Help! Blurb Writing

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Jordygirl

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Not quite sure if this is the right board to post this in, but I need help. I'm supposed to be writing a blurb for a YA book and I'm not quite sure how to go about it... is there any set format blurbs should be? Any tips for writing a good one?
 

Toothpaste

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Maybe just read some back covers and blurbs for other books to get a feel. The one thing I have been told by editors is that when people read a back cover blurb they want to know what the story is about, that's all, they don't want it to be cute or anything. They just want the info.

Anyway, hopes this helps!
 

Anne Lyle

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Not quite sure if this is the right board to post this in, but I need help. I'm supposed to be writing a blurb for a YA book and I'm not quite sure how to go about it... is there any set format blurbs should be? Any tips for writing a good one?

I assume by "blurb" you mean "back cover copy"? (some people use it in the other sense of "flattering quote"*, which is confusing). A few tips, though they should be fairly obvious:

1. Make sure you name the protagonist and his role in the story: "eleven-year-old orphan Harry Potter discovers he has been enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

2. Set up the main conflict: "Why have students been banned from entering the third-floor corridor? And what's Professor Snape up to?"

3. Try to give a feel of the tone of the book - action, humour, scary, whatever

4. Don't give away too much of the plot!


HTH

* http://aalbc.com/writers/publishing_glossary.htm
 
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