I’m digging into learning to write better book blurbs. Sounds fun, right?

Book Blurb One

I have book one, Released, on a Smashwords promo for free until May 31 and am always hoping to sell through the three book series.

But here’s the thing: my current sell-through/read-through rate is terrible. When I sell print face-to-face, I can sell all three in the series. But with ebooks, where I can’t pitch the books personally, book two, Rescued, and book three, Restored, rarely sell.

So, what's the problem?

Why am I not selling through?

Are the books that terrible?

I have been told people love them. The free copies I donated to the four local libraries are tattered—well read.

To figure out what’s wrong, I am starting with the blurb—the back cover copy.

As I dig through the research and make changes to each one, I’ll post the results here on my blog. I figure after five books, I might have this book blurb stuff figured out. Orrrrr by then, I might have found a copy writer to hire!

Here is my current book blurb for Book 1, Released:

“Ex-con. Nobody cares … except a tiny girl named Bea.

Clarence Timmelsen was locked up in prison for sixty years. Now he’s free in a nursing home. Still imprisoned by his angry heart. He’s been set up.

Bea’s mommy, Katty—brutally abused by a former boyfriend. She follows her family’s tradition for living and parenting. Until the boyfriend comes back for their daughter.

Did you like The Shack by Wm. Paul Young? Then you might like Released, the first book in The Great Escapee Series, a supernatural suspense series with a touch of magical realism.

Buy Released to discover this engaging series today!”

I even have an endorsement that Tosca Lee blessed me with:

NYT Bestselling Author Tosca Lee: “A curmudgeonly ex-con senior citizen, a little girl named Bea, and her addict mother. An unlikely trio crosses paths on the road to redemption from their pasts in small town Nebraska–with a little help from above. With true-to-life grit and characters you love to love (and some you love to hate), RELEASED is a fresh slice of hope in a world of injured souls.”

A reviewer took the time to post this on Amazon:

“ … Lacy unwinds a powerful story of the humanity that resides in even the most hardened or sickened of souls.”

Blurb examples from my own bookshelves

Janet Evanovich’s Twisted Twenty-Six: “This isn’t just another case. This is family. How far will Stephanie Plum go to protect the one person who means the most to her?”

Talk of the Town by Lisa Windgate: “Can Anything Go Right in this Tumbleweed Town? Her show, American Megastar, is TV”s hottest program, but life couldn’t be worse for associate producer Mandalay Florentino.

Cynthia Ruchti’s as waters gone by: “Are the walls around her heart more daunting than the other barriers separating her from the man she married? Emmalyn Ross never thought a person could feel this alone.”

Straight Up by Lisa Samson: “They are living lives they were never meant to live. Georgia Bishop, a could-be jazz great, has thrown away her life, her marriage, and her talent for her drinking habit. Her cousin, Fairly Godfrey, is living the good life in New York but wonders if deeper meaning exists beyond the superficial world in which she finds herself.”

Lisa Wingate’s The Language of Sycamores: “Sometimes you have to take a trip off the map to discover where your own heart lives. There are years that ask questions and years that answer ….”

Research

I googled “best book blurb hooks” looking for examples.

Reedsy popped up first. Good article. Super long.

I am copying Reedsy’s steps here and filling in with my info.

Steps on Reedsy are:

Introduce your main character.

     Mine: Clarence Timmelsen. Ex-con. Eighty years old.

Set the stage for your primary conflict.

     He’s been imprisoned for sixty years and is now dumped in a nursing home. 

Establish the stakes.

     He just wanted a family. Now he’s too old. It’s too late. There’s no one left.

Show the reader why this book is for them.

     If you’ve ever lost out on life …

     If you liked The Shack by …

     Ever thought life passed you by, only to discover it is right where you’ve been planted? Or in Clarence’s case … dumped?

Two posts from Alliance of Independent Authors:

https://selfpublishingadvice.org/book-blurbs/

Orna Ross ~ “But it’s much more about generating an emotion.”

Adam Croft ~ “For thrillers, you’ll be looking at selling the suspense side of things and the impossible choice that the characters have.”

So, what’s the impossible choice for my main character, Clarence?

• He doesn’t get a choice. He was ordered by a judge, some sixty years ago to get transferred to a nursing home at age eighty as part of his sentence. 
• To escape away to the hills and die—or not. He has been robbed of sixty years of life
•  To find a way to be happy.

Digging deeper into the Alliance’s post.

https://selfpublishingadvice.org/book-blurbs-2/

What? Adam Croft has a book about … blurbs?

“Your goal is to make an emotional connection with the reader so they will want to be transported into your world.” Ben Cameron on Alliance of Independent Authors blog, Self Publishing Advice.org/book-blurbs-2/

I bought Adam Croft’s book, Writing Killer Blurbs and Hooks.

Reading it … I’ll be back …