Time: 30-45 minutes

How do you choose books in the bookstore?  For many they’re first attracted by the cover art.  They then flip the book over to read the back blurb.  These two or three paragraphs can be critical to selling a book not just to your customers but also to potential agents and editors.  It pays to know how to write a catchy and compelling elevator pitch.  

Action Step #1 – Grab a half dozen books from your bookshelf, preferably books that are in the same romance genre you write in.  Read the back cover blurbs.  Count the words.  Take a look at the format for each of them.  What is similar?  What do they do well?  What, if anything, could they approve on?  
Action Step #2 – Now pull out your current work in progress – the romance manuscript you’re presently working on.  Or grab one you’ve completed.  Emulating the back cover blurbs on your sample romance novels, write three versions of a back cover blurb for your book.

Action Step #3 – Choose the one that feels the strongest and fine tune it until it’s polished and ready to sell your book.

Perfecting this skill accomplishes two things.  It helps you become comfortable with selling yourself, a critical element if you want to make a living writing romance.  It also helps you perfect the query and synopsis aspects of getting published.  You must be able to convince agents and editors your story is worth their time and effort and you must be able to do it quickly and compellingly.  Crafting your back cover blurb is a great start!

 

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