The first blurb for Becoming Janice is in and I am thrilled to bits. Won’t say what the blurb says about the book in full, just share this juicy snippet: “I read it cover to cover in one go. Simply unputdownable!”
So, what is a blurb and why is it so important? Simple answer: It’s a book marketing tool. Set clearly on the back cover of your book, or up front in the ebook, blurbs are catchy endorsements intended to convince people to buy your book. They signal what your book is about, and especially when they come from influencers, they provide social proof that buyers find important (have you ever bought anything online without zipping through the reviews first?)
According to a reader survey conducted by Written Word Media, the most important factor that readers use to decide whether or not to read a book is the blurb (1). Besides that, a blurb must work quickly because, on average, you only have seven seconds to impress a potential new reader before they move on and forget you (2).
Q. Did I know this when I got together with my book marketing guru, Chris Houston?
A. No.
But thanks to Chris, I soon learned the basics of blurb acquisition: faint heart ne’er won fair… blurb. You’ve just got to reach out and… ask. Chris invited me to compile a list of my favorite authors whom he would ask on my behalf to provide a blurb. “Aim high,” he said, “if they have time, they will and if they don’t, they can only say no.” While Chris was reaching out to these people, I was doing the same in my personal network and lo and behold, the first blurb has just landed. There will be more to come… x-fingers!
It’s a nerve-wracking game, waiting for blurbs, but I take heart from what Natalie Harris-Spencer says on her Aspiring Author blog (3): “Blurbs won’t make or break your book, so don’t fret if you can’t get many. Of course, the more connections you have, and the more people you reach out to, the more likely you are to get a bunch of blurbs. But one good blurb beats twenty irrelevant blurbs any day.”
(1) Reader survey
(2) The human attention span
(3) Why Book Blurbs are Important to Sell Your Book
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