Writing the Perfect Blurb It's Been Said That Writing a 100-Word Blurb Is Harder Than a 100,000-Word Novel

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Writing the Perfect Blurb It's been said that writing a 100-word blurb is harder than a 100,000-word novel. Join us for an honest discussion of the fundamentals of how to write great back-cover copy as well as the mistakes authors make. We'll work in small groups to help participants revise their rough draft blurbs. Bring your red pen!

Presented by Fiona Jayde, RL King, and Melissa Snark

Workshop Overview Writing the Perfect Blurb will be presented in three parts.  Melissa Snark will analyze the differences between a blurb and a synopsis, and present the Starting Questions handout.

 R.L. King will discuss how to identify what the story is about with a focus on goals, motivations, and conflict.

 Fiona Jayde will cover The Scorecard handout and how to go about rewriting a bad blurb. Who is this workshop for?

 Indie authors/ self-published authors

 Authors published with small/independent presses

 Small press editors

 Indie press editors Take Away

 By the end of the workshop, participants should have the resources necessary to go home and write a new book blurb or revise an existing blurb. Synopsis

versus

Blurb What is a Synopsis?

 A synopsis is defined as “a brief or condensed statement giving a general view of some subject” or “a brief summary of the plot of a novel, motion picture, play, etc.”*

 The primary purpose of a synopsis is to summarize. They are usually submitted to an agent or publisher. It is the entire story from beginning to end in a nutshell.

*Reference: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/synopsis?s=t

What is a Blurb?

 A blurb is defined as “a brief advertisement or announcement, especially a laudatory one” or “a promotional description, as found on the jackets of books”. *

 The primary purpose of a blurb is to entice readers to purchase your book. It is a selling tool or a sales pitch.

*Reference: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/blurb?s=t)

Blurb Bullet Points

 The primary purpose of a blurb is to entice readers to purchase your book. It is a selling tool or a sales pitch.

 Blurbs tend to be 200 words or less. You want your blurb to fit on the back cover or a paperback. For ebooks only, blurbs can be longer but wordier isn’t necessarily better.

 Blurbs are not the synopsis. Blurbs are book covers in words.

A Caveat The indie/self-publishing definition of blurbs is different from that of traditional publishing.

In Trade Pub, blurbing means that little quote on the books front/back cover by other authors who usually have name brand recognition.

In indie/self-publishing, we mean the book description.

For our purposes, we are discussing indie/self- publishing in this workshop. The Hunger Games

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Do you have a current blurb or are you starting from scratch?  No. If you are starting from scratch, then go to the Starting Questions.

 Yes. If you have a current blurb then skip over Starting Questions and proceed directly to Rewriting the Blurb. Starting Questions

 What is the title of the book?

 What genre does the book belong in?

This may require independent research. Authors should familiarize themselves with their chosen genre.

Starting Questions

 List each primary point of view character, including their first & last names, their age, gender, profession, and any important traits.

Point of view character: The character whose perspective the story is told from.

Starting Questions

 What is the point of view (first person or third) and tense (past or present)?

Point of view: the perspective a story is written from. The three forms are first, second, and third.

Blurbs can be written in past or present tense. In the past, many blurbs were past tense. However, most modern blurbs are in the present tense. Present tense conveys a sense of vitality/immediacy to the reader, and it also lends itself well to an economy of words.

Starting Questions

 What are the central themes?

Theme: the central ideas in a piece of writing. For instance, revenge or desperation are possible themes.

Starting Questions

 What is the story about?

What does each protagonist want/need?

What stands in their way/prevents them from achieving their goals?

What is the central conflict in the story?

What is the story about? What is the central conflict? Every story, regardless of genre, needs conflict. To write a good blurb, you need to identify the story’s central conflict and pull the potential reader in with it. The primary purpose of your blurb isn’t to tell your story—it’s to make readers want to open your book and read your story.

What does the protagonist want/need?

 For the purposes of your blurb, you need to identify what your protagonist wants/needs most, which should be related to the central conflict.  Usually, you should stick to a single protagonist except in some genres like romance where you can include two.  Don’t include too many people in your blurb, because readers get confused. Stick to one, or at most two, named characters.

What stands in their way? (or “you can’t always get what you want”)

 Protagonists who get what they want right away make for bad books!  What is the main thing that stands in the protagonist’s way?  Why can’t they get what they want?  What’s stopping them or preventing them from achieving their goals?

What happens if they don’t get it?

 Finally, let the reader know what will happen if the protagonist doesn’t get what they want.  What are the stakes? Ideally, they should be high.  Not all stories have the fate of the world at stake but they all should have serious consequences if the protagonist fails.

The Blurb At its simplest form, this is your blurb: 1. What does the protagonist want? 2. What stands in the way of this goal? 3. What happens if they fail? What are the stakes?

Common Mistake

 Don’t tell the reader everything that happens in the book.  A blurb’s only job is to grab the reader’s attention in a short time. The Scorecard

 How to evaluate your back cover copy: Who what where when how? Who is the protagonist? What is the problem they are solving in the story? Where are they? When are they? How will the problem affect them? Is the copy clear and easy to read? Does the blurb show emotion? Does it evoke sympathy/empathy? Can we picture it like a movie trailer? Does the end leave us with unspoken question? ( this is where people click buy ) Does it feel right for the genre?

Rewriting Your Blurb in Four Grueling Steps Step one: rewrite your blurb from the main characters point of view. You'd be surprised how much better it will sound when removing the omnipresent point of view. Make every phrase visual as if you're describing the trailer and the character is narrating each passage.

Step Two

Rewrite the blurb in first person POV focusing areas to improve in the above evaluation matrix (scorecard). Focus on answering questions that aren't clear and visual - higher concepts. This is the most tedious part of the process - where the blurb will feel too wordy and have too much backstory. Every phrase and every meaning needs to be able to show up in the trailer. Show not tell! “In a world full of intrigue, magic and enchantment, where Gods and humans play dangerous power games” – What does that even mean?? Can’t see it!

Step Three Highlight the world building/backstory parts - everything that isn't immediately visual or meaningful to an average reader.

Brainstorm how to condense those parts into tag lines that will be used to build the "frame" around the blurb to establish works rules, time, setting, etc. anything and everything that is unique in your book. This can also be used to establish voice and tone.

Step Four Rewrite the blurb again from appropriate POV without the backstory and unique parts, and use tag lines to convey the world building.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Bad blurb sample:

A girl goes on trial for murder, but it’s the judge who committed the crime. Johanna Kozak is not unaccustomed to the harshness of living in a Supernatural world. When her best friend is brutally murdered by the judge at her trial, Johanna must find solace in being a martyr for the only cause she has ever known. Her days are marked by visits from a mysterious servant boy, and visions of the past that haunts her. Meanwhile, her trial commences among the Council, and lines are being drawn. Her judge knows Johanna did not act alone, and if her co-conspirators aren’t careful, this prison break is about to land them all belly up in the heart of the beast. Wrought with secrets, lies, heartbreak, and betrayal, will Johanna find peace in her ruling, or do the gallows await them all? First Step: First Person Point of View

The Mother will guide you. The dragon will call. I used to believe that, until my best friend was brutally murdered by a Council Member who put me on trial.But the judge is not the only one with friends in high places, and mine are planning a prison break. [. The first tag line is very mysterious, but we don't know what is believed and how and wh that is changed when the BFF is murdered. We aren't seeing grief or vows of vengeance or justice here - all the things that would make us empathetic to Johanna...]

First Tear Down

Tagline: Meh:)

I loved "The mother will guide you. The dragon will call". I'd suggest to keep that there.

Johanna Kozak is not unaccustomed to the harshness of living in a Supernatural world (FJ: what's so harsh about it? Why is it supernatural? She clearly has friends there...)

When her best friend is brutally murdered by the judge at her trial, (FJ: this is like a circle of events: brutally murdered by someone who will judge the murder except the judgement/trial hasn't happened yet...). And in this case, should we know it was the judge who committed the crime? Is that a twist later?)

Johanna must find solace in being a martyr for the only cause she has ever known. (FJ: Why would she martyr herself? Why take the blame? Great potential for showing inner conflict - so far, we know nothing about this girl).

Her days are marked by visits from a mysterious servant boy, and visions of the past that haunts her. [We jumped from trial/martyrdom to days and visions... It's jarring. What is so important in this phrase to the story? The visions from the past? If so, maybe it needs to be easier - maybe she's haunted by those visions as she's adjusting to life in the supernatural world?]

First Tear Down

Meanwhile, her trial commences among the Council, and lines are being drawn. [FJ: What lines? Between whom?]

Her judge knows Johanna did not act alone [ I didn't understand this part: the judge knows that Johanna didn't commit the crime since the judge did it anyway so.....? ]and if her co-conspirators aren’t careful, this prison break is about to land them all belly up in the heart of the beast. [Apparently there was a prison break? How did that come about? Where did the beast come from?]

Wrought with secrets, lies, heartbreak, and betrayal, will Johanna find peace in her ruling, or do the gallows await them all? {A little to "Omni POV, but let's wait on that one until the previous questions are sorted out]

Second Pass

The Mother will guide you. The dragon will call.

Johanna Kozak used to believe that, until her best friend was murdered on a reconnaissance mission gone awry. Now on trial for a crime she didn’t commit, Johanna knows her days are numbered, because being a half-breed in a Supernatural world is a death sentence unto itself.

When the verdict is in and the time come’s to make her choice, will Johanna find peace in her ruling, or do the gallows await them all?

Second Pass (cont’d)

The Mother will guide you. The dragon will call.

So here, we’re still not sure whose mother (Johanna’s mother? Mother as in Goddess? Earth? We are unfamiliar with the world. Dragon will call meaning on the phone? Or call like call to act? I’m not saying we need to explain it because I like the mysticism of the world those words evokes, but later (Johanna used to believe “that” - we aren’t seeing what exactly she’s believing. More concretely: “Johanna K used to believe the tales from her “mothers/fathers” people or “mystysisms” or “religion” or “laws” etc. We need to understand how those phrases are connected to Johanna.

Johanna Kozak used to believe that, until her best friend was murdered on a reconnaissance mission gone awry [I’m torn here. On one hand, I want to say we need to know reconnaissance for what, on the other hand, it evokes a spy feel where the mystery can be forgiven. Maybe you need to ground us a bit more - is she part of a sect that does something like assassinations or spying etc? We may need to take it out later, but see if you can add some grounding for what her ‘ordinary world’ is like].

Now on trial for a crime she didn’t commit [torn here: I know the crime is referring to the murder of the friend, but will a reader not familiar with the story connect the “murder’ from paragraph above to the crime?’]

Johanna knows her days are numbered, because being a half-breed in a Supernatural world is a death sentence unto itself. {Love how you're showing the conflict here, and her heritage! Fab job!]

Second Pass (cont’d)

Imprisoned in the bowels of the Council, the days blend together as the pain of reliving the past and the present collide—forcing her to question who she really is. And who she wants to be remembered as. A martyr who went down for a rebellion [suggest delete: to live on and fight another day—] against the injustice done to her people [we haven’t established who her people are and why there’s injustice or rebellion… We don’t need detail on this, just a smudge of more info in the paragraphs above - the pacing here is fantastic.] ? Or one of the last descendants of the dragon who can bring about a reckoning like the world has never seen? {Great showing!}

When the verdict is in and the time come’s to make her choice [chooice to be a martyr or to fight on? There was no choice presented earlier], will Johanna find peace in her ruling, or do the gallows await them all? {them all being who? I’d stick with Johanna herself in terms of how failure will effect her. Life and death are powerful.} Third Pass

The Mother will guide you. The dragon will call.

Johanna Kozak used to believe that, until her best friend was murdered on a reconnaissance mission gone awry, for a rebellion that was the only family she’d ever known. Now on trial for a murder she didn’t commit, Johanna knows her days are numbered, because being a half-breed in a Supernatural world is a death sentence unto itself.

Imprisoned in the bowels of the Council, the days blend together as the pain of reliving the past and the present collide—forcing her to question who she really is. And who she wants to be remembered as. A martyr who went down for a rebellion against the injustice done to half-breed’s—like her best friend? Or one of the last descendants of the dragon who can bring about a reckoning like the world has never seen?

When the verdict is in and the time come’s to make her choice, to die for the only cause she’s ever known or fight to live another day—will Johanna find peace in her ruling, or do the gallows await her at every turn?

Final: After author decided to go back to first person POV. Trial by Heist

The Mother will guide you. The dragon will call.

I used to believe that. I used to believe a lot of things.

My name is Johanna Kozak, and I have spent over a decade living in the shadows of our very dark world. I thought that if I ran fast enough, far enough, that I could outrun my past. Until my best friend was murdered by the same person who killed my parents, and I was the one framed for it. Now the Supernatural Council hold me prisoner, and if there’s one thing I know—it’s that being a half-breed in a Supernatural world is a death sentence unto itself. The Council Member who locked me up plans to execute me, but little does she know… she’s not the only one with friends in high places—and mine are planning a prison break.

Advice

 Don’t get stuck on cute-isms or flair when you’re coming up with your initial blurb. Stick to the basics.  Focus on creating a basic framework for your blurb. Think of it as the bare bones or the mannequin. Later, once it’s sound, you can dress your mannequin up however you like.  Make it visual like a movie trailer or painting a picture. Use terms with unambiguous definitions, verbs that convey action, and language that lends itself well to visualization.  For your first draft, don’t count words. Word count can be condensed during editing.  Don’t expect to get it right the first time. It will take several passes to craft a good blurb.