Kindle Forum banner

Stupid Blurb!

461 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  AlexBack
Okay, my last blurb attempt got (rightly) stomped. Do either of these look better?

OPTION ONE:

At sixteen, Rachel Boone is sent to jail for killing her father. But after four years, he reappears, plotting a wave of suicide bombings.
Only Rachel can stop him; nobody else understands the extraordinary powers he developed after the mysterious 'Seventeen Seconds' swept the globe.
Rachel enlists the help of Lark Larson, an easygoing slacker with bizarre abilities of his own. Rachel doesn't have any powers other than her unflinching willingness to put herself on the line ... but as far as Lark can tell, that's more than enough.

OPTION TWO:

A kidnapped friend. A wave of suicide bombings. A city whipped into a killing frenzy.
After serving four years for the murder of her father, Rachel Boone is suddenly released. Because her father is still alive ... and an imminent threat to national security.
In the wake of a mysterious global event called the 'Seventeen Seconds,' Rachel's father developed extraordinary powers. But he's not the only one. Determined to stop her father, Rachel enlists Lark Larson, an easygoing handyman with strange abilities of his own.
As Rachel and Lark face a team of super-powered 'actives', Lark worries that Rachel is outgunned-the only extraordinary thing about her is her courage. But sometimes he thinks that she's the most powerful one of all.
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
I like Option Two, with a couple of things used from Option One.

I would just add "in prison" here: "After serving four years in prison for the murder of her father..."

Add that her father is plotting bombings.

A kidnapped friend. A wave of suicide bombings. A city whipped into terror.

After serving four years in prison for the murder of her father, Rachel Boone is suddenly released. Because her father, [give his name] is still alive ... and his plots for a wave of bombings are an imminent threat to the nation.

[Father's name] will be hard to stop, because he developed extraordinary powers in the wake of a mysterious global event called the 'Seventeen Seconds.' But he's not the only one. Determined to stop her father, Rachel enlists Lark Larson, an easygoing handyman with strange abilities of his own.

As Rachel and Lark face a team of super-powered 'actives', Lark worries that Rachel is outgunned--the only extraordinary thing about her is her courage. But sometimes he thinks that she's the most powerful one of all.

***

Sorry, I can't remember the other thread -- who is the kidnapped friend? That needs a follow-up in the rest of the blurb.
See less See more
Option number two is my favored one! I'd drop the last line though, but that's just because I like to edit to the bone. :)
Thanks so much! I'll adjust number 2, and use that.

The 'kidnapped friend' isn't mentioned. I'm afraid of bogging it down with details. I almost just want the blub to be, "A 'superhero-type' urban fantasy. The hero wields cool skills, the villains wield deadly ones. A little romance, a lot of action. A kick-ass young woman takes the 'Nick Fury-on-his-first-assignment' role, leading a team that starts with a young guy with more power than ambition. Takes place in a gritty, modern setting. Think Daredevil, not Avengers."
But that's a really bad idea, right? Just giving the genre, and not the plot?
AlexBack said:
But that's a really bad idea, right? Just giving the genre, and not the plot?
Yep. Readers who are browsing and reading blurbs might move on to another book that tells them more about the story. They need something interesting and compelling in the blurb to influence them to make the purchasing decision. There is a lot of competition in this genre.
Okay, thanks. My clever plans are almost always my worst ones.
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top