A Marketing Survey to Help this Struggling Author

I need help!

There, I’ve said it. I’ll even say it again.

I need help!

As many of you know, I recently completed my novel “Resurrecting Tobias.” The final edits are being done now, and then it will be time to publish the ebook. Before that final step, however, I need to settle on a tagline.

For those of you who do not know what a tagline is, think in terms of a one sentence hook that summarizes the main theme of your book, as well as serves as a hook to draw readers in.

That’s what I’m stuck on, and that’s why I need your help.

I’m going to give you a synopsis of the book, and then I’m going to give you several options of taglines to choose from. If you could take a few minutes to read the synopsis, and then vote in the poll, it would be very helpful to me. Thank you!

Toby King had it all…..loving parents, a beautiful girlfriend, loyal sidekick, and a 94 mph fastball that scouts loved. He would even be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his nonfiction account of Vietnam, which would in turn propel him to the top of journalism as a writer for the Washington Post.

Fame and fortune followed, and with them came a change in Tobias Alexander King. The young man, once praised as being the next Steinbeck, soon discovers that the price of glory is often far too steep. He turns to alcohol. He alienates his loved ones. He slowly slides down that slippery slope of self-loathing and disgust. The drinking continues until he finds himself without a job and in dire need of some self-worth.

His two lifelong friends, Maria and Pete, come to the rescue. Their friendship has survived tough times, and they are not about to desert Toby when he needs them the most. Slowly, with the help of his two friends, Toby begins to build a new life teaching creative writing in Vermont, far from the madness of D.C. and the public eye.

But old debts must be paid. One icy winter’s night, tragedy strikes, and Toby finds himself incarcerated for the next fourteen years.

Toby now has a choice: he can succumb to bitterness and depression, or he can work to rehabilitate himself….resurrect himself….and prepare for the day of his release when he can begin to pay retribution for his past sins of ego and hubris.

And resurrect he does! Toby embarks on a personal journey of growth, helping others in a variety of cities, giving of himself unselfishly as he attempts to pay for his past mistakes. With the help of Maria and Pete, a new Toby emerges from the rubble of the past.

“Resurrecting Tobias” is about redemption, but it is also about the strength of true friendship, and the power of love.

This is what I have come up with so far:

• Do we ever stop paying for our past mistakes?
• How long must we pay for past mistakes?
• Is it possible to survive being ourselves?
• Forgiveness is an inside job.
• Happiness is an inside job

The poll can be found to the right of this section. If you would vote for one of those four taglines I would greatly appreciate it. Also, please leave a comment explaining why you chose the one you chose.

If you can think of a better tagline, then by all means share that with me in the comment section.

See how easy that was? No drawn-out, lengthy article to read. Just in and out, quick as a cat burglar.

I really do appreciate your help on this. Call it a group-participation exercise in marketing if you will. This way you will all have some ownership in this new novel.

2014 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”