I have just finished the draft of my new novel, which has settled itself on the title ‘Journeyman Joe’, and I must now work on the blurb. This is often more difficult for a writer to achieve than a decent story, and gives many of us a headache to end them all.
The blurb is that text the potential reader sees after looking at the cover. It’s on the back cover for when people pick up the print book, and it’s on the book’s Amazon/other store page if it’s published that way. It’s a vital incentive for any interested party to delve further, and usually they will go next to the first page, so that needs to be good too. But that’s another story.
So, how do you go about putting together a blurb? It will be different for everyone, but here’s how I do it, and it’s not always in the same way.
What a blurb is not.
Unknown to some who use all of Amazon’s character spaces, a blurb is not a book’s synopsis. They are even more difficult to write.
A blurb is also not a detailed summary of the plot.
It’s not a review of the book either, nor is it a lengthy report to be turned in to the teacher first thing on Monday morning.
So, what is a book blurb?
It is a short and persuasive sales pitch to potential buyers.
The aim of the blurb is to arouse curiosity and lure the would-be reader towards the cash register.
It is made up of four components, or at least it should be. I’ve seen some run on for a page or more. Therefore, it’s important to keep the word count below 250, maximum.
What are the four components of a blurb?
The pedant in me wants to say, letters, words, punctuation… and it is very important to get them right, but you can’t do that until you have made clear:
* The Hook. The tagline. The impactful few words that stop people scrolling.
* The Main Character. The protagonist, or plural if you have two. No more, though. Two is complicated enough in 250 words.
* The Conflict. There is no drama without conflict, so you need to highlight any change in status quo (not the rock band), and point up what’s at risk, and what’s going to get your potential reader saying, ‘Oh my,’ and reading more.
* The Stakes. The tease. The ‘What if the main character fails?’
What should not be in there?
No spoilers, no plot twists, no backstory because no-one’s interested in that at this point. Nothing fancy to show off your grasp of language, and no subplots, brilliant though they may be.
Right then. How do you put together a blurb?
Well, first, you decide when to write it. Sometimes, I’ve written a blurb before I start on the book. This is a way of keeping yourself in check. You can refer to it as you go, to ensure you keep the four main elements of character, plot, crisis and resolution.
Sometimes, I write it as I am writing the book itself.
More usually for me, I write it after I have finished the draft and before I send it to my proofreader (always a good idea to have your blurb proofed).
During whichever process, the blurb changes as you develop the story, but if you are telling the story you planned, the main elements should always be foremost in your mind. Then, once you’ve got your loins girded and your baldrick slung, you can take on the blurb proper.
Write four paragraphs.
I write out the plot points I want to get across in the blurb, and try to keep the limit at four. I expand those into a load of gobbledegook, but at least everything I want to say is in there. For example:
ONE. The, as yet, off the top of my head blurb for ‘Journeyman Joe’ starts like this:
Spring 1895. In the rural Kent village of Runton, Joe Webster is nearing the end of his blacksmith’s apprenticeship when the churchwarden commissions him to build a traditional casket for the church records. However, it must contain a secret compartment with access known only to them.
Needs work. A lot. But we’ve met Joe; we know where and when and what, and we have the seemingly innocent yet mysterious task. Once worked, this opening should tighten the hook: why a mysterious task? However, there’s no potential conflict. That comes next.
TWO. Then, because this is an MM romance first, and a mystery second, I need to get in the ‘impact’ character; the one who is to stir up Joe’s life, cause the drama (internal and external), while innocently going about his business. This chap’s called Harvey Cade, and it’s important to mention the name only if you are going to use it again in the blurb. Don’t use it once and then call him by his job title, ‘The archdeacon’s investigator’ (or whatever). Consistency is the key, but you can also get in what the character is if necessary. When the archdeacon’s investigator, Harvey Cade, arrives in the village… Job done. Better done by adding a stop! You do this by breaking the rules of British public-school grammar: Never start a sentence with a conjunction. But when the archdeacon’s investigator… We have already seen a more acceptable pause in our reading in the first paragraph with However… (Don’t actually write that ellipsis; it will look tacky.)
THREE. Next comes the conflict, and in this case, it’s more to do with forging an illegal relationship than it is to do with the mysterious box. My current gobbledygook looks like this:
There is much gossip about Joe turning down a girl everyone thought he would marry, and the involvement of Mr Cade and the secret activity of the parish council. Only Joe can unlock the casket and reveal the truth – but he also has to decide his future.
Bare bones need resetting and, in places, fleshed out, but that’s the gist, and it’s more or less all we need for now.
FOUR. The stakes, the tease, the… rest of it. Vital to the story is village gossip, because the stakes here are that two men heading towards same-sex love (and nookie) were completely illegal, not to say shameful, in Britain in 1895. The stakes are obvious, but might need some detail, and as my story takes place at the time of the Oscar Wilde trials, there’s my comparison, because we all know what happened to him. At least, if you don’t, you should go and read up on it.
I also need to leave behind a feeling of what happens next, and how will it all end? You start with a hook, and, similarly, end with one. Or end by adding bait. Remember, your game here is to lure $4.49 from the pockets of the discerning potential reader.
With four paragraphs of probably too detailed nonsense under your baldrick, you can then start editing. This, for me, is the fun part.
But… (I did that on purpose) You must remember to use impact words. Cut down or add in, as long as every word counts, and you have your impactful words.
Joe Webster is keen to pass his apprenticeship. No. Joe Webster must, has no option to, or is desperate to pass, succeed in, get through (no, survive), etc. You see where I am going?
A book blurb should be impactful, yet not made up of smash, bang, wallop, take that, you cad! to the extent we cringe.
It should be short. In fact, start by thinking about those taglines you see with films. My favourite is for Jaws 2: “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.” Or, more appropriately for Journeyman Joe, The Shawshank Redemption: “Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”
I sometimes use such a tagline atop the blurb. Other times, I use a quote from the book itself. It’s the part when you read it back to yourself that makes you go, ‘Ah ha! That’s what this is about.’
For an example, see Guardians of the Poor, the first in my Larkspur Mysteries. There, I quote the mentor character from the story with: “The greatest gift one man may give another is his trust.”
When you’re editing, chop out anything you think unnecessary to the potential buyer, change words to be more impactful, and if you’re having trouble, just write exactly what you want to say, and then cut it down to what you need to say.
Yes, it is that easy (not), and no, you will never be happy with it. But… (I’ve done it again), the joy of self-publishing is that you can always change it later. Maybe not on the cover, but certainly on the Amazon or wherever page.
Should I use AI to write my blurb?
Only if you want it to sound like every other AI-produced blurb, and get looks down the noses of writers with talent and persistence enough not to resort to asking a computer to do their work.
However, where AI is acceptably useful is in providing ideas. To get a decent result, you need to outline everything you want your blurb to say before you make the request, else all those bot bytes will vomit back all kinds of patronising rubbish. Mind you, you’ve already just done the hard part and summarised your work enough for a computer to understand, so you may as well finish the job yourself. You could ask it to make suggestions of what would be more impactful, but don’t then just steal the text. Take a few impact words, perhaps, but make the sentences your own. If you only copy and paste, you are copying legions of non-writers who churn out computer-generated garbage and call themselves an author. (Do not get me started.)
Instead, I will stop there, and hope this piece will be of use to someone somewhere.
For more of my thoughts on how to write a novel, blurb, and the rest, see the list of previous articles under the Author Tips link in the top menu.
