{"id":3088,"date":"2013-10-06T09:39:46","date_gmt":"2013-10-06T17:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smoothdraft.com\/?p=309"},"modified":"2013-10-06T09:39:46","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T17:39:46","slug":"how-to-blurb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/how-to-blurb\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Blurb (and How Not to) #writing #writetip @smoothdraft"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As an editor I see a lot of blurbs come across my desk. As a reader I see even more. And as an author, I have written plenty of them myself. I don’t particularly like to write them, but I know how vital blurbs are to marketing your book.<\/h3>\n

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So what is a blurb and how do you write one?<\/b><\/h2>\n

First, let’s make the distinction between a blurb and a synopsis.<\/p>\n

In fiction writing, a blurb is targeted to readers, to encourage them to buy the book. A synopsis is written for a publisher, agent or acquisitions editor to tell your story in a concentrated format, saving busy publishing professionals from having to read a whole book in order to find out two-thirds of the way through that the whole plot falls apart. If you send a publisher a blurb when they expect a synopsis, you won\u2019t be considered a professional, and they may just dump you into the slush pile and never even read page one of your manuscript. (I\u2019ll do another post on writing a synopsis later.)<\/p>\n

So the first element of a blurb is knowing your target audience: readers, not publishers<\/p>\n

Blurbs are a marketing tool. <\/b><\/p>\n

Repeat that after me: Blurbs are a marketing tool.<\/p>\n

The intention is to get a reader to buy<\/b> the book, plain and simple.<\/p>\n

So how do you do that?<\/p>\n

By making readers want to read<\/b> the book. It\u2019s really that simple.<\/p>\n

What makes someone want to read a book?<\/p>\n