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Did I forget to do our ‘weekly’ thread last week?

Yes. Yes I did.

You all have permission to throw tomatoes at me. 😛

 

This week, I’m going to have a look at how to write a blurb without all the tears and pain. Unless it’s just me who seriously dreads writing blurbs. 😅

 

First off, what is your blurb meant to do?

Your blurb is what someone will read (either on the back of your book, or beside it on an online retailer site) when they have a casual interest in the book. The blurb’s job is to intrigue them enough that they open the book up to the first page.

 

How can we do that? Three easy points.

We give the reader…

1. Someone to care about (aka the main character)
2. A reason to care (aka the main problem of the plot)
3. A hint at something bigger

It’s also good to make sure that the readers can tell what sort of story it is. Is it a romance? A spy story? A fantasy adventure story? etc.

 

I’m going to use one of my own blurbs as an example. It’s not my best work, but it’s good enough to serve its purpose in this lesson. 😛

 

Benjamin Kit has graduated from his years of training to Junior Agent in all but name. His finals are coming up in less than a month, and he knows he’s ready.

Here, we have someone to care about. It’s relatable to the target audience–older teens/young adults. End of school exams. Looking forward to stepping up into a real job.

 

When a mission takes an unexpected twist, Ben is thrown into something far bigger than any of his training prepared him for. With the whole agency at stake, he knows he must warn someone, but when he’s labeled rogue on false accusations, Ben has to choose between following orders and doing what he believes is right.

*dramatic music* Here, I’ve plunged right into the reason to care and a bit of the hinting at something more. While the vague phrasing doesn’t tell you much, it lets the readers know that Ben is thrown in the deep end and he’s got some big decisions on his hands.

Again, this is probably fairly relatable to the target audience, as that age group is when you’ve got to make a couple of pretty important life decisions. It’s also introducing what the main plot goal will be.

 

Ben has information that could save everything, but there are people who will go to all lengths to make sure that information is not shared with anyone. The lines start to blur between who is friend and who is foe, and people who Ben once would have said deserved no less than death are, somehow, the only people he has left to rely on.

And here we’ve got the ending paragraph, with a hint at something greater. a) Ben has info that can end the whole problem, but b) people are probably trying to kill him to make sure that doesn’t happen. Excited yet? 😛

 

 

When writing your blurb, the first paragraph of your synopsis can help you out a bit. The synopsis should start with a little info paragraph that tells the reader who the main character is, what they want, where the story is set, etc. And that’s the sort of information you need in your blurb.

e.g. The first sentence of my synopsis and my blurb for a different book is actually identical: In a society where imperfection means death, Michayla Glyn is a Unique: a defected, injured girl, hidden from the authorities since birth to protect her life.

 

And that’s about it! Share a blurb of your book below and we can critique each other’s work throughout the week too. 😀

 

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