Synopsis vs Blurb

Happy Thursday, beautiful readers of my blog! Today we're gonna go over a couple of words and what they mean. I'll be focusing on the words synopsis and blurb and what each means. Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

The definitions!

Synopsis:
A brief summary or general survey of something.
An outline of the plot of a book, play, movie, or episode of a television show. 

Blurb:
A short description of a book, movie, or other product written for promotional purposes and appearing on the cover of a book or in an advertisement.

When you write your query letters, most agents want a summary or synopsis that includes spoilers (the whole plot in a few lines).

However, you don't want those spoilers in the promotional material, so you use the synopsis to create a compelling blurb (which appears on the back cover of your novel), leaving out the sensitive parts.

In addition, a blurb can be a short snippet from a review that entices readers to pick up your work.

So, to break it down in layman's terms:

• A synopsis is a summary that can contain spoilers.
• A blurb is any promotional copy that hooks readers.

Does that make it easier to understand?

When you attend something like C. J. Redwine's Query Letter workshop, you'll learn to craft a compelling synopsis of your novel for your query letters. From there, your blurbs will grow wings. If you want to know a little more about the workshop, I discuss the finer points with C. J. here.

Yes, she'll have a workshop at utopYA Con 2015, but she also offers them online.

It's worth looking into for the blurb writing ability it'll surely give you. Even if you don't want an agent, selling your book is important, right?

What do you think? Were you aware of these differences?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Backmatter

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, I'm gonna talk a little about what you need to do in your book's backmatter. Yeah, that stuff that comes after the novel ends. So, grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Open up that document that contains your book. Pan over until you get to the end. What do you see?

For most authors, you probably see something that looks like this:
About the Author:
K. Littlegross is...

Then maybe social media links.

After that...?

How about we change the way you think about your book's backmatter. Everything that comes after the last page of the story is considered backmatter. If someone just read all the way through your book, chances are they like your writing. If they didn't, they would've quit reading a long time ago (unless they're just one of those people who can't stand not finishing something they started).

Let's use that to your advantage, shall we?

On the FIRST page after your book ends, try adding something like this:

"Thank you for reading my (novel/short story/serial/etc...). I hope you enjoyed it. If you wouldn't mind, would you kindly leave a review? Not only does it help others gauge the book's worth, it also helps me know what I did right and what I might be able to do better. Readers are the reason I write! I love hearing from fans."

Give them a way to subscribe to your newsletter and tell them why they should. Do you do exclusive giveaways in your newsletters? Mention it! Or, ask them to like your amazon author page. Don't forget the LINK!


Now, here are a couple of other things to include before your About the Author page:

• An excerpt from another work of yours (don't forget the sales page link at the end!).
• An excerpt from a fellow author in the same genre (don't forget the sales page link at the end!).
• Acknowledgements (I suggest putting this in the back so it doesn't interfere with the sample percentage).

These are things to include on your About the Author page:

• Your author photo (resize to small [72dpi], please)
• Your bio
• Your bibliography (don't forget to link them to the sales page!)
• Perhaps a review quote or two
• One synopsis from a book in a similar genre you've written
• Awards you've won for writing
• How to find you on social media
• Another request for that review

Why should these things be in this order? Because a reader will get bored wading through author "stuff" unless they've become super fans.

You'd be surprised at how much difference these little things make. Remember to update past books when you publish something new. It isn't difficult, and it'll keep your fans coming back for more.

How many of the above do you implement now? Were you aware of what you could do with the back of your book? Tell me about it!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo