Using Trope Graphics to Find Your Readers

 

Hello! It's been an eventful month in my household. My oldest child moved away to go to college, and my youngest is now back to school for in-person learning after two years of online learning at home. My spouse was on holidays, and completed a lot of small projects around the house. Plus, I've been getting ready for a book release!

But, today's post is not really about any of that. Today, I want to talk about those graphics I'm sure many of you have seen across social media. Especially lately. You know, the ones with the book cover in the middle with book tropes listed all around it, along with other information about what happens in the story.

Last week on social media, someone called trope graphics "cringe," and couldn't believe authors would use tropes and fiction tags to promote a book. I think they are exactly the opposite. They help readers to find books they might like to read quickly. Before, authors had to entice the reader simply by having an appealing book cover. Authors hoped their covers enticed readers enough to read the blurb and then buy the book. But with a few words, authors have a chance to draw in more readers than with only a cover.

Trope graphics usually contain the following:

• the book cover (this is most important)
• all the tropes the book falls under (second chance romance, mistaken identity, friends to lovers, only one bed, etc.)
• other information that might tease or entice readers, whether about the characters, the setting, or the plot
• arrows pointing from the information to the book

Trope graphics may also include the name and title of the book if that is not clear enough on the cover. Most trope graphics contain 5 to 8 pieces of information about the book. Plus, you can use the background to set the mood or reveal the setting of the book.

I make my trope graphics using Canva. 

1. I start with a blank Instagram post. They are square, and I find they generally look best to use on all social media.
2. I go to Elements then Frames to find a tablet or phone-shaped frame. Then I center it in the graphic. Canva will show you where the center is if you drag it around with your mouse.
3. I upload my cover then drag and drop it into the tablet frame.
4. I add the boxes of text/information that I want to share in the graphic.
5. In elements, I look up arrows and then use a variety of them to point the text to the cover. You can easily flip, rotate, shrink, angle, and even change the color of the arrows.
6. Then I search the backgrounds (click) and the elements (drag and drop) to find a picture that works for the background image. Often I have to edit the image (brightness, tint, shadows, transparency, etc.) so that the text is readable and stands out. 
7. When I'm satisfied, I download it as a PNG file and share it on social media with other information and buy links for the book.
8. Instead of starting all over for each book, you can duplicate the page and then replace the cover image, the text copy, and the background.

While I don't have one made for every one of my titles, I do have them made for my upcoming release, RET (releases September 12), and the other books in the Kaddim Brothers series.

After the comment was made last week, I saw a lot of authors also making graphics to also share a little about themselves with readers. So, I made one, too. Have a great September!

Cooking Up a Conversation

By Maureen Bonatch

Social situations can be awkward. Over the years verbal conversation has become increasingly quiet as interactions are increasingly via text or other social media avenues. Restaurants, or other social spots, have people gathered, but often many of them may be physically with someone but are virtually conversing with others in cyberspace. Conversing in this manner allows for things that live conversations does not. Such as having the time to consider and edit our words (if we choose) or to validate our response.

He Said She Said

Most of us can think of a time when we:

• Wish the other person would just listen to what we had to say
• Couldn’t find the right words to express what we meant
• Wish could’ve edited what we said
• Thought of the perfect response—about an hour later
• Had no idea what the other person was trying to say 

Some of us may wish we were like the characters in a story because they can say just the right thing—usually. Those that do deliver the best lines are often the result of a writer laboring over each word to ensure that the reader understands what the character says. Because if the conversation is vague or unclear, then the reader may become frustrated.

Recipe for Readers

As a writer it can be difficult to pull a scene from our mind and bring it alive on the page. Sometimes it may seem like the prose is perfect, but the writer has the benefit of the awareness of the other aspects that are simultaneously occurring in the story. If these aren’t detailed for the reader to immerse themselves in the story, then the character isn’t doing it in the reader’s mind.

A conversation is more than just words, it’s a:

• Spoonful of dialogue
• Sprinkling of description
• Dollop of setting
• Pinch of body language 
• Determined amount time for other characters to respond

Otherwise it’s just talking heads with no idea who is talking, where they’re at, or what is going on as if you’d just invaded someone else’s innermost thoughts. This may be where ideas and characters are hatched, but without the other elements of the conversation others can’t understand the conversation, or envision the setting in their own mind, which can make the reader abandon the story.

Sound of Silence

Even with all these ingredients for a great conversation, it still takes creating a balance between too much dialogue, or long intervals of silence while the writer takes a trip through the setting or the inner thoughts of the character until the reader forgets what the conversation was about. 

We’ve all read, or written, stories that can’t quite achieve that balance. The premise and story might be great, but it struggles to bring it to life from the page. Writers can work to improve the balance with repeated attempts implementing the recipe for perfect prose while adding their own special ingredients to their stories. As readers, when we get a taste of an author who has mastered this we always want more.

Although sometimes we can overlook a character’s misspoken word, or a few lines of awkward prose, because it just might make us relate to them a little more and make them seem more human.

Do You Have a Recipe for Conversation?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazon and/or signing up for her newsletter

How I Took a Chance with Not a Chance

By Maureen Bonatch

Hello, my name is Maureen and I’m a panster. Most writers will recognize the term that causes readers to frown and assume it’s just another indicator that writers can be a little unusual. 

Most stories I write by the seat of my pants, instead of the most sensible, logical way. You know by starting with a plot and a plan for the story in advance. 

Believe me, it surprises me as well, because I’m an organized logical person. I’ve tried to force myself to plan and plot the story first, but alas, so far, it’s like putting a square peg in a round hole.

 Although I’ve found out there are some good things that come from writing in this manner. I mean besides the whole roller-coaster ride that I get to enjoy along with the reader as I discover the characters and write the pages to find out what comes next. 

That’s Not the Story 

Not a Chance is book #2 in The Enchantlings series. Book #1, Destiny Calling, was named after one of the triplets in the story. My original intent was to write a trilogy with each book highlighting the story of one of the triplets. Well, that didn’t happen. Not because I changed my mind, but because my character did. Hope kind of insisted that she continue to be the one to tell the tale into book #2. That was fine. I still intended for the story to mainly focus on her brother, Chance. 

But when you write by the seat of your pants, you’re taking the chance that the story isn’t going to go in the direction you originally planned—and it didn’t. We took a whole detour into the woods and then some to create a whole different story line.

The Reader’s Benefit When Authors Take that Chance

By not being set on the story, it enabled me to really listen to some of the feedback from readers of Destiny Calling. The characters they liked, what they thought might happen, what they wanted to see happen next. Since the story wasn’t completely structured, I was able to implement some of the suggestions I thought would fit into the story well. Plus, when you write paranormal and fantasy, you can bend the rules a little sometimes. At least in my book, you can. 

So, I took multiple chances with Not a Chance in my efforts to make the story better and engage more with readers. Because as a reader myself, I fall in love with certain characters and they become like dear friends to me. 

I can’t wait to see what happens next in their life, and I usually have an idea of what I want to happen. It's so wonderful to see how the story comes to fruition.

Have You Ever Taken a Chance on a Story?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four

seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazonand/or signing up for her newsletter

4 Life Lessons from My Dog

Scruff is my writing partner. Kind of an unusual name for a writing partner unless you realize he’s a dog, a Shih Tzu to be exact. I’ve mentioned Scruff’s role in my writing process before. 

Such as how he waits for me to get in the office to start writing (mostly because he wants a treat—he knows I keep some in there) or how he gets me out of the chair to stretch and play for a while when I need a break. 

But there are other lessons I’ve learned about writing, and enjoying life in general from Scruff.

 

Make Time for Naps 

Scuff naps a lot. Pretty much a large portion of his day is spending

napping. It's made me wonder if he’s part cat. Napping is something I rarely, if ever take the time to do because there is always so much that needs done on my To-Do list. 

Although most of these things would still be there if I took a little break now and then to stretch and rest my eyes. 

My body would probably thank me for the reprieve. Writers, and anyone else who spends a lot of time sitting, benefits from taking care of their body.

Forgive and Forget

No matter what Scruff may have gotten in trouble for, or how

cranky I might be, he quickly forgets it and moves on. He’s just as happy to see me and his sappy smile makes it impossible to stay angry with him, or anything else in the world. 

Most of us tend to linger on past wrongdoings or wallow in guilt or anger over regrets from time to time. 

We are often our harshest critics, and the time we spend doubting ourselves, and others, from things that happened in our past don’t usually provide any benefits. As much as I’d love to find one, so far, a magical “do-over” button has eluded me. If the story isn’t working out, I either push on or work on something else. Focusing on one tiny piece for too long makes me lose track of the big picture. 

Eat Dessert First 

If Scruff gets a little bit of “people food” he waits to see if he’s going to get something better and eats that first. 

We often hold our rewards until we meet a goal, or do all the things we “should” do, but sometimes it’s better to treat ourselves first and celebrate the little triumphs to inspire us to keep moving. 

Don’t wait to read that book you’re looking forward to until you get a large block of uninterrupted time. 

Why not enjoy a chapter now? 

 

Size Doesn’t Matter
 

Scruff is a big dog—in his mind. If the door is open a crack—that he can easily fit through—he waits until we open it more to pass through. If he’s safe on the deck, he fears nothing. He trots around

with the arrogance of a much larger dog where he rules our household.

As a reader, I’m not usually concerned about the length of a story. I’m more concerned about how much I enjoy the characters and the storyline. 

The only time I might be a little upset is if it’s so good that it ends too soon. As a writer, I have my eye on the word count as I’m writing, but I also know when the story is “done”, and it doesn’t usually follow the rules about word count and chapter length.  

Have You Learned Any Lessons from Your Pets?

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the All Things Magical Giveaway! Kindle Fire! Ebooks & Gift Cards- Oh My! Click Right Here to check it out.

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four

seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter

Take a Chance! Try something new...

Hello! I hope you are managing to stay cool (or warm, depending on what part of the world you live in). Will three releases in the part two months, I have been visiting a lot of blogs, and participating in multiple giveaways and other events. I write mostly science fiction romance, and one of the things I often hear from readers is that they've never heard of the genre before, or they've never read anything from the genre.

Now, I understand that the tag "science fiction" generally scares a lot of romance readers, as "romance" scares many sci-fi readers. But, I promise you that not all sci-fi romances are extremely technical and full of descriptions of technology and other worlds. In fact, most aren't, focusing on the romance and other relationships.

Now, science fiction romance isn't the only genre out there. There are hundreds of others, many that I haven't yet read. Growing up, I read a LOT of contemporary romance, some fantasy, and some sci-fi. Not a wide variety. But when I connected with other authors through various author memes and events, I widened my reading experiences.

The first paranormal romance I read was by Nora Roberts.

The first BDSM story by Sara Brookes.

The first Historical Romance by Cassandra Dean.

The first MM  and menage by Stacey Kennedy.

The first FF by Kate Richards.

I've read plenty more in those genres since then. And I've found stories that I will love forever.

So, take a chance! This summer, try a new genre. Read a new author. You may be surprised by the story you get swept into. Happy reading!


SALE!! Never Gonna Let You Go and Sudden Breakaway are only 99 cents at Amazon until the end of June.

Bio:

Jessica Subject is the author of contemporary and science fiction romance, ranging from sweet to erotica. In her stories, you could meet clones, or a sexy alien or two. You may even be transported to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.

When Jessica isn't reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk. Fast. But she just may slow down if there is a waterfall nearby.

Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.

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