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When I’m cruising Twitter or FB and a tweet catches my attention
I’ll click on the link to see where it takes me. I’m adventurous like that.
After a glance at the cover I head down to the blurb. There are three things
that will make me leave the page without considering a purchase.
1. There is a mistake in the blurb. Just one misplaced
letter, and I won’t even contemplate reading the book. Come on. If the editor
or individual can’t catch a mistake in a short blurb, which is everyone’s first
impression of the book, what are the chances I’ll go through the book without
gritting my teeth making corrections in my head?
2. The story sounds good, in theory, but the blurb isn’t
appealing enough to make me dive in. The blurb tells it straight without adding
any verve or intrigue.
3. The blurb makes no sense. The kind of writing where you
question what you know about English and have to look it up. There are no
typos, but the English isn’t sound so there’s no hope.
The lesson? Spend some time on the blurb. As the experts
say, its one of the two things that will draw a reader to buy a book.
Is there anything else about a blurb that makes you stay
away from a book?
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As a reader, I don't focus too much on blurbs, to be honest. The most I usually do is scan for some appealing keywords, then read a page or two to see if I like the writing. (I'm weird, haha.) I can easily see how the points in your post could make-or-break a blurb, though!
ReplyDeleteYou aren't weird, more like interesting. I rarely read the excerpt or a couple of pages inside the book when I choose a book. Maybe I'm the weird one.
DeleteI don't care for blurbs that are NOT blurbs - but more and more reviews from blogs sites, magazines, etc. If I want to read reviews, I'll go to the reviews. Clogging up blurb space with glowing reviews, and very little info about the storyline is a good way to get me to ignore the book altogether and move on.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to the blog question, I'm not a big Grey's Anatomy fan, but have watched it a time or two in syndication.
I know exactly what you mean, Felicia. When I go to the blurb section I want to read about the book, not reviews. I wonder why they do that.
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