The Blurb: What's It All About?

So you just finished your writing project. Good job, but this is no time to put your pen down, as there's still more writing to be done. And if you think writing a 90,000 word project is tough, try condensing that work into ten sentences. Yes, you read that right: ten sentences. Technical types call this tight little brick of text the "book description", but most others call it the "blurb". 

The Blurb Defined

The blurb is a key selling point for your book. It's the brief description on your book's back cover -- emphasis on brief. Many readers browse books, which is to say they skim the blurbs. To be effective, your blurb needs to: (1) hook the reader, (2) get the point of your book across, and (3) leave the reader wanting more.

Hooking The Reader

You can think of a hook as either of the following: an instrument to catch fish, or a sweeping punch to the jaw. Regardless of the definition, a hook is something that quickly gets someone's attention.

The hook is the single most important element. No matter how captivatingly brilliant your work may be, no one will read it if you fail to snag potential readers at first blush. It should be one of the first -- if not the first -- things the reader sees. Thus, you'd better make it a great one.

A well-written hook does more than demand attention. It reaches out and shakes the reader by the collar of his shirt. It's probably also the hardest element on which to offer advice. It helps to have a firm understanding of your work and other books in your genre when writing a compelling hook. Ultimately, your hook needs to pique the reader's interest.

Getting The Point Across

It is not possible, nor is it a good idea, to give away your whole story in the blurb. You need to ask yourself: "What are the most important parts of my work?" It helps to liken your blurb to the preview for a Hollywood movie. If you were a film editor, your task would be to parse out your movie's most salient moments and then splice them together into a clip that encapsulates your work. Movies nowadays run for about two hours, and you've got to distill yours down to a filmstrip of about thirty seconds. Your work as a writer is tougher even than that, because your blurb should take no longer than fifteen seconds to read

As an aside, you may get those fifteen seconds if your hook was effective. You won't get anywhere near that if it's not.

You must clearly identify your book's genre, theme, and salient plot points. Give your readers a taste of what to expect, but don't give it all away. There's something to be said about about suspense, and Alfred Hitchcock said it best: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."

Don't be so quick to pull that trigger. Your readers will want to do that all on their own. You'd be doing them a disservice if you didn't let them.

Leave Them Wanting More

Let's get something clear: your blurb is not a summary. It is not an outline. It is not a synopsis. These three tools will not substitute for a blurb. The blurb helps you sell your story. Your readers expect your story to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, as much as fast-food connoisseurs would expect a certain double cheeseburger to have "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce..." well, you know the drill.

On the other hand, a blurb is expected to be open-ended. But, like your opening, make sure you leave a hook at the tail end. Why two hooks? Any angler will tell you there's a reason why fishing jigs often come with more than one hook -- you've a better chance of catching fish that way.

The Blurb, Illustrated

Below I've reproduced the blurb for The Gullwing Odyssey, along with comments to illustrate the steps outlined above.

Marco’s life as a messenger isn’t great, but the work is easy and he gets retirement pay in thirty years. Little does he know his life teeters on the cusp of change.

There's your hook. The blurb starts by describing Marco's mundane life, then foreshadows a sudden 180-degree twist.

When an unusual assignment sends him overseas, he finds himself stranded in foreign lands. With no way home and no hope of making his delivery, he sees sour prospects for attaining his modest retirement dreams, much less getting out of the whole mess alive. Even that wouldn’t be so bad if he weren’t constantly outrunning pirates, embroiled in international intrigue, and attacked by a hummingbird with an appetite for human brains – that’s just the start of his misadventures.

There's what the book is about -- a simple guy who gets wrapped up in a giant mess not of his making, and his struggle just to get by. The genre is fantasy with comedic elements. Things to expect: pirates, politics, and deadly hummingbirds. 

But lurking in the wings is a much greater threat than getting sacked from his job. The fate of an entire civilization may well rest upon his scrawny shoulders. In spite of himself and quite by accident, Marco may yet become the hero he strives not to be.

"But wait, there's more!" you can almost hear the television pitchman say. Well, there's a whole lot more, in fact, without saying as much, and if your readers want to find out what happens next they'll have to buy your book. Note the last line -- there's your closing hook. And if you're feeling persnickety you can count my sentences. There are eight. I've successfully boiled an 88,000 word novel down to its core in under ten sentences. It wasn't easy, I assure you, but it was worth it.

Get To It!

Take it from me, the last thing I'd want to do after wrapping up a long project is write the blurb, but the fact is that you can't sell even your first book without a good one. Hook your reader. Get to the point. Make it interesting. That's a lot of chainsaws to juggle at once, and although you only have two hands, juggle you must.

On an unrelated note, that part about juggling dangerous gas-powered tools was a figure of speech, so please don't attempt to juggle chainsaws.

Have fun (and be safe) writing!