This cover does it for me, over and over again.
The cover isn't the only element of a book's production, however entertaining it can be. You can't just write a story, dress it in a gorgeous cover, and send it out to the world. There are several other steps that have to be checked off, one by one, before that book goes public.
One step is editing/revising, with a big part of that being the employment of advanced readers. I'm fortunate to have some very talented readers and writers take a crack at this book, and am waiting to hear back from a few others. So far, the response has been enormously helpful... and phenomenally positive. With each round of beta reader comments, the book gets honed and polished and perfected, and I wake up each day feeling more enthusiastic about this book than I had the day before. Thank you, my precious beta readers!
The latest step is one that I wanted to share with you today... the blurb.
Now, I'd already settled on my hook line, and have even come up with the comparative statement that I used to lure my beta readers into reading it. How is it that I haven't done the blurb yet?
Answer:
A) Haven't needed one yet
B) Haven't gotten that far on the to-do list yet
C) It's ridiculously difficult to sum up an entire book in a few catchy paragraphs
D) All of the above
Writing a blurb is an essential step toward a book's release. It's the description that goes on the back of print books, as well as what a reader sees when they come across the book on a retail website. Not only does it have to written, it has to be good enough to make a reader say "I want to know MORE."
It also has to accurately reflect what the story is all about. In the past, I wrote blurbs early on in a book's development, only to realize that once the book was finished, it looked nothing like that original blurb.
No wonder I moved "Write the Blurb" downward on the to-do list. :)
So, here is the long-awaited blurb...
THE HEARTBEAT THIEF by AJ KRAFTON
Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman discovers the secret of eternal youth—she must surrender her life to attain it, and steal heartbeats to keep it.
In 1860 Surrey, a young woman has only one occupation: to marry. Senza Fyne is beautiful, intelligent, and lacks neither wealth nor connections. Finding a husband shouldn’t be difficult, not when she has her entire life before her. But it’s not life that preoccupies her thoughts. It’s death—and that shadowy spectre haunts her every step.
So does Mr. Knell. Heart-thumpingly attractive, obviously eligible—he’d be her perfect match if only he wasn’t so macabre. All his talk about death, all that teasing about knowing how to avoid it…
When her mother arranges a courtship with another man, Senza is desperate for escape from a dull prescripted destiny. Impulsively, she takes Knell up on his offer. He casts a spell that frees her from the cruelty of time and the threat of death—but at a steep price. In order to maintain eternal youth, she must feed on the heartbeats of others.
It’s a little bit Jane Austen, a little bit Edgar Allan Poe, and a whole lot of stealing heartbeats in order to stay young and beautiful forever. From the posh London season to the back alleys of Whitechapel…across the Channel, across the Pond, across the seas of Time…
How far will Senza Fyne go to avoid Death?
So... that's my book, in less than 250 words. Does it make you want to know more? I'd love to hear what you think.
