Tuesday, June 26, 2018

7 Tips To Boost Your Book Descriptions by Nicola McDonagh #OurAutorGang




Whether you are Traditionally or self-published, your book description along with your cover, is key to selling your work. A good blurb will attract readers, so it is as, if not more important, to get it right. I find writing my book blurbs one of the hardest things to do, along with writing a synopsis. I mean, what do you put in it? What do you leave out?

Now I’m not saying that my blurbs are the best in the world, but after looking at tons of other authors descriptions, the ones that sell, I realised that there are ways to help you write that all important book description. Here a few tips to get you started:


1: Use a tag line/headline in bold to grab the reader’s attention that gives a clue to what the book is about. For Whisper Gatherers, I put: 
Adara has a secret. A paranormal power she cannot unleash. If she did, her life would be over.

2: If it is a series, mention that either in the title of your book, or make a reference that it is a continuation in your blurb. For Echoes from the Lost Ones, I put:
Follow Adara on her mission to find her brother, as the enthralling Song of Forgetfulness dystopian, sci-fi adventure continues

3: Don't give too much away. Keep the description fairly short after all you aren’t writing a synopsis just a brief attention grabber. Include as few names as possible. Give a hint at your protagonist’s dilemma and emotional state. Make sentences as short as possible to give a greater impact. For non-fiction, bullet points of relevant features should be in bold. I try to keep my blurbs under 400 words.

4: Include rave reviews near the top, bottom, or at appropriate points. Again, keep them short. If they are from a magazine or known publication, person, include their name. If not, say where they come from, such as, Amazon Review. From A Silence Heard: 
‘Exciting, fun, unique, and creative. The author is truly a gifted writer to be able to whip up something like this.’ (Amazon Review)


5: Add your books keywords as part of the description, the ones that you used for KDP in the book details section. It will link to your book that way. You don’t have to use all of them.



6: Mention famous authors and perhaps books that are similar to yours. Try not to go overboard with that. If you aren’t sure, you can find them if you look at ‘People who bought’ on your Amazon sales page.

7: Use HTML code to make your description look great. If you don’t, it will appear as one big lump of text, not  very exciting. If you don’t know how to use HTML code, here is a great free tool that will generate the code for you. All you need to do is to type your blurb into the box and click the generate button: 




I hope these tips prove useful to you when you write your book description. Don’t be afraid to change your blurb occasionally. It can’t hurt to try out different headlines, reviews etc to help your book have a greater impact when a reader clicks on it.

For more information about my books, please visit my Amazon Author Page: Author.to/BooksonAmazon


You may also want to read Erika M Szabo’s post ‘What Makes You Open A Book?
https://asmallgangofauthors.blogspot.com/2017/09/what-makes-you-open-books-ourauthorgang.html

Erika M Szabo

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great advice Nikki :)
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Thanks, every little helps, as they say.

Erika M Szabo via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
7 Tips To Boost Your Book Descriptions by Nicola McDonagh #OurAutorGang
Whether you are Traditionally or self-published, your book
description along with your cover, is key to selling your work. A good blurb
will attract readers, so it is as, if not more important, to get it right. I
find writing my book blurbs one of the harde...
+
1
2
1
 
 · 
Reply

Rebecca Tran via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great tips Nicola I’ll give this a try on my next book. I never quite understood tag lines either so thanks for that.
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Glad it is of use Rebecca.

Rebecca Tran via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Can’t figure out how to write that dreaded book blurb? Follow these 7 easy tips by Nicola McDonagh on #OurAuthorGang.
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Joanne Jaytanie via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Author Nicola McDonagh offers some great tips on how to write book descriptions.
 
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Joanne Jaytanie

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Some good tips on writing book descriptions, Nikki. Thank you.
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My pleasure, Joanne.

Joe Bonadonna via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
#OurAuthorGang . . . wherein Nikki McDonagh​ offers some great tips on writing blurbs and descriptions for our novels.
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Joe Bonadonna

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Most definitely some excellent tips here, Nikki.
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Thanks Joe.
 
+Nikki McDonagh -- you're welcome.

Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Authors! Hate, hate, hate writing blurbs for your books? Check out Nicola's great tips to writing a great attention-getting blurb for your book.
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Ruth de Jauregui

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great tips!! I hate writing blurbs, this will help. Thank you!
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Good to hear. Blurbs are so darned hard to do.

Mary Anne Yarde

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
7 wonderful tips! Thank you for sharing, Nicola!
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Hope it helps.

Grace Au

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Wonderful information about how to market your book through your book's back cover description.
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Chris Weigand via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today Nikki Mcdonagh offers some tips on Book Blurbs.
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Chris Weigand

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great info. Thanks Nikki.
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Thank Chris.

Toi Thomas

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Cool tips, Nikki.
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Thank you Toi.

Toi Thomas via Google+

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today, Nikki McDonagh​ offers 7 ways to boost book descriptions. Helpful tips for authors, inside knowledge for readers. #OurAuthorGang
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Lorraine Carey

7 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I learn something new every day! This is truly good stuff, Nikki! I'm going to redo all of my book descriptions now.
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So pleased you found it useful Lorraine.
 
+Nikki McDonagh I found it extremely helpful.

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