Since we talked about hook sentences last week, it only seemed natural to address back-cover copy today.
Like a hook sentence, your back-cover copy is a tool for selling your book. If you are traditionally publishing, this copy sells your book first to agents and editors, then to readers. If you are indie publishing, you skip that agent/editor thing, but the back-cover copy is still critical for getting readers to click, “Buy.”
When people are perusing a bookstore, they’ll flip the book over to read what your book is about. Or they might read the description on a retailer’s website. Frequently when you’re being interviewed on blogs or in magazines, they print the back-cover copy. Or when you’re on TV, they will draw from your back-cover copy to explain your book to the audience. There are many, many reasons to invest the time in writing great back-cover copy.
The qualities of a good book blurb are similar to the qualities of a good hook. Your back-cover copy should include:
- Character: Who is the main character? Who is this story about?
- Setting: Where and when does it take place?
- Conflict: What are they trying to achieve and what’s in their way?
- Action: How do they go about doing this?
- Uniqueness: Why is this book different? Why should someone invest the time in reading it?
- Tone: Is the book funny? Dark? Sarcastic? This should be hinted at in the blurb.
- Mystery: Often phrased in a question at the end, this is the part of the back-cover copy that triggers an itch in the reader’s brain.
And you need to do all these things as concisely as possible. But how do you boil your huge, beautiful masterpiece into just 150 to 200 words? Let’s look at three examples from books that are very different from each other.
So Not Happening by Jenny B. Jones
Isabella Kirkwood (CHARACTER) had it all: popularity at a prestigious private school in Manhattan, the latest fashions, and a life of privilege and luxury. Then her father, a plastic surgeon to the stars, decided to trade her mother in for a newer model. (CONFLICT)
When her mother starts over with her new husband, Bella is forced to pack up (ACTION also CONFLICT) and leave all she knows to live with her new family in Oklahoma. (SETTING) Before her mother can even say “I do,” Bella’s life becomes a major “don’t.”
Can Bella survive her crazy new family? Will the school survive Bella? How can a girl go on when her charmed life is gone and God gives her the total smackdown? (MYSTERY)
The “uniqueness” label isn’t so easy to apply to a single sentence, but for this book I would say there are lots of books about wealthy, snooty Manahattan-ite teens. This one just got dropped into small town Oklahoma, though. I also love that you can tell this is a humorous story by the tone throughout.
Let’s look at the next example:
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses (UNIQUENESS) long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. (ACTION, CONFLICT)
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick (CHARACTER) is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. (MYSTERY)
Puck Connolly is different. (CHARACTER) She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen. (MYSTERY)
Something interesting to note is that you can tell this is going to be a dual POV book by the way Sean and Puck’s paragraphs are separated from each other.
Lastly, let’s look at a fantasy example that sets up the storyworld as well as the characters:
King’s Folly by Jill Williamson
The gods are angry.
Volcanic eruptions, sinkholes, ground shakers—everything points to their unhappiness. (CONFLICT, SETTING) At least that is what the king of Armania (SETTING) believes. His son, Prince Wilek, (CHARACTER) thinks his father’s superstitions are nonsense, though he remains the ever dutiful heir apparent to the throne.
When a messenger arrives and claims that the town of Farway has been swallowed by the earth, the king sends Wilek to investigate. But what Wilek discovers is more cataclysmic than one lost city. Even as the ground shifts beneath his feet, Wilek sets out on a desperate journey to save his people and his world. (ACTION) But can he do it before the entire land crumbles? (MYSTERY, UNIQUENESS)
The best way to improve at writing back-cover copy? Read a lot of it! Look up books in your genre, pick 20 or so, and read the copy back-to-back-to-back-to-back and so on. Very quickly you’ll pick up on patterns and be able to apply them to your story.
Want to try out yours? Leave your back-cover copy in the comments, and we’ll offer feedback!
Funnily enough, I just wrote a back cover copy for my writers’ group. I haven’t gotten a chance to touch it up since then, but here it is:
Corsiban is content to savor his retirement as the greatest pyromancer of all time. But when a ragtag band of would-be heroes arrives on his doorstep, he is dragged into a quest that threatens his entire career. They recruit him to help defeat an old pupil gone rogue—something Corsiban could not care less about, until a little gold persuades him that the trip will be worth the trouble.
Nothing, however, goes as planned. Foiled at every turn by a foe who knows far more than he should, Corsiban discovers it will take more than raw power to win this fight. He must learn to work with his companions as well as his lifelong rival to outwit the enemy—but it will only be enough if he is willing to destroy pyromancy as he knows it.
Oooh. Not only is this an interesting story and a well written back-cover copy, but I love that you turned the typical fantasy story structure on its head by writing from the perspective of the “wise old retired mentor”, who’s usually a side character, or at least non-POV in this type of story. Congrats on the clever twist.
Thanks Em (and everyone else)! I’m definitely counting on the “old retired guy” POV to win a few originality points with readers.
Already has with me!
This is fantastic. Great work, Colin!
And great observation, Em!
Reads smooth with just the right amount of info to pique my interest. Great work!
Mine’s a little long, but I’m probably gonna trim it down after the book is done. Let me know if you have any critiques.
Quite often facts are stranger- and more dangerous- than fiction.
When Cora was twelve, she learned this the hard way. Campfire stories about Spinner’s Island, a foreboding, supposedly haunted landmass in the center of the lake by her house, spiked her curiosity, and she decided to investigate. Once on the island, a disembodied whisper led her to an old wooden box buried in the tangled underbrush. Then things got creepy.
Cora’s family moved not long after, and gradually, she managed brush aside her unanswered questions about the island and the box. Now she’s back in town after a decade of nonstop traveling, and with her return comes the return of the strange dreams she used to have for the first few months after she visited Spinner’s Island… but what do they mean?
Fourteen-year-old Margo has heard all the ghost stories about Spinner’s Island, including the one about her neighbor’s niece Cora, who claimed she heard a mysterious voice calling her name while exploring out there. Margo isn’t sure she believes in such tales but doesn’t want to tempt fate, so she keeps her distance from the island. But with her eight-year-old neighbor begging her to take him there, the sudden reappearance of the now grown, supposedly cursed Cora fueling his curiosity, and her twin sister’s uncharacteristically secretive behavior, she might be forced to find out for herself if the stories hold truth… and if they do, how to save herself from them.
Secrets over a century old hide on Spinner’s Island, and it’s up to Cora and Margo to assemble a ragtag team of friends, family, strangers, and lost souls capable of deciphering these secrets. And they need to hurry. Soon the clock will start ticking, and if time runs out, the consequences could permanently throw into chaos the lives of those who have visited Spinner’s Island and all those around them.
Em, this is a great start! As you noted, it’s a bit long. I would try to do one paragraph Cora, one Margo, and then a sentence or two of wrap up with them at the end.
Cora’s is trickiest since we jump in age. I wonder if it would work better to start the blurb when she’s coming back. So something like: “Cora never thought she would move back to insert-name-here, a place that haunted her childhood dreams after she explored…” Sentence or two about what she found when she explored, and then you could wrap up with, “But now that she’s back after a decade, the dreams have returned.”
Could be worth a try to see what you think?
Awesome! Thanks so much. 🙂 Definitely going to try that out later.
That sounds super cool! I’ve never heard of anything quite like it. I love how you used the campfire stories, it’s fun and creepy in the best way.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Thanks so much for breaking down the different elements! Haven’t got a blurb to share but this was a helpful post for me.
Oh, good! I’m glad, Samantha.
When the king of Cressender dies, leaving no heir, Darren Altonson resolves to compete for the crown. Darren, son of the local midwife and nursemaid to a dragon, isn’t like the other 16 to 20-year-olds competing. As a frequent target of ridicule and bullying, Darren has far more to prove, to both his tormentors and himself.
The candidates are put through a series of challenges that test their character. The stakes are clear. Compete to become king, or be eliminated and sent as a slave to the army—a fate akin to death.
Oooh. This definitely sounds interesting. I love the idea of Darren trying to prove his worth, and the idea of his mom being a dragon’s midwife.
Thank you!
This is definitely an interesting story, and I like the structure of this back cover copy. I think the second paragraph could ramp up the tension a little more, though, i.e. what kind of challenges specifically (I want to know how dangerous they really are!), and maybe replace “akin to” with “worse than.” Good job, though!
Thank you so much for the feedback!
Nursemaid to a dragon? Love it!
This sounds great. Since this is on the shorter side, I would consider Colin’s suggestion and try being specific about a challenge or two just to make readers even more curious.
Thank you!
I’m a bit of a flop at writing blurbs/synopses. XP A friend wrote the one for my upcoming novel and I love it to death:
Some scars can’t be seen. And some can’t be hidden.
Layla Trent’s life is pretty much perfect, except for the little matter of a dog of her own—and maybe a brother. So why does a random nightmare of a princess dress, a hospital, and a stranger who’s definitely not her daddy feel more like an aching wound? And can a broken, glassy-eyed puppy somehow help her release the pain she didn’t even know she was carrying?
Corporal Andrew Reyes has proven he has what it takes to be the best—a US Army Ranger. But when a double tragedy rocks his world, his resolve is shaken to the core. What’s left for a man to live for when he’s lost everything he ever wanted to be? And is the sudden appearance of a teenage girl with a three-legged therapy dog a cruel joke or a divine appointment?
Some scars can’t be hidden. But some don’t need to be.
Oh, this is good! I like the idea behind it.
I really like how you have the sentence at the beginning, and the same one with a twist at the end. Very intriguing!
This is great, Kassie! It can feel way easier to write a blurb for a story that isn’t ours!
The only line I would consider tweaking is the mention of the brother because it doesn’t seem to fit with the whole. Unless Andrew is meant to be a brother figure? I was assuming father figure when I read it the first time, but maybe that’s not right?
Ooh, that’s a good thought. The brother part is crucial to the storyline. 😉 Guess it adds intrigue, haha!!
I don’t have one written for my upcoming novel yet, but I will definitely take your advice into account! Thank you for all you ladies do to help us young writers! I just finished GTW:Edit Your Novel this morning and I feel so recharged to grow, share with others and make a difference *winks at Mrs. Williamson* Thank you so much for being raw, real and honest!
Oh, that delights me, Ryana! Thanks for hanging with us.
Aww! I’m so glad, Ryana! Wishing you all the words! <3
Here’s my (rough) synopsis.
Britta’s father is dying. In the aftermath of the plague, her skill with a bow and arrow barely keeps her family fed and pays the village apothecary who only lines her own pockets. Prey turns benefactor when a magical bear offers her wealth beyond imagining. The fortune comes with a catch: she must hunt him nightly for a year and capture him—alive. For once, saving her father seems possible. But the deal is jeopardized when another hunter stalks the bear.
Nicolai is trapped in the palace of ice, caught in a game where he and Britta are pawns in the hands of a vengeful troll. He cannot let Britta discover the real reason behind the hunt. He cannot let her know Norway teeters on the brink of destruction. But when the hunt forces them together, they find themselves falling for each other despite knowing the other can unravel everything they hold dear.
One wrong move, and Norway falls.
Ooh, I really love this first half. So intriguing. I would say the second part with Nicolai threw me off a bit. I was confused about whether he was the hunter, or possibly the bear? I’m guessing the hunter? I’d consider rewording just a bit for clarity. But over all, the hunting the bear for a year is so intriguing to me.
I love your closing sentence! Well done!
Thank you! I’ll rephrase the second part so it’s more clear.
Oh man. I feel like I’m horrible at these, but here’s the back cover for my first book:
Lyn WolfStone is one of the only Wolfskin left after the Wolf Hunters wiped out her kind. For years she has been living on her own, keeping to the shadows and killing any and all Wolf Hunters she comes across. And then, her life takes an unplanned spin when one of these encounters goes awry and she is captured, leading her to other survivors: a childhood friend she long thought dead, and an undercover from a different pack. But soon after their escape, they find themselves caught up in the schemes of legend, facing an enemy said to be myth…