How the blurb is no longer enough
As my children get older and develop their own tastes and interests, it is fascinating to see how the younger generation like to access their entertainment. It is useful to me as a publisher and author to take note of these changes in viewing and reading habits.
What I have garnered is that consumers are no longer satisfied with a brief written description of a book, app or product to base their purchase upon. My son will expect to view a short video before he downloads an app, even if it’s free. The same now goes for books too.
Not only do we need to provide an extract from the novel, so readers can tell if the writing style is acceptable to them, it is also useful to produce a book trailer, which integrates a description of the themes and plot of the novel along with some kind of visual and audio stimulus. I have done this with all twelve of my books. With modern technology it is a fun and fairly straightforward process. But it is necessary for modern media platforms.
We are becoming more choosy about how we spend our money. So readers need as much information as possible to make a decision. The blurb is still crucially important but on its own it may no longer be quite enough.
