Spreading the Word About Blurbs

Are blurbs more effective in brick-and-mortar stores where prospective readers could pick up the book off a shelf and read the blurbs on the back cover or on one of the inside front pages? Or are they stronger on websites with catchy phrases to lure in potential readers?  

In other words, do they help readers find out what the book is about and generate sales? 

There are basically two types of blurbs. One is generated by the author or publishing house and generally found on the back cover.  Other blurbs are solicited by authors or publishing houses for use in an author's book. But there are exceptions. 

Gelett Burgess, an American humorist, author, and artist, coined the word in 1907, defining it as "a flamboyant advertisement; an inspired testimonial." He used it in the promotion of his book, "Are You a Bromide?" 

All of my novels have blurbs, written by me. Several include additional blurbs from others who read the advanced reader copy, and I've written blurbs on books for authors. I've read blurbs on digital and traditional books. And I've ignored some blurbs because they are basically sales pitches and generally over the top in praise. Not that there's anything wrong with that but most of us know the primary reasons they're used—to attract attention and increase sales.

When I write blurbs or ask for them, I prefer those that capture the essence of the novel in two or three sentences. If the blurbist (is that a word?) can do that, then there's no reason for any hyperbole. Believe me, it's difficult to do that in a few sentences.

But what do others say about blurbs?

The blogger Charvi maintains in a post that blurbs "can seriously make or break your book." She believes they give readers some knowledge about the book's genre; provide readers with an idea of what they're reading; and give a hint as to the writing style (of course, that depends on the author's blurb). 

A post on Busybird says the blurb "defines what the book is about in 200 words" and that it creates mystery but "mystery can't give the story away." In other words, arouse the reader's interest to read the book. 

Besides writing a good book worthy of readers, it takes a strong blurb and eye-catching cover art as well as word-of-mouth recommendations to gain a degree of attention in a packed and growing marketplace that had more than 750,000 books published in 2020.

I suppose I should add one more element to a book's success: luck. 

Until the next time . . .    

 

New Cover

Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to move forward. That's what the folks at Wings ePress have done with "Old Ways and New Days."

Since the novel is the first in the "John Ross Boomer Lit" series, the cover needed to redone to reflect the change. Digital artist Richard Stroud has designed the new cover, which I believe gives more of an idea of what is between the covers.

Old 

New

Besides the new artwork, Stroud has added the "John Ross Boomer Lit Novel" strip across the bottom and uses a similar font to the one used in "Darkness Beyond the Light." Those elements will continue forthcoming books in the series.

Coming up with a cover that says something about the book is as difficult as trying to say what a book is about in  30 words or less. Authors try to do that (most of us don't) since it is something that would fit nicely in a sound bite.

And if that's not the case, they want a back cover blurb (my publisher prefers 75 words or less)  that attracts potential readers. Just watch readers in a book store, library or some other place as they quickly scan blurbs to see which books they want to read—it's a quick process to capture their attention, or not.

So with the new cover, it's the hope that it will boost sales, especially from those who've read "Darkness Beyond the Light" but haven't read "Old Ways and New Days" because they will see the connection.

Until the next time. . . . 

Just a Blurb

Another item on my things to do for my upcoming book is to write a blurb.

It sounds simple but it’s not.

We’ve all heard the expression, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” but we all know that an alluring cover attracts readers.

And the blurb? Well, it does the same thing but on the back cover. It condenses the contents of the book into three or four paragraphs. If the cover art attracts potential readers, you want the written blurb to close the deal.

I’ve written blurbs for my five novels. This time it's a different challenge because it’s a short-story collection. The stories do have a connecting theme so that’ll be my focus. I'll share the blurb with you in a few weeks.

An author friend of mine, Teresa Reasor, shows a blurb draft that may appear on an upcoming novel in her blog, My Muse’s Musings. Check out her novels as well!

Until the next time…