Love Writing Blurbs!

I love writing blurbs, and I think I can help you, as a writer, love writing blurbs too.

What is a blurb:

In case you don't know, a blurb is the brief summary of a story that's usually on the back of a book, or sometimes on the inside flap. It's an honest and exciting teaser for your story, and the reader's first impression of your book.

How to do it:

Start with some very important questions and be as specific as possible:

What is the genre, setting, and main problems the character deals with frequently?
What is the protagonist's name and status (or occupation) in their world?
What is their major flaw or trait that continues to get them in trouble?
What is their desire, and what event pushes them out of their comfort zone to go get their desire?
What is the first step they take out of their comfort zone? Do they meet someone new who helps them?
Quickly summarize three key events that happen in the middle that progresses them on their journey to get their desire.
What is the theme of the story? This is something they need to learn, or they're trying to prove this theme/truth to others.
What big event hint can you share about the middle (50%) or the all is lost (75%) mark, ending on a cliffhanger?

Answering all these questions will help you ensure your story is solid with a clear focus. If you write your blurb before your first draft, you can continue to reference it as an outline. Once you have all those questions answered, you should be able to stitch everything together in order!

Putting it together:

If you don't know how to start it off, read some other blurbs in your genre first to see how they approach it. Also, keep it around 7-11 sentences to give the right amount of information, and keep the reader engaged and excited to start your story. You can experiment with the structure, but these questions are already in order, so all you have to do is stitch them together.

Let's see an example from my favorite series on Netflix. I know it's not a book, but I wanted it to be more original because books already have blurbs!

Example using Dragon Prince series on Netflix:

LIGHT SPOILER ALERT!!!

What is the genre, setting, and main problems the character deals with frequently?
- Children's medieval fantasy.
- There's a war between humans and elves because the elves believe the humans destroyed the egg of the dragon king.
What is the protagonist's name and status (or occupation) in their world, and what problems are they facing?
- Callum, the step-prince, can't stand the thought of needless war between humans and elves.
What is their major flaw or trait that continues to get them in trouble?
- Puts his trust in the wrong people.
What is their desire, and what event pushes them out of their comfort zone to go get their desire?
- For the war to end, and peace between humans and elves.
- Chased by an elven assassin for info. Callum's brother finds the egg that the elves think was destroyed. They think they can return it and stop the war, preventing needless deaths.
What is the first step they take out of their comfort zone? Do they meet someone new who helps them?
- Joined by the elf assassin, they leave for Xadia, the elf land, clutching the egg close.
Quickly summarize three key events that happen in the middle that progresses them on their journey to get their desire.
- The egg hatches during a great storm, he learns about magic, and they're being hunted by the High Mage's children.
What is the theme of the story? This is something they need to learn, or they're trying to prove this theme/truth to others.
- You can be the one to stop the cycle of needless violence.
What big event hint can you share about the middle (50%) or the all is lost (75%) mark, ending on a cliffhanger?
- If something happens to the Dragon Queen, their efforts will be worth nothing.

Putting it Together:

Rumors of elven assassins near the castle could only mean one thing—war. Callum, the teenage step-prince, can't stand the thought of them fighting for crimes their parents committed; especially when his step-father's life is in danger. When an insecure elven assassin breaks into the castle and chases Callum for information, they find that his little brother discovered the hidden egg that the elves thought the humans destroyed. Returning the egg to the Dragon Queen would be enough to end the war.

Callum, his brother, and the assassin leave to return the egg to its mother in the elven lands. During a great storm, the egg hatches and Callum's magic lessons begin, all while being hunted by the High Mage's children.

The kids must fight for their lives to protect the Dragon Prince and end the cycle of violence caused by their parents.

Notes:

When you see the word "elven" you already know it's a fantasy story. That's why I didn't need to put the genre.
Seeing that the main character (the only one that's named) is a teenager, you get the next clue that this is more of a children's story.
The setting also shows up as "castle" and "human and elven lands."
It's good to know that Callum puts his trust in the wrong people, but in this case, I didn't add it in because I didn't feel the right place for it, and I didn't want to make the blurb too long. I believe knowing he's the step-prince is enough.

Just for the Fun of it:

Let's make it a logline too!

On the verge of a war between elves and humans, a teenage step-prince, his little brother, and an insecure assassin must leave for the elven lands to return the Dragon Prince to his mother; but when they realize what the High Mage's children are up to, they leave to end the cycle of violence before something happens to the Dragon Queen, making their efforts useless.

Here are a couple of formulas you can work from if you like:

On the verge of [misfortune] a [flawed protagonist] must [leave their comfort zone to get their desire] and [fight antagonist for something], but [midpoint hint happens], and now they must [learn theme] before [all is lost hint happens].

When [catalyst happens] a [flawed protagonist] must [leave their comfort zone to get their desire], but when [midpoint hint happens], they must [learn theme] before [all is lost hint happens].

I hope I've helped you love writing blurbs too! And if you still don't, or don't have time, I'd love to write it for you! If you wrote a middle grade or young adult novel, check out my Fiverr HERE!