Review: Best Page Forward
When you first start writing a novel, all you think about is creating a great story. But as you immerse yourself into the world of self publishing, you learn there’s a lot more to being an author. If you want to sell books, you have to do all the things traditional publishers would do for you.
Book descriptions are one of those things. In this article, you’ll learn how to write your own, what to include, and what not to do. If you’re not good at writing book descriptions or blurbs, as they’re often referred to, it might be best to leave it to the experts at Best Page Forward (affiliate link).
How people decide to buy your book
Everyone judges books by their cover. Therefore, your cover must be on point for your genre. If a complete stranger looked at your cover, they should know what type of book it is. If your target reader likes the cover, they’ll click on it, and check out the description.
This is where you need to shine. Create a hook they can’t live without and keep them glued to the screen. Then ask them to buy the book to find out what happens. Most people will then click on the ‘read inside’ or download the book (especially if it’s in Kindle Unlimited and free for them). That’s where you’ll want to make sure your formatting looks good to avoid turning away potential readers.
Why your book description matters & how to improve it
Your book description is your sales pitch. The cover is the bait that entices the reader to click on the sales page for your book. The book description is the pitch inducing them to click that buy button. A book description done right can help you move more copies of your book than you ever thought possible.
Writing a description is nothing like writing a book. Here, you’ll need to keep the reader’s interest from one line to the next without waffling or revealing the twists and turns that make your book fun to read.
So how do you write a book description or improve the one you have? (If this is all just too much work, I highly recommend the team at Best Page Forward. I’ll show you an example of work they’ve done for me in a moment.)
Write in 3rd person
Common advice is to write your book description in 3rd person. I’ve seen book descriptions in first person, too, even for bestseller. When this happens, you’ll usually find a first-person narrative inside, too. Just make sure you don’t ignore the other advice below if you stray from 3rd person point of view in the blurb.
Keep it short & riveting
Your book description should focus on the A story, and maybe include the B story highlights. Don’t get into who’s related to who. Keep it simple and focus on the main characters. No waffling, no pretty prose. Brevity is wit. The goal is to keep the reader interested enough to read the book, not to reveal the entire story.
Write a hook
The first line or two should be the hook for your book. The hook obviously needs to hook the reader to want to learn more. A hook often includes irony. For example, there could be a timid fish who must cross the Pacific Ocean to find his son (Finding Nemo). It can also include threat of death, such as the hook for The Martian, where the main character is stranded on Mars with a limited supply of food and water and no way to get back home. The author stacked the odds against his hero, and the reader has to find out if astronaut Mark Watney will make it back to earth.
Mention the stakes
Who’s in your story? What’s going on? What are they trying to do? Think about what happens if they cannot reach their goals and mention those stakes in your hook. High stakes, such as death, injury, destruction of the world as we know it, or being alone forever without a happy ever after are what will keep potential readers interested.
Include relevant keywords
Don’t confuse this with keyword stuffing. You don’t need to include your genre or the trope in every paragraph of your blurb. In fact, you shouldn’t. But it’s important to mention them at least once. Did you write a cozy mystery, an international thriller, or a regency romance? Make sure your reader knows. Many genres also thrive on tropes, and it’s a good idea to add those to your description. For example, in romance, readers may look for a good enemies-to-lovers story.
Make the reader care
Ultimately, you want your readers to care about your story. Therefore, use words that convey emotion and give them a reason to pick up the book. The great thing about writing a book description is that you can get feedback easily. Not everyone will have time to read your book, but asking friends to read your description to find out if it makes them want to read the book is a much smaller commitment. Don’t be afraid of feedback. It can’t hurt.
Okay, it can hurt your feelings. But the goal is to write a killer blurb and sell books. Try not to take feedback too personally. Incidentally, the same is true for feedback about your story.
What not to do when writing your blurb
It’s always nice when someone tells you what to do, but let’s also give you some pointers on what you should not do when writing your book description. Most of these are obvious, but just in case, we’ll mention them here:
Don’t give away the ending
No spoilers
No waffling
Don’t introduce all the plotlines
Don’t talk about yourself
It’s obvious to stay away from spoilers and revealing the ending. But did you know you don’t need to introduce all your plotlines in the blurb? Doing so will just muddy the waters and make readers give up. There’s a reason you’re sprinkling your plotlines throughout the book. In the book description, focus on the A story and possibly the B story of your book.
You want to keep your blurb short, sweet, and to the point. That means no waffling. And absolutely avoid talking about yourself. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but nobody cares who you are and why you wrote the book. The reader wants to know if they want to read the book, which means they need to understand what the story is all about.
And there you have it.
How to get the best book description available
Writing book descriptions isn’t easy for authors. Even if you’re great at writing an 80k-word novel, you could suck at condensing your book into an enticing 200-word blurb. A book description is more marketing copy writing than novel writing.
I’m not an expert in it, either. In fact, I wrote my book description and tweaked it with the help of a good friend. I honestly thought it was pretty good until I ordered one from Best Page Forward.
My DIY Book description
Matchmakers don’t fall in love with their clients… unless they do.
She doesn’t believe in love…
Victoria Medrano is a professional modern-day matchmaker who earns her living by finding suitable husbands for her rich clients’ daughters using a foolproof system–one that takes love out of the equation. Snaring the right clients and establishing a sterling reputation is the career stepping stone she needs to finally earn the kind of money she’s always dreamed of.
… but love can be found in unlikely places.
When her best friend Tonya becomes her client and gets set up with the handsome and charming-when-he-wants-to-be Mark Dunham, Victoria is inexplicably drawn to him. As she suddenly questions her beliefs about love, she has to make a decision. Is it okay to fall in love with your best friend’s perfect match?
A modern-day contemporary romance
Not bad, right? It still makes me want to read the book. Here’s what Best Page Forward wrote for me.
Book description by Best Page Forward
She’s hellbent on making marriage profitable. Will her single-minded focus keep her from falling into her soulmate’s embrace?
Victoria Medrano vowed to never let romance burn her again. Instead, the modern-day matchmaker is lasered in on currying favor with her rich clients by pairing their heirs with flawless partners. And when her best friend pleads for help settling down, the determined career woman agrees… only to be shocked when the dashing date she picks inflames her own long-frozen heart.
Struggling to manage a make-or-break client’s frustratingly finicky daughter and her dream man’s lack of interest in her bestie, Victoria fears her carefully curated ambitions are going up in smoke. And when the gorgeous trust-funder kisses her, the love-starved marital arranger’s whole world comes crashing down.
Will Victoria’s risky cocktail of business and pleasure ruin her prospects or renew her faith in happily ever after?
The Perfect Match is the lighthearted first book in The Perfect Series of contemporary romances. If you like driven heroines, star-crossed duos, and plenty of steam, then you’ll adore Anita Lemke’s whirlwind spin on finding forever.
Buy The Perfect Match to ignite an unexpected passion today!
I was blown away by the blurb they wrote for me. This description above isn’t even in the same league as the one I wrote myself. This is another level entirely I didn’t even know existed.
Where to buy your next book description
Now that you’ve seen the work of masters, you’re probably wondering what it would take to just hire them to do this for you. It’s only $297 for your book description. This even includes copy for Facebook and Amazon ads. You can get a volume discount for buying more of them. Their website lists all the pricing options.
I’m not the only one who uses Bryan Cohen and his team for book descriptions. Mark Dawson endorses them, and his books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Check out Best Page Forward.