Writing Tips

Blurb? What's That?

I'd like to start off this chapter with saying how much I love blurbs. They always trap me into wanting to read so many books, and so my list of what I must read grows even longer. Wait- Maybe I should stop reading blurbs and read those books they belong to.

Don't know what a blurb is?

Well, on physical hard copies of a book, you can find it on the back of a paperback book (sometimes) and on the inside of a hard cover's book. Blurbs summarize up a book and help reel you into reading it, but they make sure to not give away the ending!

Does that help you understand blurbs a bit better? Hopefully, it does, because I don't know how else to explain what they are xD

Here, on Wattpad, blurbs and covers are what sell your book to potential readers. Yes, shiny and awesome covers will help pull in a bunch of readers to give your book a chance. But what's this? No blurb to go along with that awesome cover?

You're most likely going to lose a lot of potential readers this way if your book has no blurb or has things, or similar, like this in the blurb box:

"This is my first book, hope you enjoy it!"

"I really don't know how to describe this. Read to find out!"

This is a major turn off for many readers, I being part of this group too.

If you want to get more readers, then write a blurb. Having at least a paragraph is good, just don't do two little sentences and say you're good. WRITE A BLURB.

There's also some things you may want to avoid when writing one, the biggest being the cliche start in a blurb. If you don't know the cliches, here's just a few:

"Jane was not an ordinary girl..."

"Bucky thought her life was normal..."

"Max was just another guy..."

These are way overused, so definitely find a better way to start a blurb, but if you can't, I guess resorting to these defaults will be okay. Always keep looking at how you can change it, though, it could help bring in more readers if it's off of the cliche start.

I'll write an example of a small blurb that can help get readers into a story. Let's say it's about a secret agent from England back in WWII, and she has to get information on what's going on in Italy. The genre will be romance, even if I can't write for crap about it XD

"The Allies were at a disadvantage, finding it difficult to place which country was Hitler's next target. They needed someone to get on the inside, someone who would help cripple the enemy.

In comes in one of England's top agents, Anna Sarto. A woman of Italian descent and a perfect candidate for the job.

Her mission is easy, get into Italy and get information from Mussolini.

That is until a mafia leader spots her trying to sneak into the commander's headquarters.

Now Anna must listen to him or have her cover blown."

Seems like a simple and intriguing blurb for a historical romance, correct?

If I read something like this on a romance novel, then I'd probably read it.  Why? Because it is during WWII, which I love reading about, then there's also the idea of the heroine trying to not get her cover blown due to this mafia leader blackmailing her. I may not care about the romance much, but this type of blurb would definitely help show what other minor genres are in it. You can obviously see the historical, and then it can look like there may be action and drama in it as well.

Now, here are some tips on writing your own blurb for your Wattpad book:

DO

-Show your genre and theme

-Captivate the audience by creating appeal towards the main conflict

-Make sure to introduce your protagonist (possibly antagonist too if they're in the conflict)

-Keep it short/medium, long blurbs make readers lose interest

-Be creative

-Use proper grammar (first impressions are everything)

DON'T

-Give spoilers away

-Write a summary of the first chapter

-Use cliches/overused phrases as an intro (avoid them as much as possible!)

-Give the entire book away (don't tell the ending in the blurb AT ALL)

-Use text language

-Gloat about your work in the blurb

-Say you're the next J.K. Rowling, Tolkien, etc.

If you follow these lines, then you can get a pretty good blurb. Always ask other authors on here what they think and you could possibly improve it even more with help from them. I can help you with blurbs too if you're struggling with it.

Until next time! Hopefully, this helped you guys with blurbs! Remember I am taking requests on anything you'd like me to discuss in this book!

Remember to vote and comment if this was of help to you! I'd greatly appreciate it to see authors improving in their skills!