Rayne Hall - Writing Book Blurbs and Synopses

WRITING BOOK BLURBS AND SYNOPSES

Rayne Hall

Book cover by Erica Syverson and Uros Jovanovic

2016 Rayne Hall

September 2016 Edition

All rights reserved. Do not reproduce this work in whole or in part without the authors written permission.

Do you want a synopsis that persuades agents to request the whole manuscript? Does your book need a description that entices Amazon customers to click the 'Buy Now' button?

If the thought of condensing your novel into a page, paragraph or sentence makes you break out in sweat, if you feel nauseous when composing a blurb, and if youd rather go to the dentist with an infected root canal than write a synopsis, this guide can help.

We wont condense your masterpiece. Instead of ripping piece after piece from its flesh, and agonising over which part of its rich complexity to sacrifice next, well build a synopsis from scratch. This step-by-step system is painless, professional and effective.

Use this method if youre new to synopsis writing and want to impress literary agents and publishers editors, if the synopsis youve sent with your queries has landed too many rejections, or if youve laboured over a synopsis and are looking for an easier way. If youre preparing to indie-publish, or if your published book scarcely sells, a powerful book blurb can bring big results.

As a trained publishing manager, Ive worked in the industry for thirty yearsediting, producing, marketingand have observed what works. Ive also had more than seventy books published, both fiction and non-fiction, by several corporate (traditional) publishers as well as self-published, including several category bestsellers. I know how to sell manuscripts to publishers and indie books to readers, and Im going to share this insider knowledge with you.

In this guide, Ill show you how to create six effective short forms. Some are B2B (business-to-business, that is, author to publisher) marketing tools, some B2C (business-to-customer, that is, author to reader), and Ill reveal how to strike just the right tone for each.

SYNOPSIS (B2B)

A synopsis shows the novels plot structure. You use it to communicate with industry professionalspublishers, editors, literary agents.

CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER OUTLINE (B2B)

Use this to communicate with industry professionals about your non-fiction book or short story collection.

THE PITCH (B2B)

This is another professional tool for communicating with industry professionals. It serves to convince publishers, editors, literary agents, booksellers and marketing people of the books commercial potential. Its main use is oral, for example during pitching appointments, when you have only a few minutes to talk about your book. You can also use it as a hook in query letters.

THE BLURB (B2C)

A blurb is a product description, shown on book-selling websites like Amazon or Barnes & Noble, printed on the back cover of paperbacks and the jacket flap of hardback books. You use it to entice readers.

THE ENDORSEMENT BLURB (B2C)

You write this to recommend another writers book. The endorsement is short and may appear on the book cover, the jacket flap, the back cover or the product page.

THE TAGLINE (B2C)

This is very short, and aims to hook the readers. The tagline is used in catalogues and book listings where there isnt room for a full blurb. It can serve as a subtitle or a slogan and may appear on the front cover.

This book shows you step by step how to build each of these. You can read the whole book, or go straight to the section you need. I suggest you follow my instructions precisely to create a first draft, then amend it creatively to express your individual author voice.

Each of the short formats serves a different purpose, and I give different advice for each, although some techniques overlap..

To avoid clunky 'he-or-she-did-this-or-that' sentence constructions, I'll use sometimes 'he' and sometimes 'she'. Everything I say applies to either gender. I write in British English, so if you're used to American, some spellings and sentence constructions may look unfamiliar.

Now lets get started and give your book the sales tools it deserves.

Rayne Hall

A synopsis is a business tool, a standard means of communication among publishing professionals.

This needs a professional approach.

Many amateur writers imagine a synopsis to be an extremely short version of their novel. They try to create a mini adaptation of the whole work, struggling to cram plot, characters, setting, conflict, resolution, emotion, humour, message, writing style and more into a single page. This heroic endeavour is a painful struggleand it fails. A synopsis cant do all that, and its not meant to.

Instead of tormenting yourself like an amateur trying to do the impossible, consider the professional perspective which is much simpler.

What do publishing professionals want a synopsis for? To do their work, they need to see the novels main plot at a glance. They want a synopsis which gives them exactly this, and nothing else.

To make the editors and agents job simple, and to come across as a professional, you need to provide a synopsis that shows the main plot, based on the main character and the main conflict. Dont waste their time with anything else.

All the other wonderful elements of your novelthe rich cast of supporting characters, the atmospheric setting, the subplots, the subtext, the world-building, the backstory, the dialogue, the witty writing style, the chuckle-inducing humourare important. But they dont belong in the synopsis.

Now lets construct a professional synopsis for your novel. Ill take you through this paragraph by paragraph.

PARAGRAPH 1

The ideal first paragraph contains these five elements:

1. The main character
2. The main characters big goal
3. The reason for that goal
4. The consequences of failure
5. The deadline by when this goal must be achieved

To introduce the main character (MC), use his name (either first name only, or first and family name), a noun describing his role, rank, job or status, and an adjective describing his personality.

Examples:

Next, state the goal. What does your main character need? Choose the big goal, the one on which your novel plot hinges. Here are some examples:

Why does he want it? State his most important reason. What will happen if he fails? Name the most devastating consequence.

To show that your novel is fast-paced and exciting, mention a deadline by which the MC must achieve this goal to prevent the devastating consequences.

Here are some examples of first paragraphs.

Morally upright rancher JOHN MICHELS needs a wife. Unless he procures a respectable wife as a chaperone for his two twelve-year-old nieces, theyll become the wards of his predatory brother. John will do anything in his power to protect the twins, but all the women within riding distance of his ranch are married, and in two months, the law will take the twins away.