K is for Keywords

Greetings, A-Zers! It’s day 11 of the 2015 A-Z blog challenge, and my theme is “The Business of Writing: A Glossary”. I know everyone is busy making rounds this month, so I’ve done my best to keep each post informative and to-the-point. :) Today’s letter is:

K is for Keywords

Loose Definition: Keywords are the meta breadcrumbs you leave for the right readers to find your work.

Put to Use

If you write the kinds of books you like to read, it should be easy for you to put yourself in readers’ shoes. Take the easy search terms off the table for a second (your category, genre, etc.) and focus on what makes your book different, yet desirable. Is the hero of your romance on a baseball team? Use “baseball” as one of your retailer-allotted keywords. Does your thriller take place in Seattle? Try “Seattle”. Cast that net a little wider than normal, but don’t waste your time on things no one will actually search for, i.e. Very few people will search “manicurist” when looking for fiction, even if that is what your heroine does for a living.

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Question of the Day

What's one keyword you use or will use?