Blurbs Sell Books

Today on the show, author Jim Heskett and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy.

To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward.

Here are this episode's read-along selections:

Author: Randy L Scott

Title: Freedom – Just Another Word

Would you believe the crazy stories of a Dream Messiah? What if those stories led you into another world? How do you judge a man like Jake Barnes?

In wilds of the north, the land of misfits, Jake is living his dream. His survivalist neighbor who spent years in the jungle has other plans for his new friend.

Freedom - Just Another Word... is the first novel in this psychological adventure series. The Dream Messiah series takes you on a wild journey from the forests of the last frontier to the jungle of Borneo as Jake Barnes is forced into life-changing decisions.

Jake is building a cabin in remote Alaska when his fiancé Kat announces her pregnancy. As Jake experiments with lucid dreaming, he is thrust into a world he is unprepared for. Kat has her own agenda once their child is born. Jake doesn't know who to fear most; Kat, or his eccentric neighbor Dave Reagan, the resident grizzly bear, or the Alaska State Troopers.

Half-way around the globe, the Punan Dyaks, a nomadic tribe deep in the mountains of Borneo, are manifesting their Messiah in the dream world. The line between dreams and reality blur, and Jake's decisions may cost him everything he cares about, including his infant son, Luke.

More than one person wants Jake Barnes to burn in hell. Another force is pushing him into a baptism by fire. If he crosses that line, there's no turning back.

If you want dark adventure into the unknown, you'll love this epic saga of the human spirit's quest for purpose. Unlock Freedom - today to find out how YOU will judge Jake Barnes.

Replace "ands" with "therefores" or "buts."

Check out storyonthespot.live, the world's only thriller fiction improv game show!

Want to submit your own blurb for consideration? Fill out the form at www.bestpageforward.net/podcast or send an email to [email protected]

Today on the show, author Jim Heskett and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy.

To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward.

Here are this episode's read-along selections:

Author: Eden Wolfe

Title: Love In and Out of Lockdown

BE A COUPLE THAT MAKES IT THROUGH LOCKDOWN.

"The TV anchor announces that the lockdown is coming. We don't know how long it'll last, but it's going to be a while. At least six weeks. I'm guessing at least eight. But nobody really knows. Fast forward and it's FOUR MONTHS LATER."

Couples around the world have struggled to live and relate as lockdown came and went and might come again...

...and some couples don't make it through. The post-lockdown rates of divorce have gone up. Even now, stress, fear, and pressure continue to create rifts in couples, families and homes.

How can you keep your relationship healthy, strong and alive?

You've got to be creative. You've got to be innovative. You've got to keep your relationship healthy in the wake of the pandemic and the enduring lockdown.

In this book, you'll get insight, ideas, and activities for you and your loved one to try on your own and together, covering topics like:

• What's happening in your brain during lockdown
• Understanding your triggers
• Speaking the languages of love
• Hot Potato Topics
• Finding and keeping your happy
• Quality time truly together and Quality time apart: creating space
• The healing power of laughter
• How to Feel Heard
• Maintaining the Mystery
• And many more!

Read true stories from ordinary couples that survived some extraordinary circumstances in lockdown.

They learned together. They made it through.

The wisdom in these pages, tried-and-true methods as well as innovative experimentation, can help you and your partner navigate not just current circumstances...

...it can help you to be stronger in the unknown that is yet to come.

Lockdown leaves a wake behind it, and these waves will rock your relationship. Stories abound of couples breaking up when lockdown hit.

Take action now to be the strongest couple you can be.

This pandemic doesn't have to break you up.

Use this book to keep your couple moving on the right track.

Get Love In and Out of Lockdown today!

How is your advice and/or main argument delivered to readers? Make this mode of education crystal clear.

Want to submit your own blurb for consideration? Fill out the form at www.bestpageforward.net/podcast or send an email to [email protected]

Today on the show, author Jim Heskett and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy.

To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward.

Here are this episode's read-along selections:

Author: Cyn Mackley

Title: American Goth - A Goode Grace Mystery

When her grandfather dies mysteriously, New York City artist and goth chick Trinity Goode heads back to her small Ohio hometown to take over the farm and figure out what really happened to the man who always accepted her just as she was. Trinity's ready to lace up her Doc Marten boots to be a church lady and bake pies for the county fair, but is her hometown ready to welcome her back?

With some help from her old friend Deputy Bobby Grace, she tries to solve the mystery of her Grandfather's death and track down just who has been hell-bent on ruining her reputation. What she finds out could get her killed.

You can take the girl out of the country, put red streaks in her hair, and dress her all in black, but you can't take the country out of the girl. Pitchfork in hand, this American Goth is ready to find a killer, save the farm, win a blue ribbon for jam, and just maybe snag herself a good ole country boy.

--Abigail's Targeted Tip:

Put each sentence in your blurb on its own line, so you can see them individually and adjust the length.

Want to submit your own blurb for consideration? Fill out the form at www.bestpageforward.net/podcast or send an email to [email protected]

• Your hero drives the action. In blurbs, you almost never need to mention side characters. Most BPF blurbs mention only the hero (or dual heroes in a romance) and maybe the villain. Sometimes a character's mentor will be mentioned, etc. But add too many and readers will get confused when they have to remember all the name soup (people skim!). Since your protag drives, every sentence in the blurb should be from that POV.
• When driving the action, verbs and plot points matter. In your blurbs, are your characters doing things like "realizing" and "deciding"? (unless enlightenment plot). Show us your character affecting the plot. If at some point your character has a serious dilemma ("point of no return" or "best bad choice"), show us that. That's what keeps readers invested as they progress.
• A blurb should show an arc. Remember, you're a storyteller. Your blurb should show us a microcosm of your character's emotional journey through a series of escalating plot points (and don't worry so much about spoilers!). Maybe in the first sentence, we see a shy-but-plucky teenager who has unexplained powers. Halfway through the blurb, she begins to accept her chosen one-ness during her first battle (or with death of mentor), then by the final cliffhanger, she's going to war against the evil mega-demon. Look how far she's come! Readers won't consciously evaluate this, but showing change in a blurb is a great way to hook readers. It shows them you're a storyteller.
• Always do your best... revisit your old work after you've learned more. Copywriting isn't like riding a bike... it's a skill you have to practice to stay sharp.

12 lessons Jim learned about copywriting:

• Echoes are not fine: what you want to avoid are "twice told tales" of repeating uncommon words too closely or saying the same thing more than once. Word count matters!
• Sentence construction is also important. You want your blurb to be a rollercoaster, not a pub crawl. People shouldn't "self-pace" when reading your blurb. You want to grab them from the first line and propel them forward. You do this by mixing short and long sentences and transition words like "and, but, while, so." Also, each sentence should contain up to one comma. Two commas is too long, and it probably means you're stuffing too much info into a sentence.
• Finish strong... always put key words and phrases at the ends of sentences and the ends of paragraphs. "But when she finds a corpse in the bathroom, she wonders if she might stay a while in town." vs. "But her visit might extend a few days when she finds a fresh corpse in the shower." This is part of the rollercoaster, always propelling people forward.
• CTA goes at the very end... Have you ever received a long email with a question buried halfway in the text, then you get to the end and forget the question? Tell your audience what to do, then back out like George Costanza. Don't give them a CTA then dilute it with reader reviews or a list of the books in the series.

Tune in next week to hear the final four lessons!

• Emotional response: good sales copy speaks to people on an emotional level. It used to baffle me why companies said things like “AT&T is proud to announce...” It’s why at BPF we like to include emotion words and actions, like showing teeth gritting, butterflies in the stomach, etc.

• Readers want to connect with a character on an emotional level. It’s why the first sentence after the hook is reserved for meeting the character, without introducing plot details.
• Clarity over cleverness: people skim sales copy. Especially with book blurbs. Word choice is critical. So if anything is confusing or unclear, most will disregard and move on. Think about when you search for a book on amazon. There are literally millions to choose from, so imagine you’ve narrowed it down to two books that both look enticing. Good covers, genre-appropriate titles. If one blurb is confusing, that could be the deciding factor that loses the sale. Speak simply: don’t use a word like “impetuous” when “reckless” will do just fine. Show your copy to people. If they find it confusing, don’t tell yourself “well they just don’t get it.” Explore why it’s unclear.
• Cliches are fine. Cliches get a bad rap because they’ve been done to death. But remember, clarity over cleverness. When you say someone is “in over their head” the reader will instantly know what that means. No confusion.

Tune in next week to hear the next four lessons!

Today on the show, author Jim Heskett and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. 

To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward.

Here are this episode’s read-along selections:

Author: Elisavet Arkolaki

Title: How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children: Ideas and practical advice from diverse professionals for even greater success raising happy mixed heritage kids

'A must-read for all educators, parents, and everyone involved in the education of children. Inspiring!' - Lenia Tavares, Mum, Foreign Languages Teacher, Language and Communication Impairment in Children Specialist, B.Sc., M.Sc.

How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children is the uniquely empowering guidebook to the bilingual/multilingual and multicultural parenting journey. It includes practical tips and ideas from diverse professionals, for even greater success raising confident and resilient kids of mixed ethnic backgrounds. It includes full chapter contributions by Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold, Dr. Brigitte Vittrup, Dr. Mary-Pat O'Malley-Keighran, Rita Rosenback, Lisa Ferland, Brian Vassallo, Tamara Yousry, Yui Mikuriya, Elisavet Arkolaki.

This book has been curated by Elisavet Arkolaki, founder of the popular parenting blog maltamum.com. Arkolaki is also the author of the children's books 'Where am I from?', which has been illustrated entirely with street art unique to this book, and 'Happiness Street', a picture book available in several bilingual editions.

Chapters:

1. Inventing identities for our multicultural children by Elisavet Arkolaki
2. The debate over multiculturalism and what we can learn from the Canadian model by Elisavet Arkolaki
3. My identity crisis growing up in numerous cultures by Yui Mikuriya
4. Why urging our children to embrace different cultures and learn different languages matters by Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold
5. The 5 most common challenges a parent faces while raising a multicultural kid and how to address them by Vivian Chiona, Dr. Brigitte Vittrup, Elisavet Arkolaki
6. 5 mistakes parents make when trying to raise bilingual children by Rita Rosenback
7. Language delays in multilingual children: what are they and what to do about them by Dr. Mary-Pat O'Malley-Keighran
8. Raising multilingual children with additional needs abroad by Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold
9. Confident moms raise confident kids - On finding your tribe abroad by Lisa Ferland
10. Media influences on children by Dr. Brigitte Vittrup
11. The impact of culture on the education of the young by Brian Vassallo
12. Promoting tolerance, practical tips - What we should do to enhance religious tolerance at home (parents) and at school (teachers) by Brian Vassallo
13. Crossing the Deep Cultural Divide by Tamara Yousry
14. The stories you should tell your multicultural kid every day by Elisavet Arkolaki
15. A list of websites and blogs about multilingualism & multiculturalism

Praised by parents around the world...

If you're reading this on amazon.de/.co.uk/.ca/.au/.it, etc, visit the .com link for more reviews 

Your list of chapters is just the beginning! Pick out the best elements and show how they can solve readers’ problems. 

Want to submit your own blurb for consideration? Fill out the form at www.bestpageforward.net/podcast or send an email to [email protected]

Today on the show, author Jim Heskett and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. 

To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward.

Here are this episode’s read-along selections:

Author: A.C. Ward

Title: Avoiding the Abyss

Blurb Version 1:

Aubrey has always been told she isn’t special.

If only that had remained true.

Aubrey grew up as part of the rebel movement, protected but lonely. All she wants is her mother’s love, but without an ability she’s worthless in her mother’s eyes.

When she’s captured by the government, Aubrey sees an opportunity to prove her worth. Instead, she realizes that her mother has been withholding many truths. Aubrey experiences an acceptance outside of the rebels that her heart has yearned for, and a discovery. She has an immunity that has never been seen before.

But Aubrey isn’t immune, she’s absorbing powers as the key to the Abyss—a portal into the demon realm. Her mother finally sees purpose in her daughter and hopes to use it for her cause. Aubrey isn’t as certain. If she doesn’t gain control of her ability, she’ll open the gateway to hell and destroy everyone she’s come to care about. Including herself.

The first installment in the Abyss trilogy, a coming of age YA dystopian fantasy. Perfect for fans of dystopian worlds, apocalyptic prophesies, and demon lore.

Download now to find out if Aubrey will succeed in Avoiding the Abyss.

Blurb version 2:

She was raised on lies. Now she must figure out what’s real, or the world is doomed.

Join a teen’s struggle with secret powers in a demonic dystopia.

Aubrey never realized there was a better life beyond being the rebel leader’s disappointing teenage daughter. But when she’s abducted by the government and taught the truth at one of their official academies, she feels torn between two worlds. Wielding a power she didn’t know she had and forced to open a portal to a dark dimension, she must choose who to save — her new friends or her family.

Can Aubrey master her power in time to prevent the world’s utter annihilation?

Book 1 in the page-turning YA dystopian fantasy series. If you like mind-bending journeys, complex characters, and a beautiful balance of hope and despair, then you’ll love A.C. Ward’s ominous tale.

Buy Avoiding The Abyss to confront the face of evil today!

Could your hook work within a different genre? If so, try tweaking until it is undeniably within your own genre. 

Want to submit your own blurb for consideration? Fill out the form at www.bestpageforward.net/podcast or send an email to [email protected]

We're ready to reveal our big secret...

Author Jim Heskett and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. 

To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward.

Here are this episode’s read-along selections:

Author: Alexa Rivers

Title: Summer with the CEO (Small town contemporary romance)

1. She's a disgraced journalist on a mission. He's a CEO with a hate-on for the press. They shouldn't want each other, but love doesn't play fair.
2. Elijah Lockwood. Tall, dark, and delicious. About as approachable as an iceberg.
3. They have nothing in common except chemistry. Their fling was supposed to be temporary...until a plus on a stick says otherwise.
4. She wants a front page story. All he wants is to be left alone. Quitting isn't in her vocabulary, especially when there's so much on the line.
5. Small town journalist Aria can't help lusting after endlessly frustrating Eli. He's hot, rich, and emotionally unavailable, but a girl can dream, right?
6. She's all about family. He wishes he could escape his. When a one night stand leads to more, can he overcome his demons to make a family with her?
7. Aria Simons. Sweeter than a frosted cupcake. All big eyes and tempting curves, but she's the type to want forever, and that means she's not for him.
8. He's aloof. She's impulsive. Their secret kisses are dangerously addictive.

Simplify headlines to a single focus or idea

Send us your blurbs! [email protected]

Want to submit your own blurb for consideration? Fill out the form at www.bestpageforward.net/podcast or send an email to [email protected]

Today on the show, author Jim Heskett and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. 

To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward.

Here are this episode’s read-along selections:

Author: Rebecca Bradley

Title: Shallow Waters

When catching a killer isn’t enough…

Detective Inspector Hannah Robbins is forced into the darker side of Nottingham when a body is dumped in an alleyway.

And all the while a member of her team is hiding a life-changing secret that could have serious repercussions for the investigation.

Things take a disturbing turn when a piece of evidence indicates a killer is only a hairs-breath away from claiming his next victim.

Just how far are the team willing to push themselves to save the next girl?

Shallow Waters is the compelling crime debut by ex-police detective Rebecca Bradley.

Download Shallow Waters to explore a tense police investigation with a real sinister side and a shocking finale.

For fans of Angela Marsons and Peter James.

Could your blurb stand in for a similar book? If so, add in some unique flair. 

Want to submit your own blurb for consideration? Fill out the form at www.bestpageforward.net/podcast or send an email to [email protected]