It's time for the first Wednesday of the month and time for our monthly meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the aim of the group is to offer a safe space where writers of all kinds can share fears and insecurities without fear of being judged. Today's co-hosts are Kim Lajevardi, Victoria Marie Lees, Joylene Nowell Butler, Erika Beebe and Lee Lowery.
This is pretty pertinent for me as I embark on querying small publishers for the very first time. I always thought the title was the hardest thing to do but weirdly for my last couple of books, the title was basically there from the beginning. For the project I'm querying, the title is a one-word description of the main character's special ability so it was always pretty obvious. I'm sure next time I'll go back to struggling for a pithy title.
The blurb is really hard to do well, I think. Summing up tens of thousands of words of story in a couple of paragraphs that must grab the reader's attention in a couple of seconds? Mm... Before, I've gone for the approach of starting with a question - what would you do in xxx situation - which hopefully pulls the reader in right from the start, but it's hard to gauge if the approach is successful. I'm trying to transfer this blurb-writing style to the hook in a query letter. I figure they must be similar because they both have to rise above a sea of other stuff to hook the reader. A daunting task, but I suppose the key is to pack in as much stakes and conflict as possible. How easy that is probably depends on how strong those aspects are in the book itself. So, that must mean the key to writing a good blurb is to write a good book in the first place.
I'm sure more profound answers can be found with the rest of the IWSG list, which you can find here!
16 comments:
You're lucky that your latest titles have come to you easily. Good luck with your querying.
Hi Nick, same pinch, I too get titles easily. But blurbs nearly kill me. Good luck querying small publishers. Hope you get some good news soon.
Glad the title was easy at least. Starting with a question for the blurb is a good idea.
I seem to have the title or at least a working one, but as you say summing up in a few paragraphs that grab, arrrrgh!
Here's to getting those queries out, Nick! I know you can do it, and I know you'll master those mini synopses. Let us know what happens. Love to keep up with what authors are up to.
Blurbs are so hard.
Good luck with your querying!
That's about as profound as I can get, as well. I think squeezing a couple of pithy, descriptive paragraphs out of 90,000+ words is more work than writing the damn book. 😆
Blurbs are definitely the devil for me. Glad your titles are coming easier as of late!
Well, trust me, I see enough really bad blurbs - it's not easy to write one that a publisher will like.
You are soooo right. They must rise above the rest of the book blurbs out there. I've entered some query contests before. It helps to tighten them!
Those blurbs are so difficult. I redo mine so many times and still am unsatisfied. Good luck with your queries. I've been with a small press for years and have no regrets.
At this stage, especially if you want to go traditional, titles aren't so important. Publishers will change it anyway if they so desire. It's hooking them in the first place that's the challenge.
Good luck with querying publishers.
Blurb seems to be the popular answer today. But it sounds like you have a game plan there.
Hi Nick - either can cause challenges can't they - I struggle with blog post titles sometimes; and when I chat about something I've written up - I then struggle with summarising it/them. Good luck and all the best with your approaches - cheers Hilary
Titles usually come easier for me, too. Blurbs are a pain. LOL Good luck with your queries.
Blurbs are truly difficult, Nick. All the luck, sir, with your querying to small publishers. Which small publishers are you sending to and how did you discover them? I'm always interested as, God willing, I may eventually get there with my memoir. All best to you!
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