Creating an effective blurb

[P.J.]

Hi, does anyone have a good experience to share, or any tips for creating a blurb that gives you the best chance of a customer buying or at least 'looking inside'? I change mine every other week, but nothing seems to work.

[Lorna]

Funny you should ask... I blogged on this subject this week: http://lornacollins-author.blogspot.c...

[Geri]

Jacob wrote: "Hi, does anyone have a good experience to share, or any tips for creating a blurb that gives you the best chance of a customer buying or at least 'looking inside'? I change mine every other week, b..."

The blurb for my first book took me at least a week to write. I'm on the third (final?) draft of my new novel and have already started trying to put a blurb together.

I think because these are so short we assume they ought to be easy. The truth is blurbs, like titles, are some of the hardest writing there is.

I covered it in my blog: https://rycardus.wordpress.com/2014/0... but I would add these tips --

1. Keep the focus on one character, what he / she wants, and the obstacles in the way. Tell us what's at stake.

2. Match the tone to the tone of the book.

3. Start with as big a description as you need and keep cutting it down till it just captures the essence of your tale.

4. As with all writing, put it aside for a week or so after you think you're done and then revisit it.

Good luck!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

If offering an ebook/digital edition, also consider how blurb/synopsis/description will look/read when readers are. shopping directly on eReaders. There's a character limit before clicking to see more.

(I'm guilty of screening past tons of ebook's on the kindle itself when exploring genre, lists, also enjoyed, etc. because no decent description on main screen of the book's page. I'm not paging through several screens — particularly screens of nothing but praises quoted from people I never heard of. — in hopes of finding something of interest when I already have a huge wishlist and TBR.)

[Gregg]

Oddly enough, for my first book anyway, I asked one of the book's beta readers to give me a synopsis. One of my editors--and lucky for me also my wife--Nancy made a solid effort. A couple of books later, I realized that what she wrote wasn't enough. There was a theme to my writing she had overlooked. And I wanted that contribution to be a part of my future announcements.

So it is, in the electronic and web editions (the book cover was not reprinted.) Geri makes a very good point re: putting it aside.

Writers tend, as a matter of business, to be somewhat self-absorbed. Time is important. But so also is maturity in the craft. Until then, I'm dependent on others having a part in the process, and try to take a long view.

[Anne]

Jacob wrote: "Hi, does anyone have a good experience to share, or any tips for creating a blurb that gives you the best chance of a customer buying or at least 'looking inside'?

I used the tips in Chapter 14 of the eBook, The Ultimate Guide To Kindle Publishing Using Microsoft Word by Rev Allen Smith and I've done well with his advice. He incorporates a lot of what Geri says above plus he gives you some HTML structure to use to make your description look professional and mirror Amazon's own structure.

[Shoshanah]

Geri wrote: "Jacob wrote: "Hi, does anyone have a good experience to share, or any tips for creating a blurb that gives you the best chance of a customer buying or at least 'looking inside'? I change mine every..."

Thanks for this thread. The info is very useful

[V.W.]

I've wondered about these "Can he get free?" "Will she find her way out" kind of blurbs. I've used them and I agree they can raise important story points to attract a reader. But the style has been used for a very long time. Does anyone think the style is too dated and turn today's buyers off? (Not saying they are, just looking for opinions).

[Jon]

Having trouble navigating the Goodreads site for authors. How to you arrange for the give-away for a novel coming out soon? If you have to send copies, where to? And you only get copies after the book is published. Has anyone tried the Goodreads advertising program based on clicks? Thanks. Jon Foyt

[T.R.]

I would also be interested, along with Jon, to know of people's experience with the advertising program based on clicks. I have seen it said this can be costly and not very worthwhile.

[Katheryn]

Amazon offers pay-per-click advertising. Based on your key words, they tell you it will cost a certain amount per click. It could be 5c or 10c. It isn't very much. The person clicking isn't necessarily a buyer, but you have to pay whether or not they buy, as long as they clicked.

You can set the time of day you want it and the parts of the world you want it.

I've been thinking of giving it a try ~ if I'd just quit writing long enough.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

I'd avoid the click-thru-ads that don't let you set the maximum amount you will pay for.

[Kathy]

Having trouble navigating the Goodreads site for authors. How to you arrange for the give-away for a novel coming out soon? If you have to send copies, where to? And you only get copies after the book is published.
Jon, go to goodreads.com/giveaway and sign in to your account and there is a notice on the top right to list a give-away. When the give-away is over, Goodreads will send you an email with the winners' name and address. You have to send the books quickly, so I would time your g/a for when you have the books to send to the winners. I try to ship them the day after the g/a ends.

[T.R.]

D.A — here to read books and be with other booklovers; I never agreed to be just a target for marketing and visibility campaigns wrote: "I'd avoid the click-thru-ads that don't let you set the maximum amount you will pay for."

I believe we all agree with you D.A. As you say we are not here to be a target but it is nice to find new books to read by people we may have gotten to know here or whose books we have previously found interesting. Of course this can be achieved through other sites but it is nice to have them pop up here where we are already.

You appear to also have some doubts about 'click-thru-ads'. I must admit I am still uncertain about them or how effective they may be.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

T.R. wrote: "...You appear to also have some doubts about 'click-thru-ads'. I must admit I am still uncertain about them or how effective they may be..."

Less "doubts" than just cautioning that you know what maximum fee you will be charged. Not something goodreads (or most reputable sites) does but there have been horror stories of authors getting hugely unexpected click thru bills or if they tied to a credit-card/bank-account auto-payed a hugely unexpected bill. Some oddly worded agreements out there.

And I probably need to re-work my profile name again; I actually didn't mean anything against click-thru ads or other advertising (I get that those ads keep many sites free) but rather the amount of stuff drowning out friend activities on the updates feed and the ubiquitous flooding of features with certain "visibility" agreement books no matter how many "not interested" options you click. Goodreads has gotten rather odd about pushing books at you saying because of friend activity that when you check friend activity it was something like 1-starring a book or shelving as "not for me" -- that was my irritation with being seen as a marketing target.

The click-thru ads effectiveness I expect are like other marketing efforts -- depends on the book, the genre and the site advertised on. Personally, I click-thru only if I recognize the URL and am wanting to support the site the ad appeared on. If I see an interesting book ad, I'll look up the book on goodreads or other book sites but not necessarily click-thru -- which I know is confusing for calculating effectiveness of the ad because hard to tell if impacted sales or downloads.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Just out of curiosity and not wanting to derail this thread -- do authors see the sales of their books by purchase/affiliate link? Meaning that if someone clicks the Amazon get-a copy link on goodreads or other sites/blogs do you see a report saying that x number of sales of your book came from y site?

Not sure if that should be a factor in ad decisions (would you advertise on sites proven to get you sales or would that mean you need to advertise more on sites not getting you sales?). Might indicate sites you'd want to keep an active author presence on...