# Book Blurbs?



## terence.soule (Feb 9, 2012)

I've seen a lot of discussion of cover art, but much less on the back cover blurb.  That's usually what really makes me decide to buy a book or not.  Writing a good one has been really hard.  I've been through 10+ drafts and am still not happy with it.  I've included the latest version below.  Does any one have any good advice for writing a strong blurb?  Or have samples they would like input on?
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Fear stalks the streets of Karbala.  For nearly two centuries darkness festered in the heart of the abandoned Old City, until a novice sorcerer was lured into freeing unholy remains from thier buried crypt.  Now Karbala is under siege by an army of the dead led by a being of unbounded power and madness.  While deep under the city a small group of survivors led by a janitor with a penchant for magic plot a daring plan that will lead them into the heart of the growing nightmare.


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## sashamerideth (Feb 9, 2012)

terence.soule said:
			
		

> I've seen a lot of discussion of cover art, but much less on the back cover blurb.  That's usually what really makes me decide to buy a book or not.  Writing a good one has been really hard.  I've been through 10+ drafts and am still not happy with it.  I've included the latest version below.  Does any one have any good advice for writing a strong blurb?  Or have samples they would like input on?
> ---
> Fear stalks the streets of Karbala.  For nearly two centuries darkness festered in the heart of the abandoned Old City, until a novice sorcerer was lured into freeing unholy remains from thier buried crypt.  Now Karbala is under siege by an army of the dead led by a being of unbounded power and madness.  While deep under the city a small group of survivors led by a janitor with a penchant for magic plot a daring plan that will lead them into the heart of the growing nightmare.



I think you have superfluous words, like underground crypt. The biggest problem is your last sentence is actually nonesense on a skimming read. Simplify the sentence structure, shorten it or split it in two.

I need to work on my Amazon blurbs for my shorts. If there is no problem, I will throw it up here for perusal. It isn't fantasy though.


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## sashamerideth (Feb 9, 2012)

Catacombs, that's the word I was looking for.


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## Telcontar (Feb 9, 2012)

I got confused for a second by your use of the word 'blurbs.' In blogs that I follow 'blurb' is the little line from a well-known author on the front of your cover. Like if you got GRRM to read your book and he liked it, they might quote him on the front cover.

You're referring to what is more commonly called back cover 'copy.' Semantics aside, though - yeah, they're kind of a bitch. It's hard to boil down your entire book into a few details, but have come across some pretty good advice on the subject.

For one thing, being able to quickly summarize your book is always important for marketing reasons - and whether you are submitting to agents/publisher or trying to shop around your own self-published work, you've got to know how to frame it. See the blog Pub Rants for some good details (check out the query letter and back cover labels).

The best short advice I've seen is: Protagonist, Antagonist, conflict, stakes.

Give us a quick view of your main protagonist. What sort of people are they? 

Same for antagonist.

Tell us what the main conflict is. Do they want each other dead? Is their difference personal, professional, etc? 

Stakes: What happens if the protagonist loses?

Do this in whatever order and with whatever detail most appeals to you, but the above is all pretty good information to have in there. You have the beginnings of it in your sample above, but it is still pretty vague. For instance - you haven't actually given us the name of your MC.


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## Kelise (Feb 9, 2012)

Unless you’re self-publishing, you have little-to-no say (most of the time) what is printed as the blurb on the back of your book. Someone else (who works for the publishing house) writes it for you. 

As for writing one if you're self-publishing, Telcontar sums up my thoughts.


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## terence.soule (Feb 9, 2012)

Very helpful comments, thanks all.  Version 11 coming up.

Sashamerideth (or anyone else) go ahead and post your back cover copy (see, I'm learning).


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## Jess A (Feb 11, 2012)

Starconstant is correct; unfortunately, blurbs which don't even accurately describe the book or have a spelling error are all too common. I.e. the character or place name is not the same as the one in the book.

My comments on your blurb:

If I was to read your blurb, I would find myself wondering about the protagonist(s). I tend to enjoy reading about certain characters sometimes.


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## Steerpike (Feb 12, 2012)

I find most blurbs are poorly written. At least, that was my experience back when I still read them. It has probably been eight or nine years since I read the blurb on the back of any book. I got tired of the spoilers in them.


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## The Din (Feb 13, 2012)

Concerning blurbs. Would it be possible to have a poem take place of the standard fare? 

It would still contain all the needed information, only the prose would (hopefully) be more interesting to read. I have been considering this for a while, though I have no other poetry in my WIP, nor am I any sort of poet.

Still, I think it would be eye-catching and personally haven't seen it before (though would like to if anyone has seen it done).


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## sashamerideth (Feb 13, 2012)

The Din said:
			
		

> Concerning blurbs. Would it be possible to have a poem take place of the standard fare?
> 
> It would still contain all the needed information, only the prose would (hopefully) be more interesting to read. I have been considering this for a while, though I have no other poetry in my WIP, nor am I any sort of poet.
> 
> Still, I think it would be eye-catching and personally haven't seen it before (though would like to if anyone has seen it done).



It would alter expectations of the book contents, and lead to either a bad sale or no sale, assuming you actually have a choice.


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## Kelise (Feb 13, 2012)

I would probably put down a book that has a poem on the back of a book - I usually skim them when they're in books also. I'm just not interested - poetry is very specific to each person as to what they're looking for.


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## Jess A (Feb 13, 2012)

Steerpike said:


> I find most blurbs are poorly written. At least, that was my experience back when I still read them. It has probably been eight or nine years since I read the blurb on the back of any book. I got tired of the spoilers in them.



I used to detest spoilers. Now I read through the book a little before I even think about reading it start-to-finish. I'm picky as all hell about writing style and characters and plot. A good blurb is important to me, but it can be misleading as well, which is why I flick through the book.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Feb 13, 2012)

I pretty much only read novels that have been recommended to me by people I trust, or are by authors I already know I like. I don't really have enough time to try things at random, although it does happen on occasion: in high school, I found a book lying around somewhere called _The Juliet Effect_, and I started reading it. Didn't get a chance to finish, but I enjoyed what I read of it.

But these days, with family, work, writing, etc. I just can't take the time.


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## Jess A (Feb 14, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> I pretty much only read novels that have been recommended to me by people I trust, or are by authors I already know I like. I don't really have enough time to try things at random, although it does happen on occasion: in high school, I found a book lying around somewhere called _The Juliet Effect_, and I started reading it. Didn't get a chance to finish, but I enjoyed what I read of it.
> 
> But these days, with family, work, writing, etc. I just can't take the time.



I can see why you do that. I have to read a lot of stuff for Uni and for my job, but I don't get much time to read for leisure either. It's extremely depressing.


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## MichaelSullivan (Feb 15, 2012)

starconstant said:


> Unless you’re self-publishing, you have little-to-no say (most of the time) what is printed as the blurb on the back of your book. Someone else (who works for the publishing house) writes it for you.
> 
> As for writing one if you're self-publishing, Telcontar sums up my thoughts.



Depends on how good you are ;-)  I was impressed that Orbit took about 90% of my back of the book blurb when republishing the series.


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## MichaelSullivan (Feb 15, 2012)

Here's my trick for back of the book blurbs.  Start with three quick snappy sentences. Then do a single "shortish" paragraph. Here's an example:

THEY KILLED THE KING. THEY PINNED IT ON TWO MEN. THEY CHOSE POORLY.
There's no ancient evil to defeat or orphan destined for greatness, just two guys in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they become the unwitting scapegoats in a plot to murder the king. Captured and imprisoned, they find themselves trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom. Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires?


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## Devor (Feb 15, 2012)

starconstant said:


> Unless you’re self-publishing, you have little-to-no say (most of the time) what is printed as the blurb on the back of your book. Someone else (who works for the publishing house) writes it for you.



You can still pitch them one.  It depends on what cover materials you send with the manuscript.


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## boboratory (Feb 20, 2012)

Assuming it is not a book of poetry, I would avoid it. As a publisher of poetry for "a few" years, I've seen people that aren't into poetry see poetry and have some sort of weird brain reaction that causes them to flee as far away from it as possible. I wish I were kidding.

There is a reason you don't see it often, if at all...


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## MichaelSullivan (Feb 28, 2012)

Here is a blurb that I used when I was self-published:

THEY KILLED THE KING. THE PINNED IT ON TWO MEN. THEY CHOSE POORLY.
There’s no ancient evil to defeat, or orphan destined for greatness, just two rouges in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his ex-mercenary partner Hadrian Blackwater make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they are framed for the murder of a king. Told through six individual episodes, the series starts out simply and grows in complexity as Royce and Hadrian find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy that reaches beyond the mere overthrow of a tiny monarchy.  

To break it down:
1) A headline - with three short snappy sentences
2) A bit about what makes your book different than others
3) Just a touch of details about what the books is about
4) If part of a series - than a mention to that fact.

Hope this helps.  Oh and BTW - my big-six publisher liked my blurbs so much that they did use them (for the most part - with minor changes) when they re-published them - so yes if you write something good - the publisher will use it even though they have marketing departments to do such things.


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