I admit, I had very little idea for what publishing a book would entail when I started on the journey. I knew I didn't have the skills to do this alone, so I turned to a Literary Consultancy - Daniel Goldsmith Associates. I had already used them for the edit of the book and the feedback they provided made the story better. They would now be responsible for designing the cover, they would copy edit, proof edit and typeset the whole book and bring it to a print ready stage. Lorena Goldsmith of Daniel Goldsmith Associates would take my story and work with me to make it a book.
One of the many elements we spent a lot of time on would be the Back Cover Blurb - the text you read on the back once the cover has enticed you to reach for the book. As Chasing Innocence will unlikely appear in many bookshops, the cover blurb would also be important for the description page on Amazon and Kobo, the two main vendors. The back cover blurb is a perfect example of the many small pieces that comprise a completed product, and how something so innocuous can develop from a simple concept through the collaboration of several minds, to something that sends chills down your spine when you see the finished product.
Katie Green started with the 603 word final version of the synopsis. She took key none spoiler elements and gave them flow and and proceeded them with a question: 'What would you do if you saw a child kidnapped?' I took this framework and expanded in some places, contracted in others and made the blurb read as I wanted it. I deleted the initial question because it didn't work for me, it sounded too non-fiction. I pinged the changes back and received the grammatically corrected version. I accepted the changes and that version of the blurb appeared in proof copies of the cover. Seeing it on the cover though made it immediately obvious it was too long. About a week later I whittled it down and Katie took that version and did a great job in changing the balance of paragraphs and description to make it an interesting read. It pulled you to the story. At this stage the blurb was 80% done, but it was missing something. Everyone kind of knew this and it kind of just sat there. But then we got nearer and nearer finalising the cover, and with that the need to finalise the back cover blurb.
It was Lorena that eventually nailed it. She said we needed some question or quote at the top to add context for how the blurb is read. I didn't see it for the great idea it was at first, because the words bouncing around in my head were: 'We need a quote.' How was I going to come up with one of those at the eleventh hour? I didn't want to use a question like Katie supplied at the beginning, as I had already discounted the only one I could think of. I wanted something that said: THRILLER FICTION. My mind spent every minute of that night buzzing through concepts and the different dialogues within the story. I guess I must have dozed but it didn't feel like it the next morning. But I did now have three quotes from the book. The first related directly to Sarah, it works in the book but didn't work with the blurb, it was a bit too Rambo. The second quote was a great scene setter, but once you had read the quote it kind of hinted at a twist that occurred in the second act. So that was ruled out. The third quote I didn't want to use because it is very creepy. It is one of those lines you write and feel a little dirty because you wrote it. One of those lines that you have to write because bad things do happen to good people, and for a book to be entertaining you have to make the reader want to look away, and then look right back. The third quote was perfect.
It was added and suddenly what the blurb said now had a very dark, thriller context. It was 95% done. There were a few niggling sections that needed altering, but now we had context with the quote, they were easily sorted. And here it is. The exclusive first look at the BACK cover including the finalised blurb. It sends chills down my spine at least.
We now also have a finalised front cover too. It looks stunning but you will have to wait a few days for that. For those that have pre-ordered Chasing Innocence don't worry about the price on the back cover. This will be discounted by at least 40% by the time the book is despatched to you.
One of the many elements we spent a lot of time on would be the Back Cover Blurb - the text you read on the back once the cover has enticed you to reach for the book. As Chasing Innocence will unlikely appear in many bookshops, the cover blurb would also be important for the description page on Amazon and Kobo, the two main vendors. The back cover blurb is a perfect example of the many small pieces that comprise a completed product, and how something so innocuous can develop from a simple concept through the collaboration of several minds, to something that sends chills down your spine when you see the finished product.
Katie Green started with the 603 word final version of the synopsis. She took key none spoiler elements and gave them flow and and proceeded them with a question: 'What would you do if you saw a child kidnapped?' I took this framework and expanded in some places, contracted in others and made the blurb read as I wanted it. I deleted the initial question because it didn't work for me, it sounded too non-fiction. I pinged the changes back and received the grammatically corrected version. I accepted the changes and that version of the blurb appeared in proof copies of the cover. Seeing it on the cover though made it immediately obvious it was too long. About a week later I whittled it down and Katie took that version and did a great job in changing the balance of paragraphs and description to make it an interesting read. It pulled you to the story. At this stage the blurb was 80% done, but it was missing something. Everyone kind of knew this and it kind of just sat there. But then we got nearer and nearer finalising the cover, and with that the need to finalise the back cover blurb.
It was Lorena that eventually nailed it. She said we needed some question or quote at the top to add context for how the blurb is read. I didn't see it for the great idea it was at first, because the words bouncing around in my head were: 'We need a quote.' How was I going to come up with one of those at the eleventh hour? I didn't want to use a question like Katie supplied at the beginning, as I had already discounted the only one I could think of. I wanted something that said: THRILLER FICTION. My mind spent every minute of that night buzzing through concepts and the different dialogues within the story. I guess I must have dozed but it didn't feel like it the next morning. But I did now have three quotes from the book. The first related directly to Sarah, it works in the book but didn't work with the blurb, it was a bit too Rambo. The second quote was a great scene setter, but once you had read the quote it kind of hinted at a twist that occurred in the second act. So that was ruled out. The third quote I didn't want to use because it is very creepy. It is one of those lines you write and feel a little dirty because you wrote it. One of those lines that you have to write because bad things do happen to good people, and for a book to be entertaining you have to make the reader want to look away, and then look right back. The third quote was perfect.
It was added and suddenly what the blurb said now had a very dark, thriller context. It was 95% done. There were a few niggling sections that needed altering, but now we had context with the quote, they were easily sorted. And here it is. The exclusive first look at the BACK cover including the finalised blurb. It sends chills down my spine at least.
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