The Difference Between a Blurb and a Synopsis by J.Q. Rose
Blurbs can mean a testimonial about how wonderful your book is. The blurb is written by a respected person in the topic you have written about e.g. a distinguished horticulturalist says delightful things about your non-fiction book on gardening or an author (usually not your best friend) will expound about your book. These testimonials are found in the back of the book cover or front of the book cover or front of the book to testify to a reader the merits of the information provided in a non-fiction book or entertainment value in a novel. You need these blurbs before publishing so the publisher can insert them into your manuscript.
The other blurb is a short teaser, about a paragraph long, to get the reader's interest to actually look into your book and decide to buy it/read it! It introduces the main character and her conflict, but NOT the resolution. You gotta buy the book to discover how she figures out her problem.
Don't confuse this blurb with a tagline or log line which is only about one or two lines long.
Here's my TAGLINE for my cozymystery/sweet romance, Coda to Murder: Pastor Christine Hobbs never imagined she would be caring for a flock that includes a pig, a kangaroo, and a murderer.
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| Coda to Murder |
Here's my BLURB: Pastor Christine Hobbs has been in the pulpit business for over five years. She never imagined herself caring for a flock that includes a pig, a kangaroo, and a murderer.
Here's my TAGLINE for my non-fiction ebook for MG girls, Girls Succeed!: Inspiring and empowering girls to achieve
success in their dream careers
Here's my BLURB: An interactive e-book filled with dreams and passion to
inspire, entertain, and empower girls. Fifteen remarkable career women in a
variety of occupations share their stories about their work and the path
 |
| Girls Succeed! |
Synopsis
When submitting your book to a publisher, editor, agent, you will need to have the tagline and blurb written as well as a synopsis. The synopsis tells the whole story line. You must reveal the ending too. (I know that goes against your writerly principles, but the person considering your manuscript needs to know.)
As the writer, you know every nuance of the story and want to explain every character down to the waitress who takes the main character's order at the restaurant. Don't do it! Stick to the main character and major characters, not all the little players in the story.
Be sure to have someone who is familiar with your manuscript read through your synopsis before submitting it. They can see the big picture of the story better than you can.
This blog post by Chuck Sambuchino gives you five tips on writing a synopsis for a novel. I have never heard of capitalizing the main characters when you introduce them in your synopsis. Have you?
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I am in the process of creating my blurb for my WIP. Here's the rough draft of it. I've written about five. It ain't easy, is it? I need to make it catchier, so I'll keep working on it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
After getting many opinions on the title for the WIP, I have decided on, for the moment, Deadly Undertaking.
Blurb: Dead bodies are the everyday routine for a funeral director,
but discovering a murder victim in the garage of the funeral home is not part
of a normal day. Lauren Staab believed
she would be helping care for her mother stricken with Alzheimer’s disease and keep the books for the family
funeral business. Defending her family against suspicion of murder and keeping
watch for the killer to return do not fit into her plan for her life in her
quiet town of Mayfield. She has her sick mother, her dad, a shadow man, and the
funeral business to handle. Lauren certainly doesn’t need a murder or a
handsome police man to stir into the mix of her complicated life.
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Time for back to school. I know our kids don't return till after Labor Day, but many of you have kids already in school! So to celebrate this very special time of the year (some kids are not cheering that school started) I have discounted 50% off the price of Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women! This book is a great resource for teachers and homeschoolers and has a Reader's Guide to accompany the interactive book.
BOOK LINKS: If you would like to download a sample which
includes the Table of Contents listing all the careers in the book, please go
to
and all major online booksellers.
The Reader's Guide is organized into units for study. The themes are Careers, Passion,
Persistence, Trailblazers, Feeling Different, Being the Best You Can Be,
Overcoming Obstacles
Book Links:
2 comments:
Just a technical detail, but the first use of a character's name in the synopsis should be all caps. Makes it easier for agents and publishers to home in on who's important to the plot.
Marva, Thanks. I read about capitalizing the character's name when introducing her/him in the article I linked to. So that was new to me, but you already knew it! Thanks for stopping by.
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