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They’re the number one item readers use to determine whether they’re going to buy, or pass. A good cover is important, but it serves only one purpose: to get the reader to the book’s page.
Covers generally don’t sell books.
They generate interest in readers.
Mainly they draw the reader to the book’s landing page so the reader can make a buying decision.
In that respect, a cover’s primary job is to get the reader to the blurb.
The blurb’s job is to convince the reader to buy the book.
Ideally, the reader will be drawn in by the cover, read the product description, and perhaps look at the rating or read the Look Inside content before clicking buy.
A really outstanding blurb will have the reader buying without bothering with the Look Inside or the reviews.
How does it do that? Why does a great blurb convince the reader they need to read the book, whereas a decent one doesn’t?
The answer is deceptively simple: It generates enough interest so they have to purchase the book to satisfy their curiosity.
BESTSELLER BLURB’S MISSION IN LIFE.
In a market more crowded than any before, with the competition stiffer than ever, if your blurb doesn’t grab your target market, you’re not going to sell.
Smart authors realize this, whether they’re just starting out or are established names.
Here’s what NY Times, WSJ, and USA Today bestselling novelist Russell Blake has to say about Bestseller Blurb:
“I’ve sold over 4 million books, and Bestseller Blurb has written dozens of my product descriptions. I consider those blurbs to be instrumental to my success. I invest in professional covers, editing, and proofreading. To try to wing it on the one element that most impacts the buying decision is nuts. I want a pro blurb that converts to sales. Bestseller Blurb delivers.”
ADVERTISING AND GREAT BLURBS
Advertising is expensive, and the more your clicks convert to sales the better your return on investment.
It only makes sense to want the highest possible ROI, and the difference between a good blurb and a great one can be the difference between losing your shirt and making money.
Ironically, most authors, and many publishers (even the big ones), couldn’t tell you what makes a great blurb.
Bestseller Blurb can. It’s simple. A great blurb gets the reader to buy the book at a higher frequency than a decent or good one.
The question for most is how to achieve that goal.
That answer isn’t as simple. It’s like asking how to create a great, vs. good, advertisement.
Fortunately, Bestseller Blurb has the secret sauce.
The Secret.
To grasp what constitutes a great blurb, let’s consider what makes a mediocre one so we
know what to avoid:
Long sentences.
Why? Because the job of the blurb’s first sentence is to get the reader to the second.
That’s it.
The job of the second is to get them to the third.
You get the idea.
By the time they’re through, they need to be convinced that this is a book they want – no, this is a book they need to buy.
The longer the sentences, the more words the reader has to wade through to make the decision. A great blurb doesn’t waste words or require the reader to work. A great blurb uses the fewest words possible to get the job done.
Character names and descriptions, except for the bare minimum.
Why?
Because until the reader’s read the book, they don’t care about the characters. They’re just names. They couldn’t care less about what your characters look like, or their quirks or handicaps or tribulations. What they do care about is how they feel when they read the blurb, and whether it resonates with them and compels them to buy.
Because people are self-interested, they’re most likely to care if the blurb engages them and gets them to imagine themselves in the same situation as the characters – whatever they’re called and whatever their attributes.
Viewing the product description as a description of the product
– a synopsis of the story.
It isn’t.
Again, the sole purpose is to get the reader to buy the book in the fewest words possible. That often doesn’t involve several paragraphs about the plot, the characters, the circumstances, challenges the protagonist must face, the story arc, or any of the other elements amateur authors stick in their blurbs.
How Bestseller Blurb Works
You send us a one or two paragraph description of your book. The genre, the main characters, a few sentences that summarize the plot and the issues the characters are grappling with, any hooks you feel make it stand out, and other bestsellers that readers of your book would enjoy. Your current blurb is fine, if you have one, along with any hooks you feel were left out.
We create a blurb within 4 business days, unless we’re swamped, in which case we’ll tell you what our backlog is.
We will modify the blurb as required until you’re satisfied.
The cost is $199 USD, but for the first half of 2019 we’re running a 20% discount for new clients. We accept Paypal.
What do you get for your money?
A great blurb written in compelling fashion that doesn’t waste time getting the reader to buy.
Philosophy
Writing a blurb is very similar to writing ad copy.
Which is a completely different skill than writing a novel, just as writing a novel is different than writing a manual, which is different than writing a brochure or writing a blog.
Many authors who’ve never written ad copy believe they can master that skill quickly.
Still more absolutely dread writing their blurbs – even bestsellers.
Because when they do so, they’re stepping into uncharted territory. How do they know whether they’re hitting the right notes in the right sequence? Are they violating some unwritten rule that will cost them sales? Are they too wrapped up in their own story to be dispassionate about the blurb?
Like most things, the better you are at something, the easier it looks to those watching you perform.
Writing good ad copy is a skill you can spend many years learning and mastering. There are wonderful books on the subject you can buy that will teach you the basics. With lots of practice, a decent ad copywriter can become good, and a good one, great.
But most authors don’t have the time to do that.
And certainly not most bestselling authors.
They don’t need to spend weeks or months reading about copy writing and devote a large block of time to learning its intricacies, and then countless hours honing that skill until they’re more than simply proficient.
They need a solution, and they generally need it now. They’ve spent months, or years, writing and rewriting their novel, they’ve invested in a good cover and probably editing and proofreading, and they want a blurb that delivers. They don’t want to shortchange their project with an amateurish description and doom it with the kiss of death before they’ve even gotten started.
At Bestseller Blurb, our philosophy is to leave specialized work to the experts.
We’re experts at blurbs.
We wouldn’t suggest you try to become an editor or a proofreader if you have no training and experience.
We wouldn’t propose that anyone who can open Photoshop should create their own cover. You can, but is that really a super idea in a crowded market where serious competitors are investing in professional finishes?
We don’t think so.
Put another way, you might be able to figure out how to write a great blurb, given enough time and talent. Just as you might be able to become a competent line editor, or developmental editor, given enough time and talent. But in all professions there’s a bell curve, with most landing squarely in the middle of the curve, and only a few outliers outperforming the average.
Unless you have more time than most of our clients, and more motivation and natural ability, you’ll fall in the middle of the curve. And you’ll generate a decent, but not outstanding, blurb. It might perform well. Or it might be worth exactly what you paid for it.
We take the guesswork out of that part of the process so you don’t waste time you don’t have on a blurb that’s going to cost you a ton in lost sales.
Hire professionals to get a professional job done.
That’s our philosophy in a nutshell.
Do you guarantee sales?
We don’t guarantee sales. We guarantee satisfaction with the blurb. A great blurb can get
readers to buy, but if your reviews say the book’s a stinker, or the first chapters in the
Look Inside aren’t compelling, the blurb can’t fix that.
How can I tell your blurb is actually better than my old one?
The easiest way is with advertising.
If you advertise on Amazon your existing blurb will have a historical conversion rate which can be compared to the new one. Many factors influence the rate at which a book sells including whether the book is enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, what the book is priced at, and how competitive the sub-genre is at any given time.
A decent blurb can improve conversions by 5 to 10% while an amazing blurb can improve conversions by as much as 25, 50, or even 100%. The implications for ad profitability should be immediately evident.
Do I own the blurb? Can I further modify it if I like? Any restrictions?
We provide you with the blurb as a work for hire, and you own it, with no claim by
Bestseller Blurb outstanding.
What if I dislike what you create?
We will work with you until you like it. If it isn’t a good fit, we’ll refund your money, with the restriction that we own the blurb, and you don’t use it in any fashion.
Are there discounts for books in a series?
Depends on how many books you contract for. Generally, we’ve got a full schedule, however if you have a series with four or more books, let’s talk.
Do you run specials?
Occasionally. Usually once or twice a year. Right now, we’re running a 20% off special, so blurbs cost only $160. We reserve the right to terminate the offer at any time.
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