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Hens Lay Eggs

food for thought

Cover blurbs - do 'em right

6/14/2018

 
I'm deviating from my usual schedule of posting, because I came across the following cover blurb:

A story of vampire-themed fantasy romance and ice hockey, the chapters chart the lifestyle of a teen girl who schools in Boston, Washington, and falls in love with a guy, Scott because she so much loved him and couldn’t express the way she felt, she bit him leaving him exposed and scared. Scott ran into the woods at night, looking for things but meanwhile an ice hockey league at the corner while Scott was the captain of his team, Catherine managed to join the first six. Betty’s father, her friend’s father was a vampire hunter same as her brother, Alex...It focuses on women who endangered their lives after falling in love. 

It focused on the relationship and romantic love between two people, Scott and Catherine who from the first moment they saw had a tinge of feelings for each other yet Catherine, a vampire denied him of such love at the expense of her favorite sport “Ice Hockey”. In order to prove she felt the same way, she bit him and each situation became attached with series of suspense and irony. 

A high school girl who’s a vampire who found it difficult to fall in love bit a guy, Scott and couldn’t but fall in love with him.


What? The entire thing is poorly written and obviously not edited. The second half of the first paragraph makes no sense whatsoever. In short, this is not the way to write a cover blurb. Frankly, when I read a blurb this badly composed, I have no desire to find out.

I cringe at the thought of the book itself. If the cover blurb suffers from such poor writing and punctuation, then what grammatical atrocities does the book itself inflict upon readers?

Crafting book descriptions requires focus and brevity and the ability to summarize an entire story without giving away all the details. It must capture or hook a prospective buyer's attention. I certainly to credit myself with any outstanding skills as a cover blurb writer, but my latest for Daughter of the Dark Moon has thus far garnered compliments:

Worlds fear the powerful, ruthless, and cold-hearted Unseelie king. Deposed and his kingdom conquered, Uberon answers the call of a young human woman's soul and claims her as his mate. Corinne soon learns her fate and the consequences of fae immortality as she adapts to a new world and her relationship with Uberon develops.

Note the absence of passive verbs, the correct punctuation, and the brevity. Even if the blurb doesn't really intrigue you--this might not be your preferred genre--it alludes to the tension that keeps the story going: the heroine's fate, the ramifications of fae immortality, the give and take of an uncommon relationship with an extremely powerful being.

After the title, the cover blurb is the first thing people read and the main factor in convincing them to buy the book. Don't underestimate its importance.

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