How Do You Make Your Book Stand Out In A Sea Of Other Books?

Having a great blurb is one way to make your book stand above others...or at least help get the reader to click the buy button. What exactly is a blurb? It's ad copy for your book. And they can be one of the hardest things to write.

One way to get a great blurb is to start with a synopsis.

I know. That sounds counterproductive. Write a big old synopsis to get a little bitty blurb for your book sales page or the back of your book.

After you have your synopsis, you then slash it until you have the most important stuff. Once you have that, you slash it even more.

That's right. Slash it. Cut it. Chop it.

Think elevator pitch.

You have a few seconds to get your reader’s attention, keep it, and then make them buy the book. A correctly written blurb will help you do that.

So how do you do you accomplish this? First, if you ever have the chance to take one of Bryan Cohen’s seminars on writing blurbs, do it. Best money you will spend. If you can’t do that, drop a few dollars on his book How To Write A Sizzling Synopsis. Read it. Do everything he tells you. Then pull your hair out a few times. AND THEN… POOF… you’ll get it. And when you do, the angels will sing, and the clouds will part.

Okay, not really. But what took you days to push out a mediocre blurb will take you less time to crank out a great blurb.

Bryan’s book walks you through everything. He tells you what to do. I am not going to do that. But I want to show you the difference between my old blurb and my new one.

Before reading Bryan’s book:

OLD BLURB.

INNOCENCE TAKEN

Damien wants out. He wants out of his job and out of Chicago.

But the dead won’t let him go just yet.

He and his partner, Detective Joe Hagan, from the Vicious Crimes Unit, are sent to investigate a murder in the rural farming communities of Illinois. With few clues and forensic evidence left at the scene, Damien has little to work with.

After a second girl is found, an FBI profiler is assigned to the case.

Not only must Damien deal with the mounting pressures that a serial killer may be living in their backyard; he must also deal with the FBI looking over his shoulder, questioning his every move.

Tensions rise, reaching their breaking point, as Damien and his team uncover information that will rip this tight-knit community’s vision of small-town America to shreds.

And begs the question, do you really know your neighbors?

Okay, not bad. But definitely not helping with sales.

After Bryan’s book.

NEW BLURB:

Innocence Taken

One dead girl, another one missing, and a secret that will rip a tight-knit community apart…

When missing teen Becca Martin’s dismembered body shows up on the side of the road, Lt. Damien Kaine must crush her parent’s hopes of her safe return. Two days into the investigation, Damien has little evidence pointing to a suspect, and the parents are pushing for details and answers. Things he can’t give.

A second girl is abducted. Her dismembered body dumped on a local farmer’s land. When Damien sees the victim, her resemblance to Becca is uncanny. The similarities between the two cases is even more disturbing.

As Damien searches for a sadistic killer, a disturbing pattern emerges. The more he digs into the community’s history, the more missing girls he finds. Some going back as far as fifteen years and their bodies have never been found. All these girls have something in common, they resemble each other.

With the lack of evidence or movement forward on the case, a quirky FBI profiler is pulled in to assist with the investigation. Damien wrestles with disdain for the agent and an equally strong sexual attraction to her, as he deals with mounting frustrations.

Tensions rise with the abduction of another girl. Damien and his team are in a race against time to save her. But the case is about to take a frightful turn. What they uncover will not only rock them to their core, it will haunt them forever.

How did I do this?

I started by writing down my most important inciting incidents. This worked for me. You may need to do it differently. Then I picked the most thrilling incidents and started to tie them together.

Make sure you leave out the backstory. You don’t need it. And you don’t want to waste precious seconds on something that is not necessary.

Give details, but not the whole book. You want to tell just enough to entice someone, leaving them wanting more.

Use the least amount of words to convey what you want. I have had others tell me your blurb can’t be more than 100 words. Some say it should be at least 200. The point is, make it say what you need to with the least amount. If that’s 300, so be it. But if you are wordy, trim it down. If you ramble in your blurb, your potential readers will think you do that in your book as well. (Bryan’s book hits on this and tells you tricks and tips to getting the right verbiage.)

Remember, wherever you sell your book, the listing page is a SALES PAGE. You want the reader to click on the buy button. And in order to get them to do that, you have to make sure your page and your blurb stands out.

I encourage you to get Bryan’s book. It will help you. EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU DON’T NEED IT. You will.

The hardest part about this process is admitting that your blurb probably sucks.

Anyway, I hope this helps you in your pursuit of book sales.

I get no kickback, payment, or notoriety from you buying Bryan’s book. I used it. I loved it, and it made my blurbs so much better that I just wanted to share it with you guys.

Peace out.

Victoria