June #InkRipples: Word Vomit…er, I mean Blurbs

Blurb. “Excuse you.”

The word itself sounds a bit like word vomit, doesn’t it?

Blurb. “Are you feeling all right? Can I get you something?”

Most of the time that’s exactly how I feel about the blurbs I write. They are word vomit. At least in the beginning.

Imagine you just redecorated your living room. New flooring, paint, furniture, clever accent pieces, and a kick-ass color scheme that makes people stop in their tracks. Your mother walks in. Her eyebrows arch and she does a slow spin on her sensible 1 ½ inch pump heel. “Whhhhaaaaatttt? How on earth did you pull off puce as an accent color in here? So unexpected.” You immediately dive into an explanation that includes all the detailed thought that went into the design. Including the colors that didn’t work, how you chose just the right accent pieces, and how varying the height of each puce piece was really crucial. You grin and look around the room and then realize your mother has already left for lunch.

Too much information.

So when your bestie shows up and says, “Giiirrrll, you rocked it in here. Puce? How did you ever?”

You grin. Look around the room and say, “It’s all in the placement.”

She tells you about her cousin who has a man cave to convert after her divorce and says she’ll recommend you.

Blurbs. They are high level. Enticing. They are all about the placement, but never the details on varying heights.

It’s super hard for authors to get high level about a story they’ve just spent countless hours on. I get it. So maybe imagine having to sell the book to your mother. Or whoever it is in your life who has more important things to do than listen to the details.

Happy blurbing.

#Inkripples is a themed meme hosted by Mary Waibel, Katie L. Carroll, and Kai Strand posting on the first Monday of every month. To participate compose your own post regarding the theme of the month, and link back to the three host blogs. Feel free to post whenever you want during the month, but be sure to include #inkripples when you promote so readers can find you. The idea is that we toss a word or idea into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There is no wrong interpretation. Themes and images and more information can be found here.