Covers, Titles, and Blurbs. How important are blurbs?

Hi.

It has been emphasised in almost every essay on marketing and publishing that the three most important things, the things readers notice and absorb first about your book, are 1. The Title, 2. The Cover, and 3. The Blurb.

This is only logical. Your eyes is first drawn to the visual aspect of something you want to purchase. Does the style of the cover appeal to you? Will it look nice on your bookshelves? Is it proper eye candy?

Then your consciousness starts up and your attention is drawn to the title. Does the book have a cool title (especially valid for fiction)? Is the title fitting? Will your visitors be impressed when they see it on your bookshelf?

Then... supposedly... the blurb is next. But I want to ask you a question.

Do you actually read blurbs? (I mean 'read' in a wider sense than word-for-word. In this case skimming counts as reading.)

For most people, the answer will likely be yes. Most people read blurbs. Did you nod when you read the question? Did you say to yourself 'yes'? Well, that's creepy.

Errm...

Why would you not read a blurb? How then would you know whether the story is something you'd like? How else can you tell the book is something you want to read?

I have a confession to make.
I don't. I don't read blurbs because I read like I write. I don't want to know what the book is about before I start it. I don't want to be primed in any way. I want to come into the book like I don't know what's going on, and I want to find out what's going on while I read it. The cover and title are normally enough... and if they aren't, I drop the book. Life's too busy, and there's way too many great book out there to spend time on something you don't enjoy 100%.

A blurb can prime you. You'll expect the book to be a certain thing... and then you might be disappointed if you don't get it, even if the story was brilliant, and the blurb wrong for it, or just tailored to another version of it, a version that wasn't written, and that you won't find in the book. I'd rather be surprised, go on a journey. This way, I don't get impatient with the book, because I don't know what I'm waiting for, what still has to happen for the blurb to make sense/fulfill its potential.

I'd much rather have a cover that hints at mystery.
Why is the man with the staff facing off against some kind of water-demon? What's the with the girl in a man's knight's armour? Why are there four children stranded in a secluded valley? This, and the title, are the things that draw me in to such an extent that I forego the Blurb completely. They are much more effective on their own than if a Blurb is included.

In the same way I prefer books that don't explain their magic system, I'd rather find out about the magic of a book without being told what it is about.

What do you think? Does this seem like something you could agree with... or am I the only one who thinks this way?

I hope you're having a great week and your writing is going well! :)
Cheers!

Like this post? Like my short stories too! Like the insightful rantiness of this post? Become a stalker! Follow me on twitter @jimneyauthor. :D

The Meaning of Success

Hi there again!

This post will start with a little bit about myself and my stories (especially my stories) to illustrate some important points. It's also the first of a series of What I've Learned posts.

I started to (write seriously) in 2012. I was 21. To date I've written 7 books. I don't know whether any of them will ever see the light of day as a professionally published title. Two of those seven novels I sent out to about ten (yes, in total) publishers and/or agents. I got one request for a full and then a swift rejection. Then more rejections.

I often wonder whether these novels-which-didn't-quite-work-out are successes - or not. I think they are. They weren't that great in many aspects. The prose was wonky and often an exercise in 'how many metaphors can I take from books I've read'. The plot didn't come together nicely - and sometimes not at all. They weren't picked up by publishers or agents. But the worst way they fall short is because they weren't read. They didn't bring in any money. BUT. They're successes in many ways.

They brought me joy to write and I still like to think about them once in a while (and who knows? Perhaps at some point I'll pick them up again and make them shiny!). They taught me more about the craft than any craft book, craft blog post, or craft panel I've attended. (And those have been plenty!) I have learned what NOT to do if I want a publishable book and what I could use instead. I have grown as a writer and as an author and also as a person.

At the time it was right.

I had to experiment. I even published one of the novels (the first) on KDP. I sold about six copies before deciding to end the experiment. It wasn't worth it commercially.

Personally? There were a lot of angry rants (mostly to my mom) and tears. But I'm happy I did it. I know what to look for now that I've published something else. This first book will never be available again (at least not in the form it was, which was admittedly atrocious) but I'm ready to give publishing another try. That's why there's six (6!) shiny new short stories on amazon.

Why? I want people to read my work. I want to see if I've gotten better - good enough to be read. I want to know whether someone else is interested in the things (variety) I care about.

Why? If these stories have any value then it's because they are real. They are real in the sense that I've told nothing but the truth. Everything else (remember those 7 discarded novels? Those tens of short stories?) isn't worth talking about. This is why this isn't a craft post. It's a truth post. Like my stories it's as real as I can make it.

And I would call this, at least, a success.

About Content

Hi there once again!

After getting the introduction out of the way, I want to share with you what I intend to do on this blog (in the near future and beyond).

1.) writing craft posts

There will be at least one post per week about the craft of writing or something related. I have put the release schedule on every Wednesday of the week - subject to change to another day if Wednesday doesn't work out.

Ah. I can hear you shouting already.

Who are you to give craft advice? I'll get to that in a bit (precisely? In the first craft post).

2.) news updates

This is mostly to update you on my work.

3.) There are several other options of what could be done on this blog in the future. I'll update this post when they're ready.

Thank you for reading and I hope you're having a great week!
J.M. Trent

PS: If you haven't yet, check out my Amazon Author Page Here! Happy reading, and as always, consider leaving a review! Reviews go a long way to help us authors out!

About the Blog (and its Author!)

 Hi there!

I'm J.M. Trent. I'm a writer and reader of mostly fantasy, some science fiction, and some action/adventure, mystery, magical, et cetera fiction. I like games (RPGs, MMOs, FPS, you name it!) and movies almost as much. Oddly enough (do you believe it?) I also like The Outdoors.

As the first blog post, this should be shiny. I'll see what I can do.

1.) I am a writer from Austria. I write exclusively in English.

I've been writing fantasy and science fiction stories ever since high school (instead of doing homework/paying attention in class) - with a lot of doodling of characters in between of course - and after spending the last three years exclusively on the writing craft I hope to level up to the 10,000 required mastery points soon!

I've written a couple of stories by now: 7 books - at least. More about that later.


2.) In addition to my stories (always more stories!) I'm also working on this blog and a website.
I'll update this part of the post once the website is out.


3.) In the meantime there's six (six!) short stories out on amazon you might like to try.

I'd be more than happy if you do! You can borrow them for free if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership (which you should! It's inexpensive and it gives you access to thousands of books, essays, and short stories.)

 J.M. Trent's Amazon Author Page

Please consider leaving a review. Authors live for reviews!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my work. Please contact me at jmtrentauthor@gmail.com if you have any questions/requests/comments! I look forward to hearing from you.