Writing Blurbs, part two

Melissa commented on my Writing Blurbs post last week, asking for more hints and techniques on writing queries along with an example of a great blurb. When choosing one, I didn't hesitate. As anyone who knows me has heard umpteen times, my favorite book is Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost. Bones and Cat are the ultimate hero and heroine in my eyes and I think this blurb (along with the gorgeous cover) is what drew me in first.


Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.


In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.  


Standard blurb advice is to write one paragraph about your heroine and one about your hero, while nicely - and briefly - showcasing their conflict. Here both Cat and Bones are introduced in the first paragraph in dramatic fashion. Descriptive tags help a lot - "half-vampire" and "vampire bounty hunter" immediately show that these two could be at odds. Or if your hero is an arson investigator and your heroine an arsonist - boom, instant conflict, easily illustrated.

In the second paragraph, we get a short synopsis of the plot. From the word choices used, we get a sense of the author's style, which is imperative. Picking words with a lot of impact is so important. By mentioning how "sexy" Bones is, we learn this probably won't be a sweet romance. Phrases like "battle reflexes as sharp as his fangs" and "she's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner" help show that Jeaniene's writing will likely be fun and maybe a bit sarcastic. (Two reasons I love her!)

The blurb ends with the all-important conflict - Cat having to choose a side. That's why blurbs are SO crucial to selling a book to a reader. If there's nothing at stake for your characters in your blurb, there may not be much conflict in your book. And conflict is what makes a reader eager to flip pages.

Hopefully this helped a bit. I'll be revisiting this topic again, as it is one of my favorites. Thanks so much for the question, Melissa!

Writing Blurbs

Thanks so much for the questions posed last week for my Ask An Editor segment. I'll probably start answering one a week here on the blog very soon, so keep the questions coming! Every publishing house and every editor is different but I'm hoping my experiences will be informative.

This week, however, my topic is one of my favorites. Writing blurbs. I love, love, love writing blurbs! I know that a lot of writers don't enjoy them but I sometimes find them even more fun to write than the book. My advice for writing a strong blurb is pretty straightforward.

* Try to match the tone of your book with words that pack a lot of punch. Is your book sexy? Make sure your blurb oozes heat. Does your heroine have a quirky sense of humor? Try to convey that through your word choices.

* Show off your voice with action words. You're selling your book in the fewest words possible and this is definitely the time to skip the passive sentence constructions if you can. Make sure each sentence does double duty. Most epubs that I know of want your book's blurb to be 200 words or less. Sounds daunting, I know, but practice really does make perfect (or closer to it!) in this case.

* Save the in-depth story for the synopsis. Think of your blurb as the ultimate tease. You're trying to "pick up" your reader, so just hit the highlights while focusing on showcasing your voice.

One more great thing about the blurb? For a non-plotter like me, writing the blurb before I write the story has become a micro-capsule way for me to see where I might have a hole in a manuscript. Since I like ending blurbs on a "cliffhanger" - will she marry Bob or will she decide her life in Montana is all she needs? that sort of thing - I can sometimes spot where I have an undeveloped conflict between the H/h. If I can't find a way to make the conflict dramatic enough for the blurb, I might have a problem.

Since writing queries and blurbs are one of my favorite subjects, I'm sure I'll be visiting this topic again. Happy blurb writing!