Welcome to synopsis hell

I’ve been playing with the back cover text of Third Willow on and off for the past two months. The cover is done, thanks to Mallory Rock, the world’s best book designer. (Scroll down to see the cover of Third Willow.)

Writing back cover text is tantamount to writing Shakespearean prose. Not only does it take real talent and a touch of brilliance to do it right, it also requires diligence; namely diligence over not relying on cliched or overused text. So much back cover text out there sounds the same.

The tricky part, for me anyway, is to walk the fine line between great writing and solid marketing. Often times, the back cover text (as well as synopsis that appears online at retail venues such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and all of the other websites used to promote books) is all readers have to decide whether or not what’s in between the book covers is worth their time.

What many readers don’t know is that traditional publishers don’t require their authors to write back cover text much less supply them with marketing materials. Self-published authors and some independents have no other choice. There’s no one else to do it, unless you hire someone.

I used to hate that–primarily because all of the promotional materials including synopses and back cover blurbs for my books that I had published the conventional way were not done by me. BLUFF was the first book I had to actually write the back cover text for. And after many failed attempts and frustrating beatings on my computer mouse, I came up with the one you read today. And I’m damned proud of it.

I think it not only gives readers a sample of my writing style. It also effectively works as a marketing tool to sell the book.

Now I’m faced with the same challenge for Third Willow, my coming-of-age novel that comes out later this year. I took great care in writing this novel. Well, not that I didn’t with my first novel, but this one…well, it’s a delicate soul, unlike BLUFF, which is a survivor. I want everything having to do with Third Willow to be perfect. It has to have the best chance coming out into this world. And in order to ensure that, I need to take my time to create an engaging, authentic and touching synopsis.

So, here I sit, in synopsis hell until that happens. I’ll keep you posted.