The awesome co-hosts for the November 3 posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Victoria Marie Lees, Joylene Nowell Butler, Erika Beebe, and Lee Lowery!
This month's optional question: What's harder to do - coming up with your book title? Or writing the blurb?
Hoo boy!
That’s a toughie...
But for me it’s the blurb...
Even if you have a killer book title...
An agent or publisher might change it...
Unless that is...
You self-pub then — hoo boy—good luck!
While a book cover’s design and its title...
May catch a reader’s eye...
A great blurb...
If it’s done right...
Can catch a sale.
The blurb is actually a great marketing tool.
Besides using it on the inside jacket cover or back cover...
It can be used in query letters...
Social media to promote your book...
On your website...
And as enticements to reviewers,
Ahh...
But how do you write the blurb intriguing enough?
First it should be no more than 250 words...
And here’s a formula:
* Who is the main character, and what is going on in his/her life when the
story starts?
* What is the Big Problem?
* What are the biggest obstacles the main character has to face?
* What is at stake?
(source: https://jwmanus.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/the-formula-for-a-novel-blurb/)
So. there you have it...
Simple, no?
No!
At least not for me!
It takes me at least a hundred times...
Before I’m happy with it...
And actually...
I’m never happy with it...
Because I just can’t shut the internal editor off.
And if writing the blurb isn’t daunting enough...
Ever do a face-to-face pitch with an agent?
Trust me...
It’s sweaty palms & pits -I need a drink - daunting!
Or land on your ass...
Title or Blurb?
Always,
Em-Musing
10 comments:
Lol. You've made me feel stressed just reading this. (Well done!). Yeah, I could write and re-write the same blurb for as long as I live...
That's exactly it - the blurb is your greatest marketing tool. I'm fortunate that the blurbs I do now are for DLP books and I usually start with what the author sent in the query and we tweak it from there.
You're right about the blurb being a great marketing tool in many ways. I really like how you break down the basics of how to write one.
Make it a double - funny!
Titles are still tougher for me.
I had never thought of using the blurb of my book as a marketing tool.
All I can say is I keep landing on my ass. Thanks for the recipe and the link. :-)
Anna from elements of emaginette
Making an intriguing blurb is key and challenging.
Simple, no, for sure! As always, you make me laugh! Thanks for the good information, Leigh!
Oh, I agree! The pressure to have a good blurb is brutal!
Looks like you write women's fic, too! I just started writing seriously about a year ago, but my first novel (yet unpublished) is definitely in that genre.
Oh! And then there's the logline and tagline if you'd like to cut your story down even further! Haha!
♥.•*¨Elizabeth Mueller¨*•.♥
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