Step one of selling your crap (not that it’s crap, just that you’re likely to think it must be crap when you’re trying to sell it) is to go from “I’m going to pressure my connections into buying this based on who I am” to “Tempting, isn’t it?”
So: identify three things that your audience will like about your crap. Subject matter, style, and tone (e.g., humor) are good places to start.
However gracelessly you need to, combine those three things into one short sentence. Don’t bother with a log line (oh you writers).
A hypothetical example:
- Cats
- Dry humor
- Presented in a witty fashion
Becomes, “Things that go squish in the night: A cat-owner’s horror story.”
It’s not gonna make you a million bucks and there’s a lot more to it than that, but at least it’s not “Buy my crap.”
…
Buy my crap! New release: 31 horror flash fiction stories, from Ray Bradbury-esque to Black Mirror-WTF, now on sale for under a dollar.*
*Short stories, horror, Ray Bradbury, Black Mirror, cheap–five things!