Book Jacket Blurbs

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Book Jacket Blurbs
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What are they?

• A blurb is a short summary or some words of
  praise accompanying a creative work, usually
  referring to the words on the back of the book
  but also commonly seen on DVD and video cases,
  web portals and news websites.

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• Their combined input gives a reader a vague idea
  of what to expect from an author and looking at a
  wide variety of these quotes shows the usual
  standards for crafting the prominent back-cover
  material.

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Book Jacket Blurbs

• A blurb on a book or a film can be any
  combination of quotes from the work, the author,
  the publisher, reviewers or fans, a summary of
  the plot, a biography of the author or simply
  claims about the importance of the work. Many
  humorous books and films parody blurbs that
  deliver exaggerated praise by unlikely people and
  insults disguised as praise.
• ?Monty Python and the Holy Grail - "Makes Ben-Hur
  look like an Epic
• ?1066 and All That - "We look forward keenly to
  the appearance of their last work"

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Things to consider

• 1. Who is your target audience?
• 2. Whose reviews should you chose?

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Steps

• 1 Keep it short. Book blurbs are generally not
  more than 3 or 4 lines and can be as short as 7
  to 10 words. One popular format is to omit the
  subject and only write a description in several
  words, such as "A wild Dionysian romp--a great
  read!"

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Step 2

• Use extreme action verbs. Providers of book
  blurbs like to promote literature with adjectives
  like "sizzling", "crackling" or "shattering."
  Then there's the ever popular "spine-tingling"
  used for thrillers and supernatural fiction.

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Step 3

• Make author comparisons. New authors are
  generally compared to more established ones.
  These comparisons can be made in a second or
  third sentence that compliments the original
  style assessment.

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Step 4

• Describe the journey. Formulas like "The author
  takes us through..." or "(Author) introduces the
  reader to..." are often used to set the stage,
  giving the reader a preview of the setting or
  plot.

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Step 5

• End with a bang. Those who are enthusiastic about
  promoting a book will often include a repeated
  recommendation at the end such as "A must-read."

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What to avoid

• Plot spoilers!
• Although book blurbs will sometimes include the
  brief description mentioned above, there is a
  line that should not be crossed between outlining
  general plot/setting and divulging things that
  the reader should have to figure out for
  themselves. Many times, a book blurb will set up
  the "general problem" of a plot and then ask a
  question that the reader will answer in the
  course of completing the book.

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