What’s a tagline? Think Nike. Just Do It. That’s a tag line for a brand.
When I first started this blog I had several tag lines that slowly changed over the years. My first, when my blog was called Bitchfest, was “Bitchfest, the only place to bitch about celebrities, lifestyles and everyday pains in the arse!” So appropriate I thought, since that was the plan. It became more elaborate after that until I read the book Fame 101 and there was section on creating a tag line.
Now many think a tag line is something funny, and for your blog you can write what you want if that is the main focus of your life. Put it on business cards with your blog url if you want to just promote yourself as a blogger and nothing else.
However, if you are going to be an author or writer and that will be your main focus, you need to figure out if your blog is going to be more of a website than just your blog. It will have to be a place where you can promote everything about your writing career. So, you need come up with a tag line about what you do. Write down everything that you do when it comes to blogging and writing. For example, among other words, I wrote, author, blogger, social media commentator.
Now it will take a while to come up with something and you will need to write EVERYTHING you do and want to be known as down on possibly many scraps of paper.
Do you blog = blogger
Do you write = writer
Are you a novelist = novelist
Are you an author = author
Now there are slight differences between writer, author, novelist.
If you write for magazines, newspapers online columns etc, then call yourself a writer, as that is what you are. If you write fiction, depending on what genre, call yourself an author or novelist. Romance writer, Young Adult author, Crime novelist.
Do you comment on social and media stories and situations, then you’re a social and media commentator.
Are you into fashion, beauty, life, style, photography? Do you take photos? Then you’re a photographer. Are you a beautician? Then add that to your tag line
Do you have a profession or degree, add that to the list. Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant, all depends on what you are as to what you put in. Add your letters to your name.
Keep your tag line simple, says Jay and Maggie Jessup,authors of Fame 101. Four to nine words and no longer. It must precisely “tag” you and define the role you play in this world. If you’re an actor, your tag line will be simple. Actor. But if you are also a musician and songwriter, Actor, Singer, Songwriter is perfect.
Another thing to think about, if you write under a pseudonym like I do, is keep your author website within itself. Don’t mention what you do in your “other” life, just mention anything that has to do with your writing. Unless you want to as you aren’t hiding anything and are hanging it all out there. Most of us keep it separate, unless your writing has to do with your profession, there is possibly no need to add in everything else you do.
A lot of authors use their genre to add to their tag line. But if you have no idea what genres you will keep writing in, young adult fantasy for example, then I don’t suggest using a tagline about what you write. As far as I’m concerned I agree with Jay and Maggie, it should tell people what you are and what you do, not what genre you write in. They will find that out soon enough. And what happens if you change genres or do something else that you will need to add to the tag line? Make it simple and about you, not what you write. That way, you won’t have to keep changing it all the time.
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