
Next, it’s time to use the words that you’ve selected.
3. Write a phrase.
You have a small group of words that you like.
Now write a sentence or a phrase using those words. Then write another. And another.
Write as many sentences as you can using just those words. If you narrowed it down too much, go back to your idea list and pull out a couple of other ideas to widen your scope. Maybe you eliminated all verbs during the elimination phase and you need to go back and grab one or two. Maybe you want to throw in an adverb to create some punch.
This process is hard. It can take a while.
Sometimes, however, you hit on exactly the right phrase. Like magic.
Let’s go back to my list for a minute. I’ve eliminated a few based on the process above:
universe quirky stars space space travel astronaut books science fiction science trees bare feet planets fiction parallel worlds humor rain love writer green reading sky clouds flying monsters apocalypse exploration a new perspective upside-down
I might write a few sentences that look like this:
Upside down fiction with quirky humor
Quirky books about parallel worlds
Flying through a universe of trees and monsters
New perspectives on the universe
Exploring the universe through upside-down fiction
Barefoot fiction—a new perspective on the universe
Or, the tagline I ended up keeping: In love with the universe.
Take as long as you need with this step. Really play with the words. Think about them. Add in new words, eliminate old ones. If you hate everything, never fear. You can always go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. Or pull in a writer or marketing friend to help.
Also remember that your tagline doesn’t have to be forever. You can write one now, and write a new one six months from now, or a year from now. I know we want a tagline that will represent us forever, but the truth is, we can do whatever we need to in order to strengthen our brand.
Don’t feel trapped, but do take your time.
4. Analyze the taglines.
You’ve generated some ideas. You’ve got one or two or five or twenty potential taglines that you like.
Maybe you've decided you want it to focus on the universe (as I did) or on romance or on humor or uniqueness or on your soul.
It’s time to ask yourself a few questions:
Which of these concepts leaps out at me the most?
What are its weaknesses? Strengths?
Why this concept? Why this direction? Why is it important?
How does this relate to me? To my books?
In what ways can I expand this idea to encompass future work?
Where will I use this tagline? On my website? Banners? Marketing materials? Book covers? A tattoo?
Is there any way I can make this better?
Why this word in particular? Why this action?
How can I change this idea?
What's missing?
What can I get rid of?
Does it describe me? Does it describe my work?
Does it clarify my brand?
Don’t feel like you have to go through all of the questions, and of course, you can always ask different questions that are more relevant to you. What’s important is for you to feel confident that you’ve selected a tagline that truly represents you and your brand.
As a side note—your second and third favorite taglines can still be used! Maybe you use them to describe a specific series or as a secondary tagline you put on your website or elsewhere. Just because you’ve selected one, doesn’t mean you can’t put the others to good use.
5. Use your tagline.
Once you've got your tagline, USE IT! Test it. Wear it. Try it on for size. Remember that just like anything else, a tagline does not have to be permanent. You can always update it or change it as you and your business grow and evolve.
Try making a couple teaser images for Instagram with the tagline on it. Maybe you end up experimenting with two—one for your books, one for your blog. Post them where people can see them. Maybe you make a new Facebook banner image with the tagline, or go around adding it into your various bios and descriptions on social media.
Once you start using it, you can see how it feels, see how you like it, and see if people respond.
One recommendation I will make is this: don’t directly ask people what they think. Maybe one or two close confidants, but don’t post it on Facebook and ask, “What do you think of my new tagline?” A lot of times, people will tell you exactly what they think, but their opinions are not necessarily useful. Taglines are a subtle, psychological tactic. What matters more is how it impacts people.
If you really want public feedback, I recommend instead posting something like, “Drafted my new tagline today! Excited to start using it. [tagline]” and let people respond. Then, if someone gives you feedback you think has value, great, use it. But otherwise, you can disregard any less-than-useful comments quite simply, since you never asked for feedback in the first place.
6. Sleep on it.
I think this is an important step. Giving a new tagline time to stew can help you refine it. Clean it up. Craft it to perfection. Sometimes, the words all start to jumble and fuzz together as you’re working, and this can give your brain a little extra processing time.
Not to mention, you might wake up the next day and realize that the tagline is completely wrong for XYZ reasons—or completely right.
There are over a million words in the English language. Your tagline is in there somewhere.
Give it time, give it thought, and give it love, and I have no doubt that you can create a tagline that is the ultimate tagline for you.
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If taglines gave effective descriptions...