Adam Croft

Your blurb is vital. Use it wisely.

Writing the blurb of your book is one of the most important tasks you’ll need to do pre-publication. Very often, it’s the blurb that sways our decision as to whether we give a book a second glance or not. And for independent publishers, this is something that we are typically responsible for, so we need to be absolutely certain that we get it right – or we could end up driving away valuable readers.

The task of writing a blurb is made somewhat harder by the fact that it’s not just writing a summary of your book. It’s about picking out key phrases and plot points that are appealing and will hook people in. It’s about deciding on the focus for the marketing of your book – you might have three or four major characters in your book all with their own subplots, for instance. Are you going to try and include all of them in the blurb, or would it have more impact if you just pick one or two to focus on? This can alter other aspects of how you promote the book, so it’s a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

And, once you think you know what you want to focus on in your blurb, the task can be made harder still by the fact that when you’ve just spent months writing a book, you’re often too close to the project to be really objective about it. Even though you know the book better than anyone and are likely to have very good ideas for the angle of your blurb, your ownership of the project can make it harder for you to put yourself in the shoes of a reader.

This is why it can be so useful to get someone else to read your blurb for you – preferably someone who is new to the project and hasn’t been involved with the editing process so far (although anyone who has helped with this can be useful too). See what they think coming to it fresh, and take their feedback on board. Would they want to read your book based on what you’ve put in the blurb?

Something else to consider is getting someone else to write the blurb for you from scratch. If you’re just starting out in independent publishing, the cost of things like this might not be an option for you, but even a friend who’s keen reader could help you. You can always polish up their sentences later, once you’ve got all the key elements straightened out. Sometimes, that fresh eye can make all the difference. Plus, if you are able to get a professional to help you, they should be able to write the blurb in a way that appeals to your target readership.

We might now be starting to move away from physical books to the world of e-books, but the blurb is still as important as ever, particularly for independent publishers who are trying to make their mark. Don’t leave it until the last minute and just hope for the best – give it some time and thought, and road test it before declaring it done.

What do you think? As a reader, what do you look for in a blurb? If you’re a writer, what strategies have worked for you? Let me know in the comments box below.

Could this become a familiar sight?

Every year, figures about library lending are released – and as we all know, for the past few years, there has been some concern about the decline of libraries. This concern is backed up by lending figures for the year up until 31^st March 2012, which were compiled by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. It was found that not only was less money being spent on books than the previous year, but fewer people were going to libraries, fewer people were taking out books and the number of web visits to libraries also fell.

However, one thing that wasn’t included in the findings was the statistics for library e-book lending. Lending e-books in libraries has of course been the subject of its own controversies from time to time, with issues such as a limited choice of e-books available to borrow cropping up. More recently however, Hampshire County Council has announced that loans of e-books have increased by 67% over the past year. This makes them the UK’s busiest online library service, with more than 5000 e-books and e-audios being checked out every month.

This rise has occurred even though the number of printed books lent out by Hampshire libraries has fallen in the past year, adding to other evidence that e-books really are starting to take over from physical books in some ways. Hampshire County Council also found that more people visited their libraries in the past year than the year before – showing just how important libraries still are, even when many of them have been facing cuts and some have closed altogether.

It’s pretty hard to deny just how vital libraries can be for communities and individuals, and so it’s always good to see growth in library lending in any form (children’s book lending has also been doing quite well). These figures also suggest that even though some libraries are struggling, there is still potential for them to do well – and embracing e-books in the way that so many consumers have could be one way forward for the library system.

Our topic today is another question with a whole host of different answers. Why do we write? It’s a tricky one. We all have our own reasons for writing and writing means something different to all of us. For some people, it’s a nice way to relax, purely for fun. For others, it’s a career or second job.

One common answer to the question though, is that we write because we love it. The act of writing gets at something in us that makes us want to do it – and then keep on doing it. Watching a new world form on the page as you progress with your novel, or creating a whole new life the more you write about your characters, is a pretty powerful thing.

At its basest level, however, writing is a purely practical enterprise. It’s a means of recording things. We all do it, whether it’s with endless to do lists, reminders to ourselves or writing minutes in meetings. We’ve done it since 3000BC. In some way, everything ever written says ‘we were here.’

And that’s another common answer given by people who love to write – they want to leave something tangible behind. It’s also one of the reasons some people get into independent publishing; even if they’re not fussed about selling hundreds of thousands of books, they still like they idea of having something solid that they can hold in their hands, knowing that they created it.

I think one of the main reasons that the question of why we write is so hard to answer, though, is that ultimately, no one really knows. We can list a whole heap of reasons, both practical and emotional, but for writers, at the end of the day, it’s just something we do.

What do you reckon? Do you have specific reasons for writing or do you just accept the fact that you do it and get on with it?

A couple of weeks ago, I offered some ideas for writing inspiration – some of them serious, some of them not so serious. In the spirit of never being able to have enough inspiration (or ideas!), here are some more.

1. Watch/read the news regularly. As well as being a great way to keep up on current affairs so you can show off at parties, the news is a goldmine when it comes to finding writing inspiration. You can find out about current trends and issues, as well as some of the quirkier happenings of the day.

2. Go to the pub, and not just to drink or get frustrated when you lose the quiz night. The pub’s a great place to find interesting characters and have interesting conversations that might seem inconsequential at the time but end up being really useful for your work. Plus the drinking and the quizzes are fun, too.

3. Go to the art gallery. I don’t know if it’s something about being in a creative space or looking at a different type of creativity, but art galleries can be good for inspiration. Ditto music.

4. Talk to children. Adults are good too of course, but children don’t hold back. If you get them going on a subject (age appropriate, naturally), they’ll tell you exactly what you think and very often look at things in a totally different way to you. This is great whether you need plot inspiration or help with characters.

5. Do some exercise. Scary, I know, but exercise can focus the brain, get the blood pumping and, without any other distractions around, will hopefully help you think up some ideas, too. Even if all you decide is that the character in your book hates exercise, it’ll be a worthwhile endeavour.

6. Go on a journey. Not one of those emotional journeys that people on reality shows always seem to go on, but an actual journey. Take a train ride, or go for a drive or a cycle. The change of scenery, the different people and the space to think about your work can be hugely liberating.

7. Challenge yourself to include the word ‘spork’ in your work, or another random word of your choice. Just because. You can edit it out afterwards if you want. The important thing is that it gets you thinking to begin with.

8. Listen to other people’s dreams. You know how other people’s dreams are boring? Push that to one side and become an avid listener every time someone wants to tell you their dream. You’ll probably have to sit through some right bores, but you never know when something might spark your imagination.

9. Talk to strangers. Not in a weird way, and not when they clearly don’t want to talk to you, obviously. Exchanging a few words with the sales assistant in the shoe shop or the lady you buy your paper from, however, can be a good way to find inspiration. Whether it’s an idea for how a particular character speaks or ideas for your wider plot, having a chat with strangers can be really useful. And you might make some new friends, which is always lovely.

10. Go on Write or Die. Set yourself a word goal and a time goal. Feel the fear. Write like crazy.

Don't regret what you should have done - write that novel

Plenty of people want to write but don’t for all sorts of reasons. They think they don’t have time, they worry they won’t be any good, they ‘feel the fear’ and decide it will be easier not to bother… If this sounds familiar then no matter what your personal reasons for putting off sitting down and cracking on with that novel, it’s worth pushing those reasons to one side and just having a go. To help get you in the novel-writing spirit, here are some of the best reasons to sit down and write that novel.

You’ll hate yourself if you don’t
One of the best reasons to push aside any doubts you may have about writing a book is that you’ll always regret it if you don’t. If you want to do it, just do it or else you’ll always wonder how that novel might have turned out. In that old (yet rather true) cliché, life’s too short to have regrets. Sit down and have a go.

You’ll never know how good you could be
This brings me onto the next point, which is that if you never have a go at writing that novel you’ve always wanted to write, you’ll never know how good a writer you could be. Admittedly, there’s an element of risk in this, but all writers – from newbies to seasoned professionals – secretly worry that the next thing they write won’t be any good. You won’t know unless you try, and you could turn out to be fantastic.

Even if you never show your novel to anyone except your partner/close trusted friend/close trusted cat, you’ll still have a novel. It’ll still be yours, and that’s more than most people have.

You’ll really enjoy it (hopefully!)
Another great reason to have a go at novel-writing is that it’s really fun. Sure, there are days when nothing seems to go right and every word you put on the page physically hurts, but most of the time it’s great. There’s something pretty awe-inspiring about being able to create something from scratch, and those days when you leave your work satisfied with the progress you’ve made make it all worth it.

Looking out of the window is work
If you’re not convinced about trying out life as a writer yet, think about this. When you’re writing a novel, looking out of the window is work. It’s valuable thinking time, don’t you know. Even if you’re not thinking about your book, your brain will still be ticking away, subconsciously helping you solve issues with your narrative. And a little bit of window-gazing is always fun, but it tends to be frowned upon by people who catch you doing it, so having an excuse for it is excellent.

You never know what might happen
Finally, here’s some food for thought. If you don’t sit down and write your novel, you’ll never know what might happen. You’ll never know if you could be a bestseller, and/or become a widely respected voice in your field. And it seems to me that that is something worth finding out.