by Harlequin Presents assistant editor Carly Byrne
As well as immersing ourselves in the high-octane, glamorous and passionate world of Presents through the stories we edit (sometimes we have to pinch ourselves that we actually get paid to do this!) the Harlequin Presents team are also tasked with writing the back cover copy. It can certainly be a challenge conveying all that drama, emotion and sizzling hot passion into an eighty word blurb…but it’s a lot of fun trying!
Blurbs are important windows into the story – a glimpse of what awaits the reader and hopefully intrigues them enough to make them buy the book there and then to see what happens next! Of course, a bad blurb can just as easily make the reader return it just as hastily to the rack…
We’re fascinated to know how important back cover copy is to you when deciding which book to purchase. Is there a particular style of blurb you always go for? Or perhaps clichés you see time and time again that you just can’t bear? Not just in Presents but other books too.
Speaking of back cover blurbs, this week the Harlequin Presents team are asking all aspiring authors to sell us your story and Pitch to Presents!
We want you to send us a blurb and extract of your Presents story and five lucky entrants will be invited to an Online Pitch session with the Presents team on 15th March! Send your blurb and extract in to doeraemi @ gmail . com (remove the spaces) between 20th – 27th February.
Think carefully about what makes your story stand out from the crowd and tempt us to read on with some tantalising cover copy! And when it comes to picking the extract – think of the first page of a Harlequin Presents – that’s what we’re looking for. To showcase your writing talents, choose a scene of 200 – 250 words that’s destined to intrigue and excite!
More information can found on the Harlequin community, Facebook and Twitter pages. We’re looking forward to it already. And as they say on Wall Street; remember to Sell Sell Sell!
Until then we’re dying to know just how important the cover copy is to making you grab a book from the rack or click to download it? What are your cover copy turn offs that make you want to drop the book like a hot potato? Don’t hold back – we can take it!
p.s. from Amy: To gear up for the pitch session, Harlequin Presents editors Carly, Pippa Roscoe, Joanne Grant and Lucy Gilmour did a chat in the Harlequin.com about what’s new with the line and what they’re interested in seeing. Click here to read the transcript!
Cassandra Clare’s books are one of the best for blurbs! Her ability to capture you in literally four lines is amazing! I usually do not like blurbs that short. I usually like to know what I am getting in to. One of my pet hates is reading a blurb that sounds facinating, only to find the book barely represents whats written on the back. Though I do try my hardest not to judge a book by that short description, it is of course extrememly important when you are stood in a shop looking through dozens of choices displayed in front of you!
The front of the book always has to peak my interest (a hot, male cover model never hurts or a fab exotic location!)…as for the cover copy, I’m always looking for some kind of change – something that is going to take the Hero and Heroine out of their comfort zones and straight into heart-melting, potential disaster.
I think the front and back both matters as a picture might peak my interest so does the title. I do pick up the book to read the back cover blurb. But most important is the author. I have reading the books from so many years that I do look for certain authors and I will pick up their books.Hot picture on cover page is not that important as many times I have found the it doesn’t match the description of girl or a guy. Picture as blond girl and the description says long brown hair… it is hard to relate to pictures…I like to relate to story.
I’m the type of person who will pick up a book just because of an interesting cover — whether it be a beautiful picture or interesting graphic, it’s the first thing I notice about a book.
I love the gorgeous new Mills and Boon Modern and Riva cover designs — there bright, sophisticated and modern. I hope that Harlequin will update the Presents covers as the current ones look staid and outdated. In fact, they aren’t that much different than when I mom read them in the 80s. That might do well for branding for current readers, but I don’t know that it attracts new ones.
The Pitch to Presents! sounds exciting. What a terrific chance to grab the editors’ notice.
Personally it’s the blurb that counts for me, more than the cover. I love it when the back cover copy zeroes in on one or more of my fave romance themes.
It’s really interesting hearing people’s different takes on what makes them pick up a book. You’ve given us a few points to think about when we’re writing our cover copy.
I must admit I’m often lured in by the cover but always flip it over to read the back and hate it afterwards if the blurb wasn’t true to the story!
I love the blurb, however I love marriage of convenience stories, I think they are a little out dated now.
The blurb is great to see if the general idea of the book interests me. But always I flip to the excerpt to see if the chemistry between the H/H jumps out at me! Jen
I always read the blurb and that has more interest than the front covers which often don’t match my visual from the description in the book. However my main reason for picking up the book will be the author. But if an author has disappointed me more than once it will have the opposite effect.