Tag: #Blurbs

Love it or Hate It, We All Need Help #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

 

May 29, 2023

We’ve talked blurbs before. Do you have any tips for writing blurbs?

Action words. Lots of action words. Limit passive words as much as possible. There isn’t a way to get rid of all of them, but careful word crafting can eliminate many of them.

Of course, the order you put those words in is important. That’s the tough part. I don’t remember how many revisions the blurb of my most recent release went thru, and how many people chipped in to help me fine-tune it. I have four files with different names and different versions. Blurb new, blurb new version, Rise blurb, and blurb final. Each file (except for the final one) has two or three drafts of the blurb.

The purpose of a blurb is to hook a potential reader by introducing the problem and hinting at the solution, without giving too much away. That’s my struggle-finding the line between the two.

Along with the blurb comes writing the tagline. Yes, there are folks who develop it before they ever start penning the story, but I often discover the tagline amid figuring out the blurb.

Here are a few of the taglines that were suggested for The Rise of Jake Hennessey: I have used 3 out of the 4 in publicity.

  • He’s a good man with an illegal hobby…
  • What does a semi-retired jewel thief do in his spare time? Help the victims of abuse disappear and start new lives, of course.
  • So much for retirement
  • Jake Hennessey: Bar owner (twice). Jewel thief (retired… almost). He’s a good guy, it’s just his hobby that’s illegal. Mostly. OK, completely.

So, my biggest tip for writing a blurb and tagline? Don’t be afraid to get assistance. It doesn’t even have to be from other authors, although they are a great resource. My cover artist has a great ear and helps me with both blurbs and taglines as well as creates brilliant covers.

I can’t reveal any great secrets for blurbs because I don’t know any! My best advice is revise, revise, revise. But perhaps some of the others on this blog hop can help. Check out their posts by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

May 29, 2023

We’ve talked blurbs before. Do you have any tips for writing blurbs?

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Your Title or Your Blurb – Which is Harder? #IWSG

  By IWSG

Time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post.
This month’s question:
What’s harder to do, coming up with your book title or writing the blurb?

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!

Back when I wrote poetry – some of it pretty good – I had the worst trouble coming up with titles. How to condense those few words I’d written down to two or three words? It seemed impossible!

But then I started writing fiction, and it was a new ballgame. The titles came to me before I’d even finished a first draft. That was especially true for books that were not the first in a series.

However, we won’t mention the book I’m working on now. The title is giving me a hard time. Well, the whole book is giving me a hard time. It’s a new genre for me, but I’m not giving up on it.

But blurbs are hell! And everyone has a different idea of what makes a good blurb. I can hand a draft of a blurb to three different authors and have it rewritten three different ways. How long should it be? Are all the verbs action words? Are all the adverbs eliminated? Have you left the reader with enough information to hook them without giving away the ending? Don’t forget to include keywords Amazon algorithms are looking for! Just when you thought you’ve got it right, a fourth person comes along with more suggestions.

I think you know where I am heading. Yeah, blurbs are harder. That’s my vote.

Just for fun, here’s the blurb I’m NOT going to use for my next book.

Jake Hennessey lived by his own set of rules

Always be nice to old ladies and little kids.
Always watch out for other drivers.
Always keep an eye out for the cops.
Never carry a gun.
Never sell drugs.
Never steal from the bride or groom at a wedding.
Never get too close to a potential target
Never stay in one place too long.

Then he met Harmony Duprie.

To find out what other authors think about this topic, checkout a few of the links below.

Until next time, please stay safe!