More blurb help...
I'm on several mailing lists for cheap/free ebooks (it's not an addiction, honest!) Anyway, I was going through one of them the other day and clicked on several "See More." But each time I read the full blurb, I returned to the newsletter instead of buying.
Why?
The blurbs promised action, adventure, magic...all the things I like in a read. But the main character, the highlight of the story?
Might as well have been a brick.
As a reader, I want to connect with the main character, not just in your book, but in your blurb.
How can I do that? Remember your character is a person. Pretend you're at a party, and you want to get your character together with a friend. You really want your friend to like this person.
How would you introduce the character to your friend? Would you say she's smart? Or would you say she's a college grad, or better yet a Stanford PhD? Would you say she's kind? Or would you say she volunteers at the local pet shelter where she's absolutely taken with one animal everyone else hates, the crotchety old wolf? (See the plot starting to weave in here?)
Point being, don't genericize. One way to make your character memorable--and clickable--is by giving her real, touchable/quantifiable assets.
Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing
wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular
order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.
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