book blurb

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Michaeline: The Art of the Blurb

Melissa Blue tweeted this week, “Pro tip: The point of the blurb isn’t to tell you the story, it’s to SELL you the story.” That sentence came to me just as I was already thinking about blurbs, and complicated the matter.

First, a blurb is the short summary of the book used to lure readers into the buying the story. Naturally, a good blurb is very useful to the reader in choosing a story to her tastes, but it is also a good tool for writers.

A Regency man in a caped riding coat stands in front of the mantle of an inn lecturing a demure young girl in sprig muslin with two hat boxes near her.
Via Wikimedia, this is the first edition cover of Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer.

For example, if you get stuck in the writing of your book, write the blurb for the book-in-your-head. Compare it to what you have in your draft, and see if you’ve drifted from the point, or if you are still on target.

This is a case where the blurb tells the story, and I think that’s an important part of blurbiness. A blurb should accurately portray the book, or it is just fooling the reader, right?

That said, it’s a hassle trying to fit 65,000 words into 100 succinct ones, especially if the writer plays with genre or tropes.

This month, I did a comfort re-read of Georgette Heyer’s Sprig Muslin, and it was satisfying and as comforting as I could have wished for. When I looked at the back of the book, though, I was shocked.

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Jeanne: Using Tropes for Marketing

Falling Again for the Single Dad

A friend who writes category romance for Harlequin recently told me she’d been instructed to include a minimum of three well-known romance tropes in the first chapter of her next book. Since she writes for the medical romance line, that means there are actually four tropes in that crucial first chapter.

 

Category romances, in case you don’t recognize the term, are very short (50,000 words, or around 250 pages), very simple (single main plot, no subplots) novels that revolve very tightly around the building relationship between the two main characters.

A trope is a recurring theme or device in a work of literature. Some well-known romance tropes are:

  1. Single dad
  2. Friends to lovers
  3. Enemies to lover
  4. Second chance at love
  5. Secret baby
  6. One night with consequences
  7. Marriage of convenience
  8. Forced proximity
  9. Billionaire
  10. Fake relationship

And lots of combinations of the above.

Settings can also be tropes, as can the professions of the characters (e.g. doctors, cowboys, CEO’s).

I’m always keen to figure out new ways to appeal to potential readers. Harlequin sells a lot of romance novels. If they think tropes make for good marketing, who am I to argue?

My current work-in-progress incorporates enemies to lovers, second chance at love, one night with consequences and forced proximity.

Here’s my first cut at a blurb featuring my four tropes:

She-demon Lilith has waited thousands of years for a chance to get back at her ex-husband, Sam,  for walking away when Satan ordered them to split up.  Now Satan has assigned Sam to lead Hell’s delegation in trade talks with Heaven, and Lilith to handle the administrative details. It’s the perfect opportunity to even the score.

Faced with an unwinnable battle, Samael, demon of pride and head of Hell’s legal division, did the sensible thing when Satan ordered him to abandon the love of his life—he moved on. But he never got over her. Now he has another chance. When Lilith overlooks reserving a room for him in the conference hotel, he simply he moves into her room. She’ll never be able to resist his demon wiles at such close quarters.

Lilith’s resulting pregnancy comes as a shock to both of them. Their reactions differ but they agree on one thing: Satan must not be allowed to get his hands on their child. Can Hell’s power couple resolve their differences and escape Hell to join the world of PTO’s, school lunches and youth soccer?

And if they do, will Earth ever be the same?

 

 

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Nancy: Because Amazon Moves in Mysterious Ways

As of yesterday, there was supposed to be a special sale price on Two Scandals Are Better Than One in a few select countries for the rest of this week. As of today, thanks to Amazon, it appears the book is discounted everywhere. That’s great, I guess? Except I was not prepared to advertise and otherwise support the sale price.

But if you’re interested in Luci and Edward’s story and haven’t yet gotten your copy, this week is a great time to do it! The sale price is 2.99 USD (marked down from 4.99 USD), although it’s discounted a bit more in Canada, Australia, and the UK. You can find the ebook on Amazon.com, but the sale price also applies on Amazon in other countries, as well as on Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.

And here’s the blurb:

A foray into London’s seedy underworld will unmask their hidden desires.

Edward, the upstanding Viscount Meriden, is desperate for one reckless adventure. After years of holding his crumbling family together, he finally has the chance at one night of abandon at a debauched house party, where he meets a masked mystery woman. He longs to uncover all her secrets. But when he realizes she’s an old friend on a dangerous mission, he insists on becoming her protector.

Miss Lucinda Wagner is the only woman in a family of men rumored to be spies. When her father goes missing, she infiltrates a treacherous world to find him. No one suspects her double life until her childhood friend Edward discovers her secret. Now “Steady Eddie” insists upon watching over her. To gain his silence, she allows him join her search.

As Luci and Edward delve deeper into the criminal underworld, their lives turn upside down. Danger lurks around every corner. Threats assail them from all sides, and the only safe harbor in the city is in each other’s arms. Until the sparks between them threaten to ignite their long-denied passion.

Have a happy reading week!