Have you ever tried writing one? I have, and I’m awful at it! Thank goodness for editors and publishers and people with vision. Really and truly, I think they might be more creative than I am, for sure. Perhaps these are the folks who should be writing books. I do have a guide to study, though, for my next foray into attempted book blurb writing. Meanwhile, there is this one crafted for my soon to be published, officially, Dancing with the Sandman. If you have any ideas on book blurb writing, please share. The book cover is still in progress.
Hell or High Water Meets The Last Picture Show
In this tragicomedy set in the turbulent 60s of West Texas, Billie Jo Dunstan comes face-to-face with the sandman. Echoes of the past dance in dusty swirls of memories of rural Texas where the past and small town life still survive well beyond the superhighways and the ratcheting progress of the present. The sandman is everywhere—blowing life and death, happiness and sadness.
During the Binky days, I had a tricycle; I was about three years old. It was bright, shiny red, and ready to go. Sidewalks were longer then than they are now, and many more paths ran alongside them. On a sidewalk in those days, you could travel from city to city or make your own parking lot. I was blessed with the gift of imagination, which let me tell you, in this part of the country, it’s a darn good thing. Armed with this gift, I could spend all day going to the post office, the grocery store, and the laundromat: places I found worth going to. I never thought where the sidewalk or the highway might end, or that they would even leave Knoxford County, Texas. I did learn eventually that they did, indeed, go beyond that, and as I was to find out much later, this was both good and bad in many ways.
–a sheer gift of imagination and creativity
–stream of consciousness at its best
–a story which will find you laughing and crying at the same time
No clue!
A great blurb or what we once referred to as a synopsis. Thank you L.T.
Thank you, Holly. I remember it being called a synopsis….
I was a teacher of English once-upon-a-time. In that guise I would tell you there are too many words for a ‘blurb’. Delete all extraneous words. Review each sentence for ease and clarity of reading. Then you are good to go as the imagery is enticing.
Good points, Pauline. I guess blurb practice makes perfect….at some point 😀
I have zero expertise in the area of writing blurbs, but I rely on them when I pick out books I want to read. I think it needs to HOOK potential readers, get them interested. Without giving away too much (no spoiler alerts), I want it to tell me who the main character is, the premise of the book, and what challenges she will face. Who is Billie Jo? Why is she returning to Texas? What does she need to do or accomplish there? What is the significance of the sandman and her encounters with him? Hope that helps. 🙂
Sort of the journalistic, who, where, what, when, but with a hook up front. I will be working on that. Thanks Joan!
I struggle with these too, Lana. I write 2 of them. One is for the paperback cover, which is about 150-175 words. The other is the one that shows on the Amazon description which can be much longer. I found this great article on writing summaries a while ago and bookmarked it. Hope it’s helpful: https://janefriedman.com/amazon-book-description-optimize/ Happy Writing!
Thanks so much for sharing that link, Diana. I guess it is not a fun type of writing, probably sounds too much like work for me 😀 I can’t wait to check it out 😀
The blurb you wrote looked fine to me, Lana. That link is just something to keep in your back pocket. 😀
I didn’t write that one, Diana, they did it for me. I need to learn to write them. Thanks so much for sharing information 😀
Lana, how exciting!! 😀😀When will your book be out? When is the cover reveal? As you can tell I’m not a patient person…can’t wait to learn more about ‘Dancing with the Sandman’. I really like your blurb, enticing, interesting, sets the tone and era with atmosphere…personally I have no experience of writing blurbs. Seems you’ve got some sound advice here and I’m going to take a look at the link Diana posted and save it! Good luck with finishing the blurb and getting your book out there! ❤️
Hi Annika, thanks so much. I have has this book for awhile, but couldn’t do much with it so I turned it over to a small publisher. It should be out soon along with another children’s book I have of rhyming poetry. It’s Crystal Publishing who also previously did my Confessions of a 4th Grader book. They wrote this blurb for me, but it’s another thing I have to learn and get on board with. It seems there are so many things to do that it’s hard to write. I will give you an update as soon as I know 😀
Most important, I suppose, is to suggest the journey the book will take you on and what you’ll get from the voyage …
Good point, Dave. Thanks very much 😀
Book blurbs definitely aren’t easy, Lana. I think practice makes better, though. You probably already know this, but here’s a link (http://authorsociety.com/17-tips-how-write-blurb-sells) that might help. Good luck! (And how exciting about the new book — best wishes with much success!)
Thank you, Debbie. I will be happy to check out the link in my blurbing studies. There are so many things to do, who has time to write? Likewise, best wishes and much success to you!
I’m rubbish at it too so you have my sympathy, but the very best of luck with your books. Writing and watching your creation start its journey into the world of readership is one of the great adventures I always think
Thanks Peter. I guess it just takes some practice. Not my favorite type of writing 😀
I admire your determination on this adventure. May you experience success.
Thanks Dee. I’ll give the promotion thing a shot and see what happens. Hope you are having a great week 😀
Most self published authors dread the ‘blurb’ writing. There are several great articles on doing so but the main pointers are to keep it to 1-2 paragraphs max (not more than 150 to 200 words max) hook the reader by introducing the protagonist, the plot summation and leave the reader hanging with a question at the end, ie: ‘Will Billie Jo ………? I hope this helps. 🙂 Make them want to find out what will happen.
Good advice, Debby. As you can see, it’s not my favorite type of writing, but I have received some valuable tips that I know will help. Thanks for sharing yours 😀
Most welcome Lana. 🙂 Good luck!
Thanks Debby!
🙂
Hi Lana, book blurbs are tough! How do we summarize our whole manuscript in about 200 words?! A tough task. But great news about your upcoming book ~ wishing you all the best 🙂
They are definitely a challenge to write. Thanks so much, Christy!
Oh my goodness! Lana, I love this blurb with excerpt from your book! I am a big fan of realism mixed with dreaming of a better life. I used to just advise my local library, using purchase requisition forms but have “given in” to buy books. . . So far I have five new ones from fellow bloggers. Each month, I am trying to add them and will then take a mass photo with my own brief summary reviews. So challenging to support others on a very small budget! Hugs and best wishes sent your way, Lana. xo
Thank you, Robin. I am new to book blurb writing, and the publisher has suggested I learn, ha ha. How fun to get to work in conjunction with a library. It seems you live in a such a neat, little community as seen from your posts and photos. I hope to live in a more “artsy” type of community someday. There are so many talented and wonderful creative people on WordPress, writers, artists, photographers, poets. They do have such admirable work out there. I think it is so gracious of you to endeavor to collect some of the books written by WordPress authors, I know they will be honored to have you review their work. Hugs and best wishes to you, Robin. xoxo
Oh! How awesome to have your book published, Lana! 🙂 Many congratulations!!!
As far as I know the saying “short but sweet” covers as much about book blurbs as I know 😉 When I pick up a new book, I almost always turn to the first page though to see if I like the style. Your title is fantastic! So you will have no problem getting it sold 🙂
Thanks so much, Sarah. I am so new to all this book marketing, it is certainly overwhelming. I usually turn to the 1st page also to gain an opinion. Sometimes, I read passages of this book and cringe, but hopefully a few people might like it. I think I will work on writing something totally different 😀
I can imagine! You must be so thrilled! 🙂 And it´s an artist´s curse to be never quite satisfied what we accomplish – don’t be too harsh with yourself, Lana!
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