Many of you doing NaNoWriMo know that writing 50,000 words isn’t easy . . . but guess what’s harder? Summing up your novel in ten sentences or less! Now if you’re smarter than me (and I’m not too proud to admit that most of you are), you’ve already written the blurb before you began writing. Well, not only have I not done that for the book I’m writing in November (my third book in the 18 Things Trilogy), but I haven’t even perfected the blurb for the second book, even though 18 Truths comes out at the end of January! Eeep!
So with 2 1/2 months before my book birthday, my publisher asked me for the blurb to put it up on Goodreads so people can add it to their TBR shelf (well, hopefully they will). Which led me to go hide in a corner and ask, “Oh, was I supposed to have that finalized already?” Oops!
Which really translated to . . . I haven’t even written the blurb AT ALL YET! So I sat down October 30th, before Halloween and this whole national write a novel in a month stuff began, and I wrote my blurb. But I haven’t had time to perfect the darn thing. I know it’s toooo long, but I can’t figure out what to cut, so I’m asking ya’ll to wield your literary swords and help me cut this down a bit. I’d truly appreciate any feedback. Here it goes:
Olga Gay Worontzoff ended her senior year as an eighteen-year-old girl totally in love with Nate, her new boyfriend, and about to attend the university of her dreams. Then her therapist delivered the mind-blowing news that changed everything.
Now she’s spending her summer in the weird subculture of the Underworld, where there’s charmingly witty and powerful angels, along with some characteristically problematic demons. But the strength of Olga and Nate’s own personal demons are the greatest of all. Nate’s still grappling with the destruction he left behind and Olga’s haunted by the memory of Conner, the best friend and secret crush she was unable to save during a freak accident. Olga’s one hundred percent convinced Conner is somewhere in the Underworld. Driven by a mixture of guilt and curiosity, she sets out to unlock the secrets her therapist has kept hidden so she can have her second chance at rescuing her first love.
But Nate wants nothing to do with Olga’s hidden agenda. He has other things on his mind, mainly Grace. She’s their first assignment as joint spirit guides and Olga’s feeling a little hurt and—ahem—jealous. His mysterious nature has Olga questioning everything she ever believed about him and now she must decide whether to stick to their plan, or follow her heart. Unfortunately, she makes a series of mistakes that threatens everyone she has come in contact with and unknowingly plants herself in a center of events much larger than she ever imagined.
Lying is unbearable, betrayal is inevitable, and choosing between which path to take is impossible.
Only one thing is for certain: the truths that are uncovered during her journey will leave no one untouched.
*What do you think?
Jamie Ayres 
Laziness alert! (Not you, me). So, I’m thinking everything you need is in that third paragraph, worded just a little differently. Starting with, “His mysterious nature…” Just a little rewording could hint at what was going on and now what is going on. It sounds AWESOME, By the way.
Thanks, Amy! I’m excited for it to finally release!
I love doing summaries and blurbs! My nerd is showing. I took what you wrote and basically cut out a few phrases, and moved a powerful statement from the end of it to the beginning. So here’s an idea for you to play with. Now it’s 151 words in eight sentences.
Lying is unbearable, betrayal is inevitable, and choosing which path to take is impossible.
Olga Gay Worontzoff ended her senior year as an eighteen-year-old girl totally in love with Nate, about to attend the university of her dreams. Now she’s spending her summer in the weird subculture of the Underworld, with charmingly witty and powerful angels, and problematic demons, trying to rescue Connor, the best friend and secret crush she was unable to save during a freak accident.
But Nate has other things on his mind, mainly Grace. She’s their first assignment as joint spirit guides and Olga’s feeling hurt and jealous. Nate’s mysterious nature has Olga questioning everything she believed about him. A series of mistakes threatens everyone and unknowingly plants her in the center of events much larger than she ever imagined.
Only one thing is for certain: the truths uncovered during her journey will leave no one untouched.
Sounds great!! Good job, Teacher Writer! 🙂
Wow! You’re a pro! I’m coming to you for help for the last book in my trilogy 🙂
TeacherWriter hits it well, I think. The short and powerful statements coming at the beginning and end round the blurb well.
Really does . . . thanks for your feedback!
I LOVE TeacherWriter’s suggestions. I only have a couple thoughts to add:
Lying is unbearable, betrayal is inevitable, and choosing which path to take is impossible. (I LOVE THIS AS A HOOK.)
Olga Gay Worontzoff ended her senior year as an eighteen-year-old girl totally in love with Nate, about to attend the university of her dreams. Now she’s spending her summer in the weird subculture of the Underworld with charmingly witty and powerful angels, and problematic demons, trying to rescue Connor, the best friend and secret crush she was unable to save during a freak accident.
But Nate has other things on his mind, mainly Grace. She’s their first assignment as joint spirit guides WE NEED A COMMA TO SEPARATE THOUGHTS HERE and Olga’s feeling hurt and jealous. Nate’s mysterious nature NATURE OR ACTIONS/BEHAVIOR? has Olga questioning everything she believed about him. A series of mistakes threatens everyone and unknowingly plants her in the center of events much larger than she ever imagined. VERY VAGUE. CAN YOU GIVE US SOMETHING MORE TANGIBLE? SOMETHING THAT SUGGESTS THE DECISION SHE’S GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE? SHOW ME A HINT OF THE STORM.
Only one thing is for certain: the truths uncovered during her journey will leave no one untouched.
Thanks for adding to it! Off to revise!
Jamie, this worked for me. You have so much courage to dive right into this … good job !!
Thanks for your kind words!
The previous comments really nailed it! I wish I had a giant THIS stamp to comment with. LOL
Thanks for your feedback, Carrie!
You’ve already gotten great comments. I agree with shortening it up as it reads a bit long. Move all the power punches into one para. Such as the third para, followed by the final two. It’s almost here!! Good luck!!! 😀
Thanks, PK! I wish these things weren’t so tricky for me . . . luckily I have great blogger buddies like you to help!
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