My novel is (finally!) done, dusted, proofread, formatted, etc, and I intend to self-publish as soon as I can get the back cover blurb written, get my acknowledgements and personal data organised, get an ISBN number and get a cover design going. However, I'm like a baby who has just been let out of the playpen for the first time, when it comes to blurb writing. I'm not, by nature, a condenser. I'm an expander! This is going to be rough. Anybody know a good source of 'how-to' advice regarding writing a blurb for a novel?
Get Bryan Cohen's book "write a sizzling synopsis" ($3.99 on kindle and worth its weight in bacon) Brian Meeks has also written a book called "Mastering Amazon Descriptions, an authors guide" but its still on pre order at the minute. both of them have facebook groups where they and their followers can help you hone your blurb https://www.facebook.com/groups/MasteringAmazonDescriptions https://www.facebook.com/groups/509197505915958/ The thing to bear in mind is that blurb writing is copywriting - ie a different skill set from writing your book needing a different approach and the purpose is to make the reader want to buy the book not to describe what happens in it. The basic structure for fiction is Hook - one line that captures the readers attention, often a question. Engagement - a paragraph or two that engages the reader with the character (in most cases emotional engagement with the MC beats describing the plot Reverse hook aka cliff hanger - the bit that makes them want to read the book to find out more selling paragraph - If you like x, you'll love y... the bit that tells them why they need to buy the book Call to action - to do abc buy xyz book today For non fiction its broadly similar except that the hook should posit the problem they are looking to solve (eg Do you want to stop smoking ?") and the next paragraphs tell them how the book will solve that problem.
I understand that a synopsis and blurb are actually not all that similar. The synopsis is a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the entire story, while a blurb is a short advert that is designed to tell the story (without giving the game away.) However, if the Bryan Cohen book you suggest deals with blurbs as well as synopses, I'd be interesting in having a look. Thanks for the other suggestions as well. I'll need to try seeing my story that way. Hook, engagement, aaaargh....!
I'm wondering if starting a blurb with a question would be okay to do? I'm pretty sure I've seen that done. I guess I need to go pick some books off my shelves and get a feel for the blurb.... This is weird. I feel like I'm back to the drawing board again. I haven't a clue how to present my story to be 'sold.'
The way bryan uses it he means a blurb - his take is that the synopsis is the bit before the selling paragraph (Ive discussed that with him - I said the book should be called How to write brilliant blurbs).. he runs best page forward a service that writes blurbs for authors and publishers (they are very good but also pretty expensive)
Yes the hook is often a question - for example on Adam Croft's "her last tomorrow" the hook was "Could you kill your wife to save your son ?" I'd suggest going to amazon and identifying five peer authors who write the same sort of books you do and then cut and pasting their blurbs into a word doc When you come to write yours read the five refs first and then write yours straight after ….also remember everyone struggles with blurbs so don't expect perfection straight away... as with the book you are going to edit, cut, add and polish before its ready to run
To illustrate the point this is the blurb I used for Border crossing (with substantial help from Bryan and his group to tighten it up) One kills, one locks up killers. What if justice needs both ? Dusty Miller kills for a living. Mostly those who deserve it. Terrorists, criminals, enemies of the state, potential embarrassments. People everyone is better off without. So when he is tasked with finding a missing teenager he is out of his depth. But a young girl won't make it home without his kind of help so what choice does he have ? Even if it means returning to the UK where he's a wanted man. DI Andy Hawke has made a career out of locking up life takers, but now a serial killer is prowling North Three killing couples, motive unknown. One killer is enough, even for a city where policing is more like a tour in the combat zone. Hawke doesn't need another on his streets. As their cases converge, Dusty and Hawke must work together to unravel a dark and deadly web of lies. With more than one innocent life at stake, failure is not an option either can accept. Border Crossing is the fourth book in the Dusty Miller series. Perfect for fans of Mark Dawson or Lee Child. If you like fast paced action, snappy dialogue and characters who will do the right thing regardless of cost, then buy Border crossing today.
Okay, I just bought the book, and it has just this second appeared on my Kindle. Thanks. I'll go off and have a read. Does anybody know where I could get a magic wand that actually works? I want to be able to wave it, and boo presto, my book is ONLINE!
Sadly not - although Wrey has a magic hammer that can make things disappear Its not difficult however - and Ive done it 6 times so if you need any help I can talk you through it
Back to the the book blurb, post what you have so far, let us critique it and help you work on it. If you're not ready to post it here, send it to me in a pm. Best way to get these things accomplished is to finish planning/learning and start writing... with feedback.
I've got zippadee doodah thus far. That's my problem. I have absolutely no idea how to approach this blurb thing for my own book. Or what I want to write, or what I want to say, or what I want others to know. Or what the 'hook' might be. I need to think. But thanks, and I'll take you up on that when I have SOMETHING written. My job for today is to go through some of the books I've got on my shelves and read the blurbs and take some notes as things strike me. I also have downloaded two books on the subject, including the one @big soft moose suggested. And I've applied to join the Brian Meeks FB group that Moose also suggested. Early days. .....edited ....just got accepted to the Brian Meeks FB group, and am NOT impressed. Nearly all the uploads to the group are either adverts for his upcoming book or—wait for it—pictures of group members' pets! Seriously. Here's my dog, snarling at the camera because he doesn't like the other dog in the photo. No, here's mine. Cute, eh? Well what about this? It's a mongoose! And here's my dog playing in the snow. And here's a painting of a horse. And etc. If Mr Meeks is monitoring this site, he's not doing a great job of it....kinda useless group thus far, and no mention of blurbs at all....maybe I'll just wait a bit and buy the book. Oh shit. Just went back to check the group again, and, within the past four minutes, somebody has uploaded a picture of a STUFFED plush hippo (cherry red), who guards her pen collection. The hippo is a 'hoarder' apparently. Seriously. I think my membership of this group is going to be of short duration. .....edited again. I posted a remark on that site about how I was hoping to get writing advice instead of animal photos, and got a lot of positive responses. In fact, I've just made a new FB friend from Germany, who has published several books. So I'm glad I didn't immediately leave the site. I think it will prove useful at some stage. Apparently the site has just been set up, and Brian was encouraging people to put up pictures of their pets. Not sure why, but it's his site. Anyway, we move along.... ............ I also need to think about book cover design. I will probably use the woman that @Lew and Karen used for their books to do the design, but I might want to produce the original artwork for it myself. (Don't worry, I'm an ex-Art major who switched to English before graduation. If I can't do it to a high standard, I won't.) I do prefer artwork to photography for book covers, but, I would give the artwork to a pro designer, to put it into final form, do the lettering, etc.
I've been thinking, as a result of the feedback I've had here and on the FB site I just joined, that I don't really need advice about 'how to write a blurb.' I get it. Short, snappy, hook, etc. I can do this, no bother—once I figure out what I want to get short and snappy about. I need is advice on gaining perspective on my story. How to FIND the hook. I've always had a problem when people ask me 'what is your book about?' That's the angle I need to work on. It's the overall view I can't seem to get a handle on. I might go back to the basic idea I had for the story, before I started writing it. My main idea was: What if I give my main character a problem that can't be solved? By anybody. There is no solution to find. What if he does something he regrets? Something that he can't undo? Something that has grave consequences, not only for him, but for others? In the middle of the book, another character asks him (as a result of another instance they are discussing.) 'But what happens if you make the wrong decision?' He replies: "Then you live with it." However, living with the bad decision won't change it, or make it easier. The consequences keep piling up.
Its because Brian wants to engender a feeling of community and for people to get to know each other as people - I'm also a member of his other group for Mastering Amazon ads and its really good both in terms of fellow feeling and in terms of expertise.. The descriptions group has literally been up for 48 hours so the pet pictures will fall away soon when people start asking for blurb writing advice If you want a group that's been running longer the other group I posted, selling for authors run by Bryan Cohen has been going for several years... no dog photos there although recently it has been dominated by discussion of Bryans quest for 10k a month through advertising
Book cover wise I'd say talk to the designer first - doing your own artwork can work well or it can be a disaster - the key thing is that just because you like it doesn't mean it will sell... I'd highly recommend a little book called "cover design for authors" by Stuart Bache... stuart these days runs his own design business 'Books covered' but previously worked in the trad industry and did covers for amongst others Stephen King and John Le Carre. What pros bring to the party is not just putting the lettering on (that's easily enough done yourself using a free program called Canva) but knowledge of the whole design and how it goes together, what works what doesn't what sells for what genre etc...If you speak to Fiona Jayde first and agree a joint brief and sketch out a concept then create artwork that fits the design concept it'll work... if you just create a picture that you like and say "put the letters on this" it probably won't
On point ref finding the blurb in your story I'd say write down some notes - if you had to describe your story to someone who hadn't read it what would you say ? If you've got the Bryan Cohen book I recommended read chapter 3 "simplifying your plot"
It's Fiona Jayde I planned to contact. However, I also have a fairly good notion of the kind of cover I want. What I'd be inclined to do is produce some artwork and send it to her, and ask her if she can do anything with it. (I'm thinking landscape here. I want the cover to be attractive and representative of the kind of setting I've used for my story, but I don't want it to be melodramatic or character-specific.) I'd be very open to accepting what she might do. I would like the artwork to be mine, if possible—partly because I have an idea of the kind of image I want, and also to avoid any copyright issues with the images. I AM an artist, who has sold paintings over the years, so I think I'm up to it. But getting my images into a state where they would make a good book design is a little beyond me.
I do have the Bryan Cohen book, so I'll go for that chapter. I haven't started reading any of it yet. THANKS, by the way, for all your good suggestions. Including the FB group. It' didn't make a great first impression, but I can now see where it's going.
Aside from all that... you'll need to include a glowing review of your book. And by someone notable. "While I read this wonderful story, spellbound, entranced--I laughed, I cried, and something deep inside of me changed forever" - Neil Gaiman
I've heard it said that the two are very similar. Both are for the same purpose ...to 'sell' a story in a few words.
Appalling advice. If you have a pull quote you might want to include it (probably on your author page under editorial reviews rather than in the blub) but you absolutely don't have to have one
I think similar but not identical because the info included is different - I don't query but from what I understand a query summary tells the agent/publisher what the book is about in a simple direct summary including how it ends, twists etc so they can decide whether its for them - blurbs are more like copywriting (as in advert copy) so you don't tell the reader exactly what happens because you want them to read it to find out, and you include more of a teaser... will bob find sue before xyz happens... Often the best selling blurbs say very little about the plot because they aim to emotionally engage the reader with the character... 300 words is about maximum and that's long, most blurbs are more like 150
I seem to remember that a query doesn't give the whole story away. That's for a synopsis. I could be wrong, though. But here's a sample of what I mean : https://jerichowriters.com/sample-literary-agent-query-letter/
As I said I don't query so I don't know much about them - but that is more information than you'd put in a blurb and the tone isn't right for sales copy
