How to write a Book Blurb that doesn't suck
Written by August Hawley
Book descriptions have been the enemies of writers for as long as most of us can remember. No matter what genre you’re writing or how confident you are in your manuscript, if you’re publishing, you’re probably stressed about your book’s blurb.
It gets even more stressful when you hear about the headline—an introduction to your blurb, displayed on the Amazon page for your book. This is almost, if not as, important as the actual blurb for your book, and that’s a lot of pressure if you’re self-publishing, or even publishing with a small company that gives you a lot of control over how your book is presented.
All in all, the description of your book is important, and when you’ve seen every word of it time and time again, it can feel pretty impossible to summarize them into a tiny, consumable, accessible paragraph.
There’s no shortage of advice on writing a book description, but poetry often gets left out of the mix. Here, we’ve condensed some of the best tips for writing a book’s blurb that are applicable to fiction and non-fiction, but are especially curated and useful for poetry, since you typically can’t rely on a plot summary to get the job done.
Drawing Readers In
The headline section for your book should make a reader want to learn more. There are a few ways you can go about this:
Show yourself off. If you’ve won any big awards, have had a well-selling book in the past, or recognition from any literature-related achievements, this is the place to put them. For example, in the headline for Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds, the headline reads:
WINNER of the 2017 T. S. Eliot Prize
A New York Times Top 10 Book of 2016
But if you’re a new writer and don’t have anything fancy to show off yet, no worries! There are plenty of other ways to get a reader’s attention.
Show your book off. If you have any reviews for your book, quote them! And if you don’t have any reviews yet, or you haven’t officially published, consider reaching out to a few friends or your Instagram followers and have them give you a solid review in exchange for a free E-Book, or even a free paperback copy once the book is out. After this, you can use their review as the book’s shiny new headline. For instance, in the headline of Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb, part of the headline reads “Stunning.” — CNN. By using a review from a well-known source, Gorman markets her book expertly. Longer reviews are also a great way to incorporate keywords that readers might search (such as “emotional poetry” or “love poems”) and will rank higher on most website algorithms.
Show your writing off. When all else fails, use a line of your own! Taking a short, powerful excerpt that represents your whole book/collection is a great way to capture readers’ attention while also giving them an idea of what they’re going to get when reading this book.
The Rest of the Blurb
Okay, so… what now? Just because the headline is the important aspect of your blurb doesn’t mean you should slack off for the rest. You can’t make the reader a promise and then not follow through on it. So how do you keep your reader’s attention for the whole blurb and convince them to buy your book? There are a few options:
Head back to the reviews. If you have reviews for your book that you haven’t included yet, this is the place for them. However, make sure your whole blurb doesn’t just read like a massive review because that doesn’t tell readers what the book is actually about! Use another one of these tips as well.
Consider the narrative of your collection. You might not be writing fiction, but there could still be a narrative that flows through your book; an overarching theme your collection aims to give off. On the Amazon page for Logan Duane’s the things I didn’t say in therapy, the first line of the blurb reads In her very first book, poet Logan Duane takes her readers on a journey filled with grief, abuse, love, and perseverance. Consider the “journey” your book wants to bring the readers along for. Give them a bit of insight into it.
Explain why your book is important. If your book doesn’t have a lot of narrative to it or isn’t unpacking the baggage of your childhood and past relationships, that’s not a bad thing! Your collection is still unique in that you’re the only person who could write it. Why? Does it talk about your personal experiences, a perspective foreign to most people, an issue you’re shedding light onto? Show readers how your book is special, and why they should read it.
Make sure you’re avoiding wording that might come off as cliché or exaggerated. Unless it’s in a review, you might want to avoid calling your book the best or the first of anything unless you can actually prove it. If there really are no other poetry collections about how cliff diving fixed your relationship with your mom, then go for it. But otherwise, try sticking to something that’s provable and effective.
At the end of the day, remember that your blurb is important, but don’t get too caught up in the writing of it. Remember, you wrote a whole book. A couple of hundred words have nothing on you.
AUGUST HAWLEY is a trans man who has been writing poetry and fiction for most of his life. Author of ‘Writing My Obituary’ and winner of the West Michigan Showcase, he’s pursuing writing and editing. He lives in Michigan with his large family and cat, Nemo.