If you’ve been around the indie author community for any length of time, you’ve almost certainly tried — or seen other authors trying — to use tropes in book marketing efforts. One of the current popular trends is a graphic of the book’s front cover (usually 3D) with arrows pointing at the book and identifying different tropes readers will find within the pages.
When used correctly, tropes can be a powerful book marketing tool for the indie author, so let’s break it down:
Then we’ll see how Realm Chef’s generative AI book marketing tools — designed specifically for authors — can take the use of tropes in book marketing to a new, streamlined, innovative level!
Most indie authors have gotten past the former negative connotation of tropes as stereotypes or clichés, embracing instead a more positive trope meaning. I define trope as a familiar theme or narrative element that recurs frequently in stories. It’s important not to waste energy resisting the idea of tropes, because ALL BOOKS HAVE TROPES; no indie author can get away from them, and nor should we want to.
Think of tropes like spices: a vast spice rack that takes up an entire wall in your narrative kitchen. There are high-level tropes, like “enemies to lovers” or “fake relationship”, that cast their flavor over the whole story; then there are scene-level tropes (think “only one bed”) that infuse one moment with a unique spark. The variations are endless, so the fun never has to stop! It’s the combination and treatment of certain tropes that makes each book unique.
Thanks to the rise of the self publishing industry, readers have a plethora (read: “bewildering array”) of options. How can any indie author hope to cut through the book promotion noise and make sure their story finds its way to their target market?
This is where trope-power can make all the difference.
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Say your ideal reader is scrolling through all the book promotion posts on social media, looking for their next favorite read. They don’t just want a paranormal romance; every reader has their favorite tropes, and YOUR ideal reader is particularly keen on fated mates, enemies-to-lovers, and intense “touch her and die” vibes. Huzzah! Your book includes all these tropes — that’s what makes this reader part of your target market. Highlighting these tropes in your book marketing helps make your book stand out to your ideal reader: instantly recognizable as a story they would enjoy.
Remember, your target market consists of the readers who would most appreciate your book — your unique combination and treatment of tropes in storytelling. Tropes provide a common “book promotion” language between you and this ideal reader, allowing them to identify YOUR story as meant for THEM.
HOW do indie authors infuse this trope-power into their book promotion strategies? The specific methods vary as widely as the trope combination possibilities themselves, but the guiding principle is the same throughout, and rather simple:
In book marketing, lead with the tropes.
Whatever the platform or medium, put tropes front and center for more targeted book marketing.
It is important not to ONLY use tropes. Your book promotion campaign still has to show what makes your book SPECIAL! So you’ve written a “friends to lovers” / ”forced proximity” / ”grumpy-sunshine” romcom. Why should your ideal reader — who is seeking a book with these exact tropes — choose your book over the hundreds of other “friends to lovers” / ”forced proximity” / ”grumpy-sunshine” offerings?
As in the book itself, so with the book promotion: tropes are the SPICES, not the substance. Book marketing should offer tastes of that substance, demonstrating how YOUR use of these familiar tropes is new and compelling. Give us a blurb-style plot teaser — a tantalizing character profile — a quote in your FMC’s unique voice. Tropes capture your ideal reader’s attention; these hints hold that attention through the book promotion funnel, all the way to the “buy now” button. Put another way: the tropes just get your ideal reader to the door; now you get to welcome them inside and make them feel at home.
Remember, book marketing is about HOSPITALITY. You are making it easy for your ideal reader to find their way to the story that will bring them the most joy: YOURS!
Of course, before you can LEAD with your book’s tropes, you have to know what they are. This can be difficult if you’re trying to market a six-book series . . . and you wrote the second book three years ago . . . and you can’t even remember all the characters’ names, let alone what parts of their story best showcase your unique spin on the “marriage of convenience” / “age gap” / “business rivals” trope combo . . .
Enter Realm Chef: trope hunter extraordinaire! Once you upload your manuscript, Realm Chef’s generative AI technology rapidly analyzes your book and generates an automated story bible. This comprehensive overview of your book includes not only handy refresher/reference points like chapter summaries and character profiles, but also a detailed breakdown of your book’s tropes.
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Then, through the Book Consultation Chat feature, Realm Chef can act as your personal research assistant AND book marketing consultant . . .
. . . using its insight into your story to define tropes and strategize trope-powered book promotional strategies!
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So I've got five, maybe six active series now. With multiple series running at a time, you write a book, you go to the next series; you write a book, you go to the next series, you write the book. So once you get through all the series, you go back to the first one, but you don’t remember what it’s about. I can't spend a month reading through five books in the series to catch up on all the little subplots that I've got.
And so to be able to take the five books in the series and drop them into Chef and then read a summary—now I can do a review on the entire series in one day instead of a month, and then I can just write the next book, and then I've got all of these things here that remind me of everything that's going on. And it's super trope heavy, and it's super keyword heavy, and then I've got extra time for marketing!
As I’m reading through Chef’s summaries, I’m thinking, “Here's a TikTok idea; here's a Facebook idea; here's a great idea for a reel”—and I can just highlight them as I go, versus trying to highlight through a 200 page book, which takes a lot more time. ~ Zoey Indiana, paranormal romance author
Let Realm Chef help you access trope-power and elevate your book marketing journey. Your target market is waiting!
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