As paperback publishing developed, readers began seeing the blurb appearing on the back cover. Blurb are a wellrenowned printondemand company, and they offer numerous book printing options, with a variety of paper types, book bindings and other options. Aibileen clark is a wise negro woman who has raised 17 white. Aibileen is a black woman who works for a white family, the leefolts. A blurb is a short description of a book that is written for promotional purposes. This book uses the standard blurb formula but following a more academic approach, where the problemsolutionaspiration trifecta is embedded in a scientific narrative. There is a big difference between writing a cover blurb for a novel and writing one for nonfiction. Hilly to the book so that hilly will stay quiet about the identity of the maids.
Whats the difference between book blurb and synopsis. Seething with anger at the injustice, the other maids agree to contribute their stories to skeeters book. How to write a back cover blurb for a nonfiction book. The intention is the same as a book blurb to pique the potential bossclients attention. The help study guide contains a biography of kathryn stockett, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. If you go to the n website and search for raymond johns you can see he hasnt published a book since nov, 2016. Aibileen, who works as a nanny and housekeeper for the leefolt family. Minny, a black maid unable to keep a job due to her hot head, aibileen, another black maid.
You need to make a strong promise to the reader i can help you, i will entertain you, but dont give away the whole story or big idea otherwise the reader has no reason to read. This perceptive drama is set in atlanta, the story being told in the first person by its three main characters. How to write an irresistible book blurb in 5 easy steps. Create, print, and sell professionalquality photo books blurb. Your blurb will be an important part of your marketing. Put simply, being concise is hard, and being concise about something you know insideandout can seem downright impossible. The novel features three main narrators aibileen, minny, and skeeter. Book summary the help, kathryn stocketts debut novel, tells the story of black maids working in white southern homes in the early 1960s in jackson, mississippi, and of miss eugenia skeeter phelan, a 22yearold graduate from ole miss, who returns to her familys cotton plantation, longleaf, to find that her beloved maid and nanny.
Over the course of the novel, however, aibileen will fight for her right to be heard and seen. They are not stored on blurbs site until you upload them for ordering. I was about halfway through the writing of my book when i was asked to write a blurb for the back cover. However, the blurb still reflects on a key pain of its target audience. For more on writing a great book blurb, check out the 5 core elements of a book blurb, or for more help with your books exterior try get your book cover right or lose sales. Blurbs were originally printed on the back or rear dustjacket of a book, and are now found on web portals and news websites. Any halfinformed reader may wonder whether this blurb is even remotely accurate. The help summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. The help, kathryn stocketts debut novel, tells the story of black maids working in white southern homes in the early 1960s in jackson, mississippi, and of miss eugenia skeeter phelan, a 22yearold graduate from ole miss, who returns to her familys cotton plantation, longleaf, to find that her beloved maid and nanny, constantine, has left and no one will tell her why. Blurb for political childrens book has its own kind of.
The book tells the story of jackson, mississippi in the early 1960s, starting in 1962 and ending in 1964. But, if you have caught a potential readers attention, the blurb is what will sell your bookand convert readers. Kathryn stockett takes risks by portraying blacks the. But i found the blurb so hilarious that i pass it along with no comment or analysis. Writing a book blurb is harder than you think, and is an excellent way of getting yourself noticed. The only issue with this book, like any selfhelp book, is actually implementing the strategies in your own life. It refers to the help the black women who provide childcare and maid service to the white families in jackson, mississippi, during the early 1960s. Blurb create, print, and sell professionalquality photo.
Skeeter ends up accepting a job as an editorial assistant in new york and, after a tearful goodbye with aibileen, picks up and goes. The story is about african americans working in white households in jackson, mississippi, during the early 1960s a usa today article called it one of the summer sleeper hits. How is it that a writer can write a story spanning tens of thousands of words but stumble at a 250300 word book blurb describing it. A blurb is a short promotional piece accompanying a piece of creative work. How to write a nonfiction book cover blurb that sells. Many writers find writing book blurbs really difficult. Eugenia skeeter phelan, the daughter of a relatively well off white farmer in jackson, mississippi has come home from school and. As nouns the difference between synopsis and blurb is that synopsis is a brief summary of the major points of a written work, either as prose or as a table. The blurb on the book is very misleading in this respect. The help, kathryn stocketts debut novel, tells the story of black maids working in white southern homes in the early 1960s in jackson.
Once you master the marketing copy of your book blurb, your next step is to create a book introduction that closes the deal. Set in jackson, mississippi, the book tells the story of three women, who all serve as narrator throughout the books journey. Her linebyline analysis was useful to help me break down the major plot points so that the blurb didnt come across as simply a summary of events, but instead as a blurb that will hopefully hook readers and leave them wanting more. Traditionally, it would be found on the inside back cover of a hardback.
Create, print, and sell professionalquality photo books, magazines, trade books, and ebooks with blurb. Text analysis is about parsing texts in order to extract machinereadable facts from them. To find your book on the computer you created it with, open booksmart on that computer and you should see your book in the list under open a book or open book project. The black maids work with skeeter phelan, a white woman, to create. To write a good blurb, you have to make it short and exciting, yet relevant. But fear not, because theres a secret science to writing the perfect book blurb. The help study guide contains a biography of kathryn stockett, literature. Try not to mention more than two characters names, and promise your audience a read they.
This book certainly gives you a framework to be able to do this. The 5 core elements of a book blurb and why you should know. Blurb blurb is a creative platform and community that enables and encourages people to make books of the things they love. As a verb blurb is to write or quote something in a. Jun 11, 2014 writing a book blurb can be a challenge. One element of the practice of bookselling falling back on the shoulders of the writer is the book blurb or jacketcopy.
However, this task typically comes just when youre at your least able. Your confidential guide to the perfect book blurb click to tweet. It also refers to help, the title of the book that aibileen clark, skeeter phelan, and minny jackson. But what makes this blurb truly special, and why i single it out for praise is that it has a concealed double. The help, kathryn stockett the help is a 2009 novel by american author kathryn stockett.
In the book it is so difficult to not end up falling in love with a character you just hated not to long ago. A new childrens book casts congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez as a gumpopping, bored, selfietaking. To help prevent you from falling into this unfortunate group, weve put together a few tips that should help you write a winning book blurb, whether its for the latest fantasy novel or for a nonfiction selfhelp guide. Its hard to condense hundreds of pages into two or three paragraphs. The novel opens with a luncheon at leefolts house where the 23yearold white women hilly holbrook and eugenia skeeter phelan discuss. I will definitely use the hidden gems blurb analysis service for future projects. Chose from several free tools or use adobe indesign or adobe lightroom.
The help, kathryn stocketts debut novel, tells the story of black maids working in white southern homes in the early 1960s in jackson, mississippi, and of miss eugenia skeeter phelan, a 22yearold graduate from ole miss, who returns to her familys cotton plantation, longleaf, to find that her beloved maid and nanny, constantine, has left and no. Heres the quick and dirty version or head to shmoops plot summary for the longer, meatier version up to you. This is because writers dont really understand what a blurb is meant to do. Print as you go sell one copy at a time and let blurb fulfill the orders or place a large order and sell inperson. Abstract the purpose of this paper is to present a preliminary approach to the study of blurbs, brief texts traditionally displayed on bookcovers, and nowadays also on the internet, which provide. When the book is nearly complete, skeeter starts to worry that the maids pseudonyms wont be enough to stop the jackson housewives from figuring out that the book is about them. Try not to mention more than two characters names, and promise your audience a read they wont forget. When writing a novel, there are few selling tools as important as a solidly written book blurb. Your book blurb must be wellwritten to get a readers attention. The help is set in the early 1960s in jackson, mississippi, and told primarily from the firstperson perspectives of three women.
Since this is a memoir, the blurbs structure is less about problemsolving and more about the main thesis of the book. Generic structure and promotional elements in bestselling. When the book gets published, people in jackson start to realize the book is about them, but minnys plan works and hilly tries to convince them otherwise. Aibileen is a maid who takes care of children and cleans. From cambridge english corpus paratextual traces the blurb, back cover, inside cover, notes and title are part of the marketing process. It does not promise to make it easy for you, in fact, it does highlight that this does require active effort and is a hard process. Aibileen clark, minny jackson, and eugenia skeeter phelan. Blurb provide multiple options for creating books, allowing you to use either their booksmart software, webbased bookify, a plugin for adobe indesign, or you can do your own thing. I have seen nonfiction blurbs that are more about the author than the content of the book and i have seen fiction blurbs that are a synopsis of the story and even tell the reader the ending. Set in the early sixties in jackson, mississippi, the story is narrated in three voices. Dismayed by the racist home help sanitation initiative started by.
It may be written by the author or publisher or quote praise from others. Competitive analysis, marketing mix and traffic alexa log in. I write the blurb after ive written the book, but could just as easily. Generally, 150200 words are more than enough for a full blurb. The purpose of text analysis is to create structured data out of free text content. The process can be thought of as slicing and dicing heaps of unstructured, heterogeneous. Skeeter longs to pursue a career in writing that will take her beyond the stifling confines of her refined white southern society. The help written by kathryn stockett is a work of fiction. This one is from jack mamos the marriage code book, which we worked on this cover blurb is 179 words. The help is a 2009 novel by american author kathryn stockett. Think of the book blurb not as an annoying step between you and selfpublishing, but instead as an opportunity. The help by kathryn stockett is a novel about black maids in jackson, mississippi, in 1962. Get traffic statistics, seo keyword opportunities, audience insights, and competitive analytics for blurb. To help prevent you from falling into this unfortunate group, weve put together a few tips that should help you write a winning book blurb, whether its for the latest fantasy novel or for a nonfiction self help guide.
The blurb is a product description for the books backcover and amazon page, designed to entice readers. Sell your book in the blurb bookstore, through amazon, or in the global retail network of over 38,000 retailers, libraries, and schools. Mar 10, 2019 chances are, you will write a better book if you let the blurb guide you. The preferred book design software for creative professionals. Black maids raise white children, but arent trusted not to steal the silver is the first line that you read on the blurb of the help and this rings through not only in the book but in history too. They are not stored on blurb s site until you upload them for ordering. But with constantines thumb pressed in my hand, i realized i actually had a choice in what i could believe. There is one big difference though between a book blurb and a synopsis. The help focuses on three women in 1960s jackson mississippi. Back up, move, transfer, or share your booksmart books.
We think the title is brilliant so much meaning packed into two little words. Like the book cover is one of the biggest selling points for any book, a book blurb helps sell the idea of the book to those who are in search of reading something either new or out of their usually picked genres. In the present research, i aim to investigate generic structure and promotional elements pes of online bestselling fiction blurbs from two booksellersu websites amazon united kingdom uk and okuoku turkey tr to reveal 172. Once youve taken in all of the above and gotten a feel for the promise you want to make to the reader, use the outlines below to write your book cover blurb. Jan 29, 2018 an american marriage by tayari jones is a book about love, loyalty and doing the right thing or trying to figure out what the right thing actually is. Click look inside or download free sample to see how this guide can help give your book the success it deserves. Apr 21, 2017 a book blurb is your way of selling your book. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. The endorsement blurb recommends another writers book. The book title sums this up very well accelerate your career, master hard skills and outsmart the competition. The book, a debut novel by kathryn stockett, also comes with a back story that is a publishing dream come true. The help is set in jackson, mississippi and begins in august 1962. Shown through prejudice and discrimination to the coloured, hillie shows hypocritical behaviour with her white friends as they only aim to look good on the outside.
Writing a book blurb for your back cover, and other promotional uses, is one of the hardest steps for many authors. All books are stored locally on the computer you originally used to create the book. How to write a blurb definition, examples, and more. In the first sentence were to give a characters name, his vocation, and the storys opening situation. Oct 16, 2014 writing the blurb for your selfpublished book is one of the privileges of being an indie author. Lets look at how to make your nonfiction cover blurb sell your book.
Book cover blurb examples from good nonfiction books. In the essay at the end of the help which you can also read here, stockett says she wants people to understand the problems of mississippi, but also. For novels, like the biography blurb, dont include one on or in your book if you dont honestly feel that it is going to help build your brand. In james scott bells book marketing for writers who hate marketing, i found the best method for me to create a book cover blurb or copy bell says to write three sentences. Hinton tells the story of 14yearold ponyboy curtis and his struggle with right and wrong in a society in which he is. The black maids work with skeeter phelan, a white woman, to create a book depicting their lives. Automatic customized template creation based on your book size and page count. Stockett follows in a long tradition of southern writers including william faulkner, harper lee, richard wright, and john grisham to name a few who cast critical and loving eyes on their native south, striving to capture its complexity. This book is easy to read, but it is also meaty, with many actionable ideas. The book is narrated by three very different women. A book blurb should be a fair representation of the style of the book.