Have to Write a Book Blurb? Writing 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 things in writing fiction is to sum up your book -- persuasively! -- in a few sentences. I know some terrific novelists who tear out their hair at this point.

But such short summaries are needed for a book's back cover, Amazon page, author website, and publisher site. They're used everywhere in social media to sell a book, and are probably as important in doing that as cover art. Here's an article that gives some good writing advice:

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 that 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

And here's the blurb I wrote (with my publisher, editors, and advisers)  for my novel, The Renaissance Club:

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 18 0 131231 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Palatino; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611969 2013274202 341835776 0 403 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Palatino; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p {mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} </style></div>--><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Would you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with your soul mate?</b></span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">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.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><br /><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Renaissance Club is forthcoming from from <a href="https://www.fieryseaspublishing.com/&... Seas Publishing</a> in 2018.  </span></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c64HcW-QyV..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="451" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c64HcW-QyV..." width="215" /> </a></div><br />#amwriting #writingadvice #bookblurbs #nomore-hairtearing-out<div class="blogger-post-footer">Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus. </div>