If you publish the commercial route, a copywriter in the publishing house writes the blurb for your book—that is, if your manuscript gets accepted. But if you self-publish, you retain control over your book, including the blurb for the back cover. That’s right.
Writing the blurb that’ll sell your book, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, is no easy task. In fact, it can be super-difficult. At least for me, it was. I recrafted my blurb for my series’ first book several times, especially after I re-published it as a new edition and eventually changed the title. Not only did I fail to create a strong description, but I also had trouble judging it. It would feel strong to me, but weak to others, and I was unable to pick up on the weaknesses.
Frustrated, I searched for services that edited blurbs. I didn’t find anything relevant—except a service that writes your blurb for you. So, I hired that person, and I think it made a difference. I used this same service for my second book, as well. From that point on, I told myself, you don’t illustrate your own cover image, quit writing your own blurb. That’s how it is in traditional publishing, anyway.
That being said, I did actually improve my copywriting skills. However, the struggles with blurb-writing were the same with prose writing in my late teens years ago.
It took me around seven years to go from poor storyteller to being able to produce great novels. When I say great, I mean that. The reviews are a lot better than they were in the early to mid-2010's.
Not only that... so are my blurb-writing abilities. That's right - I wrote the blurb or summary for the 3rd installment in my "Magical Missions" series. You'll find it every retail site and even on my books' page.
Before using it, though, I pre-tested it, and got mostly positive reactions.
I will probably write the blurbs for my future books, too.
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