I’ve recently mentioned the literary hustle writers must engage in if they are going to survive and thrive in the business of writing.
Treating Writing As A Business – The Wise Novelist
Establishing A Brand with Casa Claire – Thank You Debbie Linda Leonardo – The Wise Novelist
Business Cards-Old School Marketing – The Wise Novelist
As I am now putting my seventh novel, Spark of Faith, to publishing bed, I’ve learned to appreciate that one of the key elements to the final packaging of your written novel is a cool cover and those brilliant blurbs that appear on it.
IMHO, a solid blurb can make a novel.
For example, Colin Broderick, a successful author, screenwriter, film producer and director –
Whom I’ve been lucky enough to know as a friend since the 90s –
’67 Impala & Fibonacci Sequence – The Wise Novelist
– was the very first writer’s blurb I ever received.
And his “Grisham on mushrooms” blurb has worked like an incantation.
Since then, I’ve managed to land a who’s-who list of wonderful writers for blurbs on the books that followed.
Truly Blessed – Thanks For The Magic Blurbs Colin – The Wise Novelist
The question of whether a blurb helps market a novel remains open to debate.
How to Get Blurbs for Your Book & Use Them In Your Marketing
Now, I’m old school – I believe in the vouching system. I believe that a solid blurb by another author whose books I like, will bring their readers towards my work. For example, if you type in another author’s name into an internet search, one of the responses should bring up my book’s cover with their blurb on it. Especially now with the overachieving AI doing the search work for you.
If a reader already likes an author they’ve read and that author vouches for my book, that may tip the scale for that potential reader to order my book.
In the music field, it’s comparable to a touring line up – a new band tries to get on the tour as an opening act for an established band. In boxing or MMA, it’s trying to land on a title fight undercard. In both cases, people have come to see someone else but if you have the goods, you may impress them.
Now, in the beginning, as a new writer, it’s a little harder to get other writers to take time out of their busy writing schedules to read someone else’s work. It’s a little like being a door-to-door salesman. You have to knock on a lot of doors – and get some slammed in your face – just to land a few yeses. And that’s all right, because you need to develop a thick skin if you are going to survive the writing game. First off, not everyone is going to like your book. Maybe it’s not their favorite genre, or it’s longer than they normally like to read, or maybe they just think your writing sucks. And like every other profession, there is always the possibility of jealousy.
But after a while, when you work gets out there and you start connecting with other writers as colleagues and friends, and sharing mutual respect, you get a feel for those that may find your work interesting or fun and that makes it easier to ask them to read a draft of your unpublished work. One hand always washes another, and you must always be willing to reciprocate the favor.
My motto is that a rising tide floats all boats, so that if you suddenly find yourself with a bit of success, and in my case, pure luck, share the wealth and help out another who may be starting out or may be struggling for recognition. Give a blurb. After all, people always remember who introduced them to someone special. And I remember every favor I have ever received.
I’ve been blessed to have met a lot of wonderful writers over the past five years. A number of them have ended up providing me with incredible blurbs for my books. I am truly in their individual and collective debt.
I try to use different writers for the blurbs on each new novel. If I run out of room on my covers, I’ll put a few near the introductory portion of my work – in a “What Others Are Saying” section. And they don’t have to be writers in my genre. A good storyteller recognizes a good story when they see one, even if it’s not a story they would tell.
Reading a good blurb is like listening to the comments of an excited crowd leaving a theatre while you are waiting in line to enter. If the last thing you hear before sitting down to engage a work is a positive comment about that work, you cannot help but be predisposed to enjoying the experience. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
So, I’m now in the process of acquiring blurbs for Spark of Faith. So far, so good. It’s always exciting when things work out for you. Just remember to always pay it forward.
Well, enough of this class. There’s the bell.
You fine, five readers get out there and wrap up your work week today – Thursday – so Friday provides for an easy exit ramp into your weekend.
And whatever else we get up to, let’s make today a great one.
