Rethinking Your 'Back of the Book' Blurb by Judy L Murray

Ever wonder how different authors tackle writing their back of the book blurbs? I consider the book blurb a critical component to my overall marketing effort, and I like nailing down my descriptions long before I begin writing the manuscript. They serve as a neat synopsis for me. Then I tweak the blurb right down to the final edit stage.

This time I handled my blurb for my fourth in the Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series differently. I couldn’t get the words out, so I set it aside until the manuscript was complete. I also did some research on how other authors handle blurbs. It led me to a book entitled Fiction Blurbs – The Step-by Step Guide by Phoebe J. Ravencraft and Bryan Cohen.

Let me say upfront that my bookshelves hold plenty of writing guides collected over the years. I’m sure you have them too. More often than not, I’m disappointed. They frequently ramble, focus on the author, or are far too basic.

Fiction Blurbs gets five stars from me. My copy of the book is riddled with highlighted phrases and caused me to reconsider my approach. It also served as a resource for evaluating my overall storyline. I think many book blurbs, even written for/by extremely well-known authors, could use a few of these pointers.

Here are brief recaps of some of Fiction Blurbs’ lessons:
• Book blurbs have one job – to get the reader involved.
• A book description is not a summary. I’ve fallen into this trap as have many authors.
• Evoke images.
• Ramp up the story’s tension with each sentence or phrase.
• Your main character is the focus of your blurb. Don’t use names of any other character to distract. Big mistake on my part.
• The plot doesn’t matter. It only provides the protagonist’s challenge. Readers care most about characters. Show them why they should root for your main character.
• Use active, powerful verbs.
• Show, don’t tell. The Golden Rule when we’re writing our manuscripts. Do we forget this when we write book blurbs?

Below is my blurb ‘headline’ for Villian in the Vineyard scheduled for spring release and the second paragraph using much of Fiction Blurb’s advice.

Chesapeake Bay’s favorite sleuth unearths a vineyard’s poisonous secrets
Her phone rings. Her heart sinks. A local business leader and friend is dead. Last to see him alive, Helen convinces police her friend’s death is no accident. It’s murder. Days later, she discovers an eccentric vineyard owner slashed with a bottle of his prized wine. Two distinctly different backgrounds. How can these two crimes be related? Or are they?

Best of luck with your descriptions! Who else has advice or books you might suggest?

Judy L Murray
Learn more at https://www.judymurraymysteries.com