Sell me your story with a tagline

nice90sguy

Out To Lunch
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I'm terrible at taglines, making excuses like "oh, it's not the kind of story you can just sum up in a few words -- you sort of have to read it..." blah blah.
I'm not even going to try, with any of my wonderful stories, because, well, they're just too deep and intellectually subtle for a tagline to do them justice.

Great tagline means a 5 vote from me. I might even read the story.
 
Too Cold Not to Fuck: “It’s just a way for us both to get some sleep.”
More than 135k readers were intrigued enough to click.

You Know You Shouldn't: She's your mother. You really shouldn't.
Even with almost exactly 100k views less than Too Cold, I'm still very proud of this tagline.

(Disclaimer about the viewing numbers: these stories are both in I/T.)
 
One that I actually used and liked did not generate much attention.
"He's a telepath; she casts illusions. They fight crime!"
Possibly the reference is too obscure. It's also in SF/F, which is not known for high readership numbers. Shortly after I posted it I commented here somewhere that if it got 2000 views I'd call it lucky. It's at 1999 currently. :rolleyes: :LOL:
 
The other thread already had the best tagline possible. I mean, can you think about anything more compelling than:

“Hairy pussy mother-son impregnation incest”
:unsure: Maybe appending 'at the prom'?
 
The other thread already had the best tagline possible. I mean, can you think about anything more compelling than:

“Hairy pussy mother-son impregnation incest”
That's more like a list of ingredients than a tagline to me
 
I think a good tagline should combine with, and complement, the title to describe, tease, and titillate.

Late Night on the Loveseat with Mom:

"Mom and son get under the blanket, and, well . . . "

1.87 million views and increasing at 800+ per day. So that worked.

I've used ellipses in several of my taglines and I think they add a fun suggestive, teasing element that readers seem to be attracted to. It's like you are leading the reader to your story with that succession of dots.

Nude Day Running Adventure:

"Be careful what you take off when you're away from home."

Combine the title and tag, and you have a pretty good idea what the story is about, but there's a hint of mystery because you want to find out WHAT she takes off and what the circumstances are, and what the consequences are.

Anything for the Sale:

"How far would she go to sell the house?

Again, the title and tag give you some idea of what the story is about, but presenting the tag as a question makes the reader want to know the answer. How far WOULD she go? What does she do? It's an exhibitionist story, so you know clothing is going to be removed.


My basic guidelines for most (not all) taglines:
1. Be descriptive
2. Be titillating
3. Use sexy/titillating words in the tagline and/or title. Check out the tag list for the category to look for good words.
4. Pose it in a saucy, suggestive way
5. Make it a sentence. Use active verbs.
6. Leave something incomplete. Give the reader a mystery that needs to be solved by reading your story. I do this with question marks and ellipses.
7. The title and tagline should complement each other. If the title is very descriptive, the tagline can be more allusive and playful. If the title is not descriptive, make the tagline more descriptive.
8. The tone of the title and tagline should match the story. If the story is a somber, sensitive tale about a mature woman, you wouldn't want to use a tagline like "Tessie's Big Tits Wow The Boys."

For instance, I'm currently working on a Mature story that I will call "Wind and Waves." I just like the title, and I'm going to stick with it, but it violates my rule of not being very descriptive or titillating. So I'll probably pick something like this as my tagline: "He meets an older woman on a beach getaway." That probably tells enough to the right sort of reader to tempt the right sort of reader to check out the story.
 
“You want to fuck my sister, don’t you?”

From Ashley’s Sister. I was amazed at how many views this story had after only a few days, way more than all of my other EC stories. The tagline was in quotes and it was also the first line of the story.
 
I think a good tagline should combine with, and complement, the title to describe, tease, and titillate.

Late Night on the Loveseat with Mom:

"Mom and son get under the blanket, and, well . . . "

1.87 million views and increasing at 800+ per day. So that worked.
Wow. Can't compete with that, but my story with a modest 137k views, "Training" has the description "Libby's Training begins - but who's training whom?" which kind of follows your guideline
 
“You want to fuck my sister, don’t you?”

From Ashley’s Sister. I was amazed at how many views this story had after only a few days, way more than all of my other EC stories. The tagline was in quotes and it was also the first line of the story.
For some reason I picture Robert DeNiro saying it. Another great tagline IMO
 
For some reason I picture Robert DeNiro saying it. Another great tagline IMO
True, but in this case it was Ashley, a female, who said it about her sister. To my knowledge DeNiro never acted the part of a woman. 😉
 
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