FORMULA.
There, I said that dreaded word, anathema to the genre fiction writer. Who wants their work called formulaic? Ah, but there is one formula that can be the novelist’s best friend. The blurb formula.
A blurb is a mini-synopsis, usually 250 words or less, that tells what the novel is about without going into specifics or giving away the end. Blurbs can be used in query letters to agents or editors, in promotional material, as enticements to reviewers, and, if you are self-publishing, as back cover copy and/or a description on a website.
The best way to learn how to do it is to learn from professional copy writers. The people who write blurbs for a living. Everything you need to know is on the back cover of mass market paperback novels. Here are three examples pulled at random off my bookshelf:
“Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is…
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