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the book jacket synopsis

August 27, 2008 by diane

This influences me when I choose to purchase a book. But sometimes the synopsis gives away too much information about the plot.

What is the best way to write one of these so that it will entice a reader, but not spoil the surprises of the story?

Posted in reading, writing | Tagged book jackets, book shopping, reading, selecting a book, synopsis | 4 Comments

4 Responses

on August 27, 2008 at 8:29 pm sparebedroom

I find that the ones I appreciate as a writer and that get my attention as a reader are the ones that are brief and have a hook specific enough to catch my interest.

A perfect example of a great, hooky blurb: David Rosenfelt’s Don’t Tell A Soul. Clocks in at just 114 words. Got me to read the promo copy, even though I had no clue who he was.

Maybe this is a little vague. But I say use just enough words to gain interest. If a buyer wants to know more, they can browse the book some more or look for a book review.

Hopefully the book has enough unique, non-spoiler elements that can be highlighted.

But don’t keep important information hidden. The book above turned out to be nowhere near as interesting as its blurb for that exact reason. (For more of my problems with this, see my own review over at Dispatches From the Spare Bedroom.) Kudos to St. Martin’s marketing department, though.
on August 28, 2008 at 11:54 am shariwrites

This is something I continually wonder about. Kristen Nelson (agent) has blogged before (extensively) that the pitch/synopsis paragraph in your query should sound a lot like the back jacket cover. But I’ve always wondered a little about how do to that. After all, agents want to know how the book ends, but you never want the reader to know. I’ve come to the conclusion that, at least in an query, you need to make it read like a back cover copy but still let the agent know what’s going to happen. If you want to check out her discussion, go to http://www.pubrants.blogspot.com and search under “building the pitch paragraph.”
on August 29, 2008 at 5:59 am Ken Kiser

Good Question. I’ve been told that my pitch summary is not bad… but I’d have no way of giving advice on how to write a good one… or even if mine is actually good.

I always thought of it as the audio track of a good movie trailer… you know, the big movie voice guy. What would he say in thirty seconds about your book?
on August 30, 2008 at 7:30 pm dianegallant

sparebedroom: I agree that it should be brief and attention-grabbing.

Shari: thanks for the link.

Ken: producing movie trailers must be tricky too. I’ve seen some that were so vague I had no idea whether it was the sort of movie I might like, and others that gave away too much information.