6 Quick Notes on Blurb Writing

Some have described your blurb as your pick-up line for readers, others simply call it a hook. I like to think of it as an elevator pitch. The idea behind the elevator pitch in business is to convince someone of your idea in the time it takes to take an elevator ride. This means your pitch needs to be succinct, to-the-point, capture the essence of your story, while not giving everything away, and ensnare your reader in the blink of an eye. Not an easy feed and one of the main reasons why writing blurbs is so tricky. 


Now that I have probably managed to scare you, let me give you 6 pointers on how to write a great blurb for your novel :)
 

Quick Notes on Blurbs: 

1. Keep it short! – A great blurb shouldn’t go beyond 150 words
2. The First Line Hook – like with your actual novel, the first line of your blurb should pack a punch and compel your reader to read on.
3. Character and Conflict – the body of your blurb needs to efficiently establish the character and conflict of your book.
4. Cliffhanger – That doesn’t mean to leave your reader hanging at the end, but to conclude with a note of suspense. 
5. Simplicity is Key – complicated formulations will only hurt you in blurbs. Keep it down to a simple, clever statement of what awaits the reader insight.
6. Don’t Oversell – avoid hyperboles in your blurb and stay away from overly praising your work.

Beyond having these 6 pointers in mind, writing a blurb is like writing the actual novel. You research, you draft, you edit, you rewrite, your beta readers give you their two cents and you rewrite it again until the right medium of elements is achieved. 

Good luck with your fabulous blurb writing in 2014!

Here are some futher blog articles with great tips:

• The 5 Core Elements of a Book Blurb by Frances Reid Rowland at standoutbooks.com
• How To Write A Back Blurb For Your Book by Joanna Penn at www.thecreativepenn.com 
• How To Write A Book Cover Blurb by Light Messages Publishing 

New Year’s Writing Resolution

Besides my regular New Year’s resolutions to be fitter, have fun and stop my habit of supreme procrastination, I also decided to have writing resolutions for 2014. Especially because they are more likely to be achieved than the ones mentioned above – except „having fun“ that one usually happens on its own and just underlines how „low effort“ I can be.

So without further ado, here are my goals for 2014:

1. Publish my first novel „Celtic Forest“ (more info on that coming soon J )
2. Write the last few chapters of Book 2 of the „Celtic Forest Cycle“
3. Finish editing my children’s book – Fred, the frog, will be at large later in 2014
4. Nagging my sister into finishing her first novel: in my biased opinion she is the better writer
5. Continue blogging on book marketing tipps: happy to hear what you would like me to write on next…
6. Meet and exchange thoughts with other authors and writers
7. Refine some of the other rough drafts lurking around on my desk

Let’s see how many of these I can tick off at the end oft he year. So far I am confident though that 2014 will be a great writing year.

What are your plans for 2014? Any Writing Resolutions in the new year?

Book Cover Design: 4 Corner Stones for Positioning with Book Covers

Your book cover is the first impression you make on a potential reader. One cover, one chance. 

Book covers are an essential marketing tool which should position your book in your reader's mind at a single glance. We can also usually tell which genre a book belongs to simply by its cover. Seems like a tall order for a single image design?

Maybe, but that also means that if you get it right you can set your book apart.

Here are four corner stones you should keep in mind when starting out on your cover design:

     1. Let potential readers know that they are purchasing quality literary content

A sleezy or poorly designed cover will hardly inspire confidence in a reader that the content is any more professional.

     2. Design with your reader in mind

Your design has to appeal to your segment of readers and not only to you. Look at how covers in your chosen genre are normally designed and try to replicate the basic concept. By replicate I mean for example looking at the general balance of headline font size in comparison with the rest of the text you wish to see on your cover. Other elements you should study are the image choice - does it hint at the story unfolding in the page? -, imagery type and the position of the author name. To make your life even easier concentrate on the bestselling titles within your target genre. 

     3. Stand out among other covers in your target market segment while not completely departing from the general genre look and feel

While you might have success by absolutely departing from the general genre look and feel in your design, there are smaller tweaks you can add to give your design a unique touch.

Here are several ideas on how you can make your book stand out:

1. Add a catchy line from your blurb on your cover. Two lines at most.

2. Add a compelling endorsement. The shorter and snappier, the better.

3. Add a circle badge which emphasises a unique selling point (USP), like:

    - a book comparison reference; e.g.:"For Twillight Lovers"

    - a reference to a bonus inside; e.g.: "Sneak Peek of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons"

    - a bestseller stamp (once you landed on a bestseller list)

4. Make your cover design interactive

Why not give your readers the opportunity to choose the final cover design. Narrow your creative choices down to three versions you like, introduce them on one of your channels (e.g.: blog, facebook, twitter...) and give people the option to vote on their favourite. You can even offer a free give away in return for submitting a vote. This also has the additional benefit of actively reaching out to your reader base before you actually launch. 

Bonus Tip for eBook Covers: Keep your ebook thumbnail images clean

If your eBook thumbnail is too busy it will be drowned out in the search as potential readers browse categories. In an online search, setting readers are most attracted by colours, a clean structure and clear font which translates well into the tiny space of a thumbnail. Too much text will make the small thumbnails too busy and keep your book cover from popping on the page.          

For further tips, here are a few great websites and articles that will help you figure out which cover direction will best fit your book positioning and how you can get to a great cover design:

How To Create a Great Book Cover by Scott Berkun

A behind the scenes look on the cover creation process

The Book Cover Archive and Goodreads

Great websites to get inspired by current bestselling covers in different genres

Book Cover Design by The Creative Penn

A blog post with recommended cover designers

5 Steps for Designing an Ebook Cover by Matthew Weber

Good tips on what to focus on for ebook covers in particular