Becoming a novelist is a major amount of fun, but also some hard work and unexpected challenges. Among the hardest things in writing fiction is to sum up your book -- persuasively! -- in a few sentences. I know some terrific novelists who tear out their hair at this point.
But such short summaries are needed for a book's back cover, Amazon page, author website, and publisher site. They're used everywhere in social media to sell a book, and are probably as important in doing that as cover art. Here's an article that gives some good writing advice:
The Fussy Librarian - Beth Bacon on Book Blurb Writing
Some more writing tips blurbs:
- Look at samples - Go to Amazon and click on the bestsellers in your genre. ...
- Use a formula: Most fiction book blurbs start with a situation (a), introduce a problem (b) and promise a twist (c).
And here's another article from Kindlepreneur that defines the difference between a back cover blurb and a book description, as used on Amazon and other online bookstores:
How to Create a Back Book Cover Blurb that Sells
And here's the blurb I wrote (with my publisher, editors, and advisers) for my novel, The Renaissance Club:
-->Would
you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with your soul
mate? May Gold, a young college adjunct, often dreams about the
subject of her master’s thesis—sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. In her fantasies
she’s in his arms, the wildly adored partner of the man who invented the
Baroque. In reality, May has just landed in Rome with her
teaching colleagues and boyfriend who is paying her way. Feeling like a precocious failure,
she yearns to unleash her passion and creative spirit. When the floor under the
gilded dome of St. Peter’s basilica rocks under her feet, she gets her chance.
Walking through the veil that appears, she finds herself in the year 1624,
staring straight into Bernini’s eyes. Their immediate and powerful attraction
grows throughout May’s tour of Italy, every time they share a brief hour. By
the time she reaches Venice, all the doorways to her happiness seem blocked—all
except the shimmering doorway to Bernini’s world. She must decide if her adventure
in time will ruin her life or lead to a magical new one.
The Renaissance Club is forthcoming from from Fiery Seas Publishing in 2018.
#amwriting #writingadvice #bookblurbs #nomore-hairtearing-outLabels: book publicity, book sales, craft tips, fiction, novelists, novels, writing techniques, writing tips
Some more writing tips blurbs: