Weekly Writers: Taglines

As seen on book covers

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Taglines are optional, but most books have one on the cover.

Here’s an example where the punchy tagline works brilliantly, and immediately makes me ask questions about the book, which is already taking me partway towards a purchase. It’s from the cover of The Sisters by Claire Douglas. The cover shows the title, and underneath are two pairs of shoes. Below one pair it says: “One lied”. Below the other: “One died”.

No nonsense. It is clipped, confident, and stylish. We have juxtaposition and intrigue. What was the lie? Did it cause the death of the other, or was it related to that tragedy? Further, the tagline layout is integral to the whole design of the cover, and its relationship to different parts (the title, the pairs of shoes) which makes everything clear. Even the shoes chosen – children’s shoes, but in contrasting styles – tells us about the age of the main characters, and about their differences.

Here’s another good one, that achieves a similar effect.