For ebooks, the description is posted on a books purchasing page, along with the book cover and price. Publishers summary and recommendation of a book, printed usually on the front flap of the books dust jacket, or in an advertisement or catalog. The five s of blurb writing check these 5 awesome tips editage. Indeed, if i see a selfpublished book with a blurb like that, i generally wont touch it.
The blurb of your book is the second thing a potential reader will look at after the cover so take the time to get it right. Paratextual traces the blurb, back cover, inside cover, notes and title are part of the marketing process. What is the summary written on the cover at the back of a book called. We had to read a book for school, but i just read the blurb by oh. It may be written by the author or publisher or quote praise from others. Information and translations of blurb in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. If youve ever bought a book on impulse, it was probably due at least in part to the blurb on the back or the sales copy on the website. Most run several paragraphs, but some publishers want them shorter or in a special format so be sure to check with your publishers guidelines before you begin work. A blurb is the book description you find on the back of a book or online to describe a books contents. So you blurb the writer rather than the book, so you just know that thats going to be the one they stick on the cover. Traditionally, it would be found on the inside back cover of a hardback. Back cover copy is the blurb on the back of a book. If all of this sounds daunting, consider hiring an editor or marketing writer to help you craft your books backcover copy in the most compelling way possible. The key with fiction is to excite and engage your reader.
Like the book cover is one of the biggest selling points for any book, a book blurb helps sell the idea of the book to those who are in search of reading something either new or out of their usually picked genres. As already noted, writing a back book blurb is a marketing exercise. Writers use the term blurb to describe the text on the back of the book. How to write a blurb definition, examples, and more blurb blog. That first connection over a love of words convinced goldstein to have her editor ask pinker to blurb her next book. Summary and synopsis are also used but, in my experience, are used only in formal. The book blurbs main purpose is to lure readers in and captivate them enough to buy the. Generally, 150200 words are more than enough for a full blurb. Blurb definition, a brief advertisement or announcement, especially a laudatory one. Blurbs were originally printed on the back or rear dustjacket of a book, and. Blurbs are a brief description of a book typically found on the back of a book or within the book sleeve of a hardcover book. Design a surefire plan for paying off all debtmeaning cars, houses.
But, if you have caught a potential readers attention, the blurb is what will sell your bookand convert readers. How to write a book blurb by far, the weakest part of many selfpublished books is the synopsis found on amazon and elsewhere. Keep it short enough to fit on the back of a physical book. Generally, only poets shell out good money for slim volumes of poetry. They have a single sheet of white paper glued to the inside front cover and inside back cover. As an author, how can we turn this to our advantage. Sometimes coming up with the right words for a book blurb can be more. Forget the book, have you read this irresistible story on blurbs. There is one big difference though between a book blurb and a synopsis. Usually its in reference to a newspaper article that briefly mentions a barely newsworthy item. Nevertheless, back of the book ads usually cost the same as. A good blurb provides a short summary or praise of a. Proper usage and audio pronunciation plus ipa phonetic transcription of the word blurb.
The front cover can feature your book title, a subtitle, author name, and images you select. Blurb definition is a short publicity notice as on a book jacket. Fail to engage your target readers in that sense, a good blurb is anything but subjective. Thismeans all the focus needs to be on the reader their needs and expectations. Once youve taken in all of the above and gotten a feel for the promise you want to make to the reader, use the outlines below to write your book cover blurb. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the cambridge dictionary editors or of cambridge university press or its licensors. Creating a book blurb, while still technically writing, is closer to a science than an art. The 5 core elements of a book blurb and why you should. You read the blurb on the back of a book to figure out if you want to shell out the extra bucks for the hardcover. When we pick up any book, the first thing we normally look at is the back cover.
Even if you cant judge a book by its cover, the cover can definitely make a great first impression. Yes, i heard its very good and in fact they sent it to me to blurb but i was. The section of a magazine that comes after most of the content. How to create a back book cover blurb that sells i just published a guest post which goes into this with some examples. The market for poetry is overwhelmingly other poets. The short summary of a book, usually on the inside cover or back, that most people read so they can say they read the book.
Give them a few minutes to figure out tricky words and to synthesize the information. What is the summary written on the cover at the back of a. The blurb should include any information that represents the. The blurb on the back of the book says that it will. Whats the difference between book blurb and synopsis. It uses twilight as an example, but dont hold that against me. Black book definition of black book by the free dictionary. A short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes. Here are six rules to be mindful of before you put pen to paper on your back book cover blurb. How to write a blurb definition, examples, and more. Dictionary term of the day articles subjects businessdictionary business dictionary.
A short description of a book, movie, or other product written for promotional purposes and appearing on the cover of a book or in an advertisement. These examples are from the cambridge english corpus and from sources on the web. Advertisers argue that ads in the back of the book have the lowest response rate because so few people read magazines all the way to the end. Blurbs were originally printed on the back or rear dustjacket of a book, and are now found on web portals and news websites. If you go to the n website and search for raymond johns you can see he hasnt published a book since nov, 2016.
Blurb definition and meaning collins english dictionary. In simple terms, a blurb is the short yet descriptive account of the book that goes on the back cover. When writing a novel, there are few selling tools as important as a solidly written book blurb. Work by convincing readers to take a chance on it, or. A blurb is the one to three paragraphs you use to describe the book, similar to cover copy. The blurb on the back of the book says that it will touch your heart. Summary and synopsis are also used but, in my experience, are used only in. Blurb distinct from the back book cover blurb is this 12 line endorsement of a book by a celebrity or another author that sits on the books front cover. Back of the book financial definition of back of the book. The blurb that appears on the back cover of your book, and on your amazon page, will either. A blurb can be the quote a published author gives another author for the book, often appearing on the front or back cover. The practice of covering a books jacket with expressions of praise and enticing descriptions of whats inside is an old one.
The blurb that appears on the back cover of your book, and on your. Orwell way back in 1936 credited the decline of the novel even then. So now that we have our basic definition out of the way, lets roll up our. The blurb about a new book, film, or exhibition is information about it that is written. The curious history of book blurbs and why theyre still around. Shteyngart sat down with the daily beast to discuss the book, the art of the blurb, and, yes, teaching james franco. Even if you only plan to release your work electronically, such a limitation will help keep you from giving too much of your story away. Say, students, read the blurb on the back of your book and be ready to talk about what is happening or what you expect is going to happen in your book based on what the blurb says. Blurb, meaning words of praise on the back of a book, is a pathetic word that quickly devolves into an almost existential meaninglessness, not a shout into the void but a soft round brick shoring up nothingness.
These cant be designed on or upgraded to another color. Information about blurb in the dictionary, synonyms and antonyms. Synonyms for blurb at with free online thesaurus, antonyms, and definitions. Miss belinda blurb was shown in the act of blurbing. As paperback publishing developed, readers began seeing the blurb appearing on the back cover. Blurbs are a brief description of a book typically found on the back of a book. A book containing names of people or organizations to blacklist. The occult art of the poetry book blurb rachael mead.
From cambridge english corpus the contributions encapsulate the enormous diversity in this field, and thus the book does indeed provide essential knowledge about the study of language variation and change cover blurb. How to create a back book cover blurb that sells kindlepreneur. More frequently though, a blurb is used to describe the pitch you make in the query letter. And again the archdeacon had protested, objecting that the. A blurb is a short promotional piece accompanying a piece of creative work. A blurb is a short description of a book that is written for promotional purposes. Im a published novelist, and i participate in several writing groups and online communities. I was about halfway through the writing of my book when i was asked to write a. On the jacket of our 1961 unabridged dictionary, websters third new international, youll find printed since 1847 the ultimate word authority for schools, libraries, courts, homes, offices and the great library of the english language. Your book blurb aka online description, like your dating profile, has to be engaging and alluring to attract passersby.
Find 1,575 synonyms for blurb and other similar words that you can use instead based on 9 separate contexts from our thesaurus. Fifth grade lesson the blurb on the back betterlesson. As a poetry reader, i know both the power of a good blurb and the equally potent effect of a good name on the back of a book. Definition of blurb from the collins english dictionary. A blurb is just a short written peice about something. Softcover books and magazines do not have end sheets. This description, which is always full of praise for both author and the book, is called a blurb. Before i buy a book, i always read the blurb on the back cover. Her first book, poems, was published in 1944, with a blurb from eliot. How can we write that back cover copy that hooks a passing browser, and turns him or. Blurbrollypolly already in its sound and to be taken as seriously as a beach ball or a random. How to write the perfect blurb examples, formula, opening. Worse than the cover, worse than the writing in the book itself, there are a lot of blurbs on amazon that are pretty near atrocious. I have been asked to blurb it, and i am recommending it now to all of you.
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