Read this article closely, follow its advice, and watch your career reap the rewards. How to write an irresistible book blurb in 5 easy steps. To help prevent you from falling into this unfortunate group, weve put together a few tips that should help you write a winning book blurb, whether its for the latest fantasy novel or for a nonfiction selfhelp guide. A mobile phone is required to confirm your sign up. Its called 7 simple steps to nailing your book blurb and will guide you through crafting your novel blurb in a series of 7 easy steps. Basically, the name of the game with a blurb is to entice readers to buy your book. Its safe to say that a wellwritten blurb is absolutely essential to your poetry book s overall success and reputation. How to write a blurb that hooks readers and converts to. How are you supposed to condense an entire novel into a few lines or paragraphs.
All you have to do is provide me with some information and i will write one undeniably catchy blurb. Chose from several free tools or use adobe indesign or. Writing a book blurb for your back cover, and other promotional uses, is one of the hardest steps for many authors. October 19, 2010 blurb, the creative publishing and marketing platform, today announced the release of blurb bookify, an online bookmaking tool designed to streamline the creation of beautiful, highquality photo books. The five s of blurb writing check these 5 awesome tips editage. Read the books you know or want your book to be compared to. For most, handwriting becomes automatic, so they can concentrate more on the content of their writing rather than on the. No doubt, for your book, having an intriguing blurb is as important as having a great cover, an intriguing title and your story professionally edited thats why, if youre serious about your writing, you should devote a bit of time to learn how to write a blurb in fact, if the cover, well, the thumbnail version of it, is essential to catch a perspective readers eye, then its.
These may be used for an interview, a book jacket, or even an event program in. Once your book has finished uploading, your browser will launch and you will be taken to blurb. Make sure this deadline is a week or more before you actually need the copy. The kit includes paper samples for these format types.
As i mentioned in the previous article, is that this incredibly important aspect to the book, is often overlooked and left to the last minute. But fear not, because theres a secret science to writing the perfect book blurb. Foe is set in the near future, and is narrated by junior, who lives with his wife henrietta on a remote farm. Write down what, specifically, you loved about the book, what spoke to you, and, if you know your own project well, how your book and theirs intersect. If you want instruction on how to write a professional biography from someone who actually cares. To write a good blurb, you have to make it short and exciting, yet relevant. When you hear about authors being asked to blurb a book, its this endorsement theyve been asked to provide. You might find something that fits your books requirements. Sarah reads her grandfathers journal in stunned disbelief.
Some books contain fonts that are not licensed for ebook use. In sextons blurb, one cant help but hear an additional echo of plaths the blood jet is poetry. Work by convincing readers to take a chance on it, or. How to write a blurb for your novel peter reys blog. Upload and order a book from booksmart help center. Other than the cover, it is the other most important selling feature of a book. Searching for a cute quote to say congratulations and wish your teacher a happy retirement. How to blurb someones book by bill ferris is the definitive blurbing guide to blurbing books and, if necessary, to blurbing blurbs, making this blurb the definite blurb of the blurbing guide to blurbing blurbs and books. Kinnells landmark the book of nightmares was published in 1971. The book blurb, or the book description, is one of the most important marketing issues an author needs to address. Blurb distinct from the back book cover blurb is this 12 line endorsement of a book by a celebrity or another author that sits on the book s front cover. It matters not only what a blurb actually says but who said it and when.
I just started a new facebook group for writers and am offering an exclusive toolkit to members. When writing a novel, there are few selling tools as important as a solidly written book blurb. Tips on how to write a good book blurb by author tina. Visit a bookstore, browse through blurbs for all genres. Once potential readers are drawn in by the fabulous cover of a novel, their next. The blurb that appears on the back cover of your book, and on your amazon page, will either. Blurb is a basic service useable for basic book printing.
When you buy a swatch kit, your confirmation email will include a discount code equal in value to the price of. Formatting your book blurb for amazon self publishing on. A synopsis is typically one or two pages detailing the plot and character arcs in your story, including spoilers. Students will write a blurb for home of the brave, following the guidelines and suggestions offered by the teacher or arising out of class discussions. Set a reasonable deadline and follow up with your potential blurb sources, but dont be a pest. The blurb of your book is the second thing a potential reader will look at after the coverso take the time to get it right. We dont offer free books or free paper samples but you can view our paper and book customization options by doing one of the following. A blurb is a short summation of your nonfiction book or novel to help readers decide if they want to invest the time in reading it. Even if they get a lot of blurb requests, saying yes isnt a huge time commitment. In this post, lucy mccarraher shares her five backcover essentials for any nonfiction book. New writers might think blurbs come from interested, wellwishing, famous authors who have gotten their hands on a book early and who are rushing in to exclaim that eureka, a new star is born. So there are 1,000 photos id have to skim through while also looking back at my blog posts to see which photos go to which post. You can decrease the size of the image on the page or use a different image altogether. The publishers blurb refers to this book as an existential crime novel.
Fail to engage your target readers in that sense, a good blurb is anything but subjective. Your book blurb aka online description, like your dating. Improve your vocabulary with english vocabulary in use from cambridge. Buy friend or foe by michael morpurgo from waterstones today. Students will consider the themes of the book and integrate at least one in their blurb. While creating your booksmart or bookwright book, look for the ebookfriendly fonts list in the font dropdown menu. The most common issues with blurb are around customer service, which is not as good as expected by some customers. Lucy is the author of three novels and five selfhelp books, the managing editor of rethink press, the entrepreneurs publisher, and publish mentor of key person of influence uk.
Not all accounts will qualify for free samples your profile is matched with samples, but you can check back every month for another chance. Most run several paragraphs, but some publishers want them shorter or in a special format so be sure to check with your publishers guidelines before you begin work. Second, when i have all my endorsements in hand, i publicly thank the author on facebook. Register or login to the sampler app to be matched with free samples. A blurb also referred to as a synopsis or a glossary is the summary of the story found on the back cover of a book. Thirst by bestselling author claire farrell, author of over a dozen speculative fiction novels. Friend or foe is a gripping world war ii story from war horse author and former childrens laureate michael morpurgo. They can skim your book and make sure its good enough to recommend, and write something catchy and simple in just 5 minutes. Friend and foe by galinsky and schweitzer financial times.
This book is an excellent resource to students, educators, and aviation enthusiasts. Your blurb will be an important part of your marketing. Get a feel for how text and photos actually print with both color and black and white images. However, blurb has licensed a set of fonts you can use royaltyfree. How to write a blurb for your nonfiction book self. Purchase a swatch kit that contains samples of all the different blurb papers with photos and text printed on them. The 5 core elements of a book blurb and why you should. Authors will often just write a little miniversion of their book, outlining the story, rather than write a proper description that includes a real hook for pulling.
How to write an interesting bio blurb this is a satirical article. Create, print, and sell professionalquality photo books. How to write a blurb that hooks readers and converts to book sales ive been doing more research for one of my books that isnt selling well. A blurb is the book description you find on the back of a book or online to describe a books contents. The blurb can also be a sentence or two of glowing praise written by a fellow author to help market your book, but for this article well focus on the copy that appears on the back cover of a book. How to ask for a book blurb bittersweet book launch. Whenever someone agrees to consider blurbing your book, give a polite deadline if you enjoy the book, id appreciate your comments by oct. But there are a few tricks to making your blurb a successful part of your book s marketing.
A simple outline for writing a killer book blurb ink and. It has free book making tools for everyone from the beginner to the pro level. The blurb on the back of the book says that it will touch your heart. I have been a long time user but they are unable to print photo books true to the original images. The best way to determine how your images look in print is to order a single blurb printed copy of your project. Take ideas from this post to write an inspirational message that says thank you to the person who spent a lifetime educating young minds to give them a better life. In this post, we tell you how to write a book blurb in five easy steps. A blurb is the description of the story found on the back cover of a book. I have written thousands of back cover, inside flap, e book page book descriptions and author bios for fiction and nonfiction books. Make sure you supply me with a general synopsis as well. How to get blurbs for your book from famous authors.
Learn the words you need to communicate with confidence. As part of my thanks, i tout their most recent book. Books created using bookify already use a portion of these fonts, so no need to change anything. How is it that a writer can write a story spanning tens of thousands of words but stumble at a 250300 word book blurb describing it. How to write a blurb back cover copy marilynn byerly. Print an image directly on the front and back cover. Grade 5 lesson on blurbsadapt by using whatever book. See more ideas about blurb book, scrapbook page layouts and scrapbooking layouts. If youre in need of a book description blurb for your e book or print book, place your order today. Much of modern life seems geared towards forcing us to compete rather than cooperate.
Its briefno more than 100150 wordsand creates interest in the story without giving away major spoilers or the ending. How to write a blurb for your nonfiction book following the article how to write a blurb for your fiction book is writing a blurb for a nonfiction book. How to write a blurb for your nonfiction book blurb blog. A reclusive hybrid vampire is forced to reacquaint herself with the human world in order to rid herself of an accidental slave problem. Every blurb writer needs to know their audience and what the reader is looking to buy. Writing a book blurb is a little like online dating, i suppose. Whereas novels focus on creating intrigue and use blurbs that attempt to lure in the reader, blurbs for nonfiction books need to take a different approach. This is a very flexible system, then, and should be able to cater to most of the key writing packages used in the office or home. Some samples being offered right now are primal kitchen nodairy vodka sauce. This specificity is important, because you wont just be writing a fan letter when you ask for a blurb.
How to write a blurb definition, examples, and more blurb blog. When you buy a swatch kit, your confirmation email will. Put simply, being concise is hard, and being concise about something you know insideandout can seem downright impossible. You can make one book for your own use or selfpublish and sell it on their bookseller platform. A blurb is a short description of a book used for promotional purposes but this blobby word is often shorthand for a book endorsement from another author. Your book blurb must be wellwritten to get a readers attention. Sell your book in the blurb bookstore, through amazon, or in the global retail network of over 38,000 retailers, libraries, and schools. Blurb is a little different from the standard photo book companies. It also lists the most common mistakes for back cover copy and gives examples of successful blurbs that have reeled in readers.
Create, print, and sell professionalquality photo books, magazines, trade books, and ebooks with blurb. Its fair to say that she knows a thing or two about how to write a blurb that sells. You have 15 days for someone either you, your friends, or your clients to order your book before we remove it from the site, and a copy is purchased, the book will remain on blurb. Foe is a tale of implacably mounting peril that feels all the more terrifying for. Within bookify, users will find a curated collection of the most popular layouts, fonts, and design elements for book creation. Creating a book blurb, while still technically writing, is closer to a science than an art. The boy in the striped pyjamas, friend or foe is a novel that takes children to the heart of a tumultuous period in history. Their technical staff is obtuse and they use a biased color profile. These include blurb booksmart, online photo book options, adobe indesign, adobe lightroom, pdfs, addins for ms word, blurb mobile or samsung story album. Browse and buy self published books blurb bookstore. Some of our book making tools allow you to autofix the issue with the click of a button. The proline uncoated is usually far beyond the affordability of the colouring book collector.
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