Have to Write a Book Blurb? Some Tips to Make It Easier

Becoming a novelist is a major amount of fun, but also some hard work and unexpected challenges. Among the hardest thing is to sum the book up -- persuasively! -- in other words, to wonderfully summarize an entire novel in a few sentences. I know of terrific novelists who tear out their hair out trying to write these pithy, appealing blurbs. 

But such synopses are needed for book covers, Amazon pages, and author and publisher websites. They are often the one thing, along with cover art, that sells a book. If you, too, are tearing your hair out over writing your book blurb, here's a link to a pithy, appealing article about how to outline, write, and put sizzle into it:

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. It 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

Finally, here's my blurb for 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. 



Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.