Why You Should Consider Writing Your Book Blurb Early

Your book blurb — the material you typically use on your back cover or as part of your Amazon product description — plays a HUGE role in whether people actually buy your book. It summarizes what your book is about and hooks the reader’s interest.

But just because your blurb is a summary doesn’t mean you have to wait until you have a finished book to write it. In this video, I explain how writing your book blurb early has distinct benefits that can result in a smoother writing and publication process.

Who’s most likely to benefit from preparing a blurb in advance:

📖 nonfiction authors

📖 writers who prefer to outline instead of “pants” their work

📖 writers who need to work with peripheral service providers (e.g., cover designers) who need to understand the scope and feel of the book

If you do decide to write a blurb early, just be flexible. You’ll likely still need to make some tweaks once the final content of your book is set and you get some initial feedback.

[Transcript summary]

If you are writing any kind of book, at some point you are going to have to write the blurb that summarizes what the book is about and hopefully generates some interest with the reader. Now, most authors will finish that blurb when they have their manuscript complete or nearly complete. But I would like to entertain the idea that you actually write the blurb first or as early as possible.

Now, this does not work in all cases, but the reason why you might want to do it is because writing the blurb can really help you solidify the concept of what your book is. If you have to summarize it, it’s like your elevator pitch. And so that can really help you with other documents that you might need to craft, like your query letter.

So, if you can do it, do it. If not, that’s okay. Go ahead and do it when you’re done.

Take care. Bye.