Spirit Song Saga & More
by Ross Hightower & Deb Heim
About the Authors
Award-winning fantasy author Ross Hightower and DL Heim are partners of 35 years who found their calling as co-authors in Milwaukee. It started one snowy morning when Ross woke with a story stuck in his head and, for the first time, wrote it down—that small story grew into Spirit Sight, the first book of what will become a twelve-book saga. Deb, with an English Literature degree but no prior urge to write fiction, joined as sounding board, researcher, and fellow plot wrangler on Argren Blue and Desulti. Together, they've built an unexpected adventure that's been more than worth it.
The Problem: Great Books, No Clear Marketing Plan
Ross and Deborah can write big, complex stories—epic fantasy with rebellion vs. empire, dark humorous thrillers, and a new cyber-thriller called Descartes' Demon. But when it came to book marketing, they were starting from a blank page every single time.
"We had no idea what we were doing before ManuscriptReport." — Ross
Their main pain points will sound familiar to a lot of authors:
- Copy felt impossible. They could write novels, but not sales copy. Deborah estimates it took 20–30 hours per book just to create blurbs, ad copy, and descriptions.
- Themes were hard to articulate. Ross doesn't outline themes in advance, he discovers them while writing. That made it hard to answer "What is your book really about?" in a sentence or two.
- Finding comp titles was a nightmare. They knew comps mattered for targeting readers (especially on BookBub) but manually hunting "authors like X" was slow and imprecise.
- Ads were expensive guesswork. They'd spent real money testing Facebook and Amazon ads without a clear way to measure what was actually working.
- Publisher support had limits. Their traditional publisher did a decent job at a high level, but couldn't micro-target the specific "more literate, political-intrigue" readers Ross and Deborah write for.
In short: the books were strong, but the marketing felt scattershot, exhausting, and hard to repeat.
The Turning Point: Discovering ManuscriptReport
They first heard about ManuscriptReport at an author retreat. Curious (and a bit skeptical), they ran one of Ross's fantasy books through the AI-powered analysis system.
"I was shocked at how well it analyzed the book... It was the first time I realized AI is something different." — Ross
The big surprise: ManuscriptReport surfaced themes he hadn't consciously planned, articulated them in clean, professional language, and tied them to likely reader expectations.
That first experiment turned into a habit. They've now used 7 books through ManuscriptReport and use the reports as the backbone of their marketing workflow.
What They Actually Use (And Why)
When asked which sections of the report they rely on most, they didn't hesitate:
Comparable Titles (Comps)
"I love the comps. Those are hard to find."
For BookBub ads, comps are everything—you literally target readers based on which authors they follow. Deborah now:
- Starts with ManuscriptReport's comp list.
- Uses those names inside BookBub.
- Follows the "also-read" chains to discover mid-list and niche authors whose audiences are easier (and cheaper) to reach.
Instead of randomly guessing, she treats the report as a comp-title research starter pack.
Themes
"Being able to talk about themes is an easy way to explain what the book is about."
Themes are now the first place she looks in every report:
- They give her language for interviews, pitches, and newsletter intros.
- They help answer the dreaded question: "So what's your book about?"
- They shape how she positions each book to different reader groups.
Ross doesn't sit down thinking, "These are my themes." But when the report hands them back to him in clear prose, he recognizes them immediately and can finally name what he's been doing intuitively.
Genres & Keywords
Deborah uses the genre and subgenre breakdown as a keyword engine:
- To choose accurate categories and sub-genres.
- To clarify whether a book should lean into "political intrigue fantasy" vs. "military fantasy" vs. "dragon-heavy epic fantasy."
- To align ad targeting with the actual reader expectations of the book.
This has been especially important because their ideal readers are more politically minded, story-driven fantasy fans—not simply anyone who likes swords and dragons.
Summary
The summary section has become their universal starting point for:
- Online product descriptions
- Website copy
- Media one-pagers
- Short pitches in interviews and podcasts
Deborah rarely copies anything verbatim, but she uses the report like a professional reviewer's notes: she lifts the strongest phrases and reshapes them into copy that sounds like her.
Sales Pitches
One favorite example from the report for Descartes' Demon was a pitch along the lines of:
"Perfect for fans of dark humor and crime fiction."
Those short, audience-focused lines are exactly what she needs for:
- Ad headlines
- Social captions
- Short retailer blurbs
- "If you like..." hooks in newsletters
How ManuscriptReport Fits Into Their Workflow
BEFORE: 20–30 Hours of Manual Grunt Work
Launching a book used to mean:
- Listing settings, characters, and tropes
- Brainstorming keywords separately
- Trying to weave all of that into an engaging blurb
- Rewriting it again and again for different platforms and character limits
Deborah estimates she easily sank 20–30 hours per launch into just this copywork.
AFTER: A Professional Starting Point in Minutes
Now she uses ManuscriptReport as a copy and strategy engine:
- Read the report once to get the big picture
- Highlight the strongest lines from summary, themes, and sales pitches
- Turn those into platform-specific assets
- Use the comps + genres + themes to design targeting
"It's integrating keywords and themes into a coherent narrative. Before, I was taking all of those and creating the narrative from scratch. This takes a lot of that grunt work out." — Deborah
Instead of starting from a blank page, she starts "part way up the hill."
Concrete Use Cases
BookBub Ads
- Uses ManuscriptReport's comps as the first layer of targeting.
- From each comp, explores "Also Bought/Also Read" paths to find big names (for reach) and niche authors (for efficient spend).
- Builds sophisticated, layered audiences like a pro marketer.
Newsletter & Blog
With 5,000+ subscribers, they go beyond "buy my book" messages:
- Talk about themes, rebellions vs. empires, character dilemmas.
- Compare books to titles surfaced in the report.
- Use "Blog Series" sections as content prompts.
= A content calendar generator for ongoing engagement.
Social Media Posts
Deborah posts daily—not just salesy content:
- Questions to engage ("Would you side with the empire or the rebels?")
- Short quotes highlighting tone and humor
- Comparisons to other works in the niche
= Scroll-stopping posts without rewriting from scratch.
What Surprised Them Most
Two things keep Ross and Deborah coming back:
The Quality of the Analysis
Ross is a former technologist with 30 years in the field. He's not easily impressed by AI buzzwords.
"I imagine a room of literature professors furiously reading my book. I honestly don't know how an algorithm can glean so much from the text... it's frighteningly useful." — Ross
He was especially struck by how accurately the report identified themes and tone, even in a twisty, darkly funny cyber-thriller.
The Copy Is "Way Better"
Deborah is blunt about it: the copy in the report is better and faster than what she could produce from scratch. She still edits it to sound like them, but she starts from polished, confident prose instead of a blinking cursor.
"Copy is one of the hardest things. You get a lot of copy, or at least a place to start, really easily, and it helps with targeting." — Deborah
What ManuscriptReport Does Not Do
They're clear-eyed about the limits, too:
- It doesn't "fix" all marketing.
- It doesn't magically make ads profitable.
- It doesn't remove the need to learn platforms, test, and track.
What it does do is remove the most painful, time-consuming part:
- Staring at a blank screen, trying to describe your own book.
- Guessing at comps and categories.
- Manually stitching together themes, tropes, and tone into something that sounds compelling.
"Before, we were starting from ground zero. Now we start part way up the hill." — Ross & Deborah
Where They Are Now
Ross and Deborah are currently:
Transitioning part of their catalogue to self-publishing for more control over metadata and targeting.
Focusing on organic marketing first (newsletter, social, word-of-mouth) before spending heavily on ads.
Using ManuscriptReport as the central document in their "brewery strategy sessions," where they sit down with the report, plan launches, and map out campaigns.
They've run 7 books through ManuscriptReport so far and plan to keep using it for:
Key Takeaways for Other Authors
If you're an author wondering whether ManuscriptReport is "just another AI thing" or something that can actually help you sell books, here's what Ross and Deborah's experience shows:
Expect to save dozens of hours per book on blurbs, pitches, and descriptions.
Themes, genres, and sales pitches become ready-made talking points for ads to podcast interviews.
Especially useful for BookBub and category/keyword strategy.
Think metadata, positioning, and repeatable processes—not just one-off blurbs.
You still have to do the work. But you no longer have to start from zero.
Want to Use ManuscriptReport the Way Ross & Deborah Do?
If you:
- ✓ Write fantasy, thrillers, or any genre fiction with complex themes
- ✓ Feel lost when it comes to blurbs, comps, and categories
- ✓ Want to spend your energy on writing the next book instead of wrestling with copy
...then ManuscriptReport can give you the same foundation Ross and Deborah now rely on for every launch.
Stop guessing. Start from a professional, AI-powered marketing report instead.
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