How To Write a Reader-Grabbing Book Blurb
Book blurbs or to fiction as bait is to fishing – you want to present the best bait possible to lure the fish in. Attracting readers with a book blurb is no different. In this video, we’ll look at the elements that go into crafting a book blurb that is sure to entice readers into wanting to pick up your work and devour it.
Tip 1: Set the Mood
The mood of your book encapsulates the settings and emotive driver that will entice your reader to want to get involved with the book. You want your book blurb to match the mood of the book. If you’re writing suspense, then make it suspenseful. If you’re writing adventure, then create a sense of adventure.
Tip 2: Describe the Inciting Incident
The inciting incident is the event that sends the main character or characters on their journey, thus setting the plot in motion. You’ll want to create a brief description of the inciting incident to describe what happens in the story that moves it forward. You don’t want to summarize it; rather be vague enough to entice the reader but descriptive enough to inform what happens to the characters to make them go on their way.
Tip 3: Introduce Your Main Characters
In the book blurb, you’ll want to name your characters and give a brief mention of who they are in something as little as a phrase. Try to avoid writing a biography about them. If your villain is one of the main characters, you can introduce that character as well. Just be sure that the villain is not a background character if you do this.
Tip 4: Frame the Conflict
The conflict of the story is what keeps a reader interested. In your book blurb, you’ll want to set up the conflict and what is at stake. Do this in a way that connects it to the inciting incident and the book’s main characters. This might describe the connection between the inciting incident and some discovery made later in the book’s opening chapters. However, you don’t want to give away the resolution or summarize too much of the book.
Tip 5: Leave the Reader Hanging…
Leaving the reader hanging is what will make them want to read the story to find out what happens to the characters and how the conflict resolves itself. Whatever you do, don’t give away plot twists, endings, or resolutions that make your story impactful. Sometimes, asking a question in the form of a dilema helps. You can just leave it as a vague reference to the characters’ discovery in relation to the plot. It’s ultimately a cliffhanger, and that’s where you want to leave the blurb.