The blurb is an often underestimated part of selling a book.
For print versions, it graces the back cover and is usually the second thing a potential reader will learn about your book. For ebooks, it becomes your book's description on Amazon and such. The format is slightly different, but it serves the same purpose.
To make a mildly inept fishing metaphor (I don't know when the hell I started doing this), the cover is the lure, or the bait. It attracts your reader, gets them interested, makes them want to touch your book.
The blurb is the hook. You want it to catch your reader, hook them by the lip (metaphorically, please. Let's not be cruel.), and make it easier for you to reel them in.
In order to do this, your blurb needs a few qualities similar to a fishing hook. (I can't believe this metaphor is still going. Does anybody know how I shut it off? Anybody?)
Firstly, it needs to be clean. Just like the book itself, you need to eliminate the errors and hiccups to make sure you're not scaring away your fish. Readers. That's what I meant. Readers. Fish can only read when they're used in the metaphor.
Secondly, it needs to be sharp. You don't want to flounder (heh, now the puns are starting. Great.) in describing your story. You want your blurb to attract your reader by giving them a glimpse into the themes and atmosphere of your book.
And finally, it needs a hook, a barb. Something to keep your reader attached to the idea of reading your book. It's a bit like a trailer (a movie trailer, not a boat trailer. We're trying to divorce ourselves of the fishing metaphor now). You want to give your audience a small taste of what your book will be like. And you want them to seriously consider not putting the book down. So, you need the hook. In several of the blurbs I've written -- and even the brief synopses I've sometimes jotted down before I've started writing -- this hook is a question.
Will the main character find a way to triumph? To survive? I'm pretty sure they will, because I'm the one writing the book, but it's still nice to have that question. Sometimes, it's nice for the protagonist to fail. Maybe not for them, but for the story.
This may sound cheesy, but if the tone of the story fits it, I like to imagine my blurb as the narration for a movie. This ties in to the whole "it's like a movie in your head" idea. So, for most of my horror and similarly serious work, I love to imagine my words being spoken by Don LaFontaine. Because he was the best. And tomorrow officially marks ten years since he passed. So that's something I learned while making sure I didn't butcher his name.
Whenever I talk about good writing, in almost any facet thereof, I always find a way to reference Jim Butcher. In this case, go on Amazon, look at the description for ANY of the books in the Dresden Files series. They're all just long enough to serve the purpose. And they're punchy. They reveal enough of the story to make you want to open the book, but don't give away the important parts, the dramatic moments that hook readers hard and turn them into diehard fans (like me).
To reiterate, your blurb is the secondary part of attracting a reader. The cover is the eye candy, the bright petals that invite the reader in. The blurb is what hooks them on the idea of reading your book. It's the nectar. And now we're on you flower and bee metaphors, so I'm just going to end this post with some shameless self-advertising.
I'll help you write a blurb. All I need is $15 and some details about the characters and the plotline. And for that $15, I will work with you until YOU are satisfied that your blurb is the best it can be.
Best of luck to you and best regards,
Mitch
