How to Write Unforgettable Back Cover Copy

Professional Writing
Written By Muse Editorial LLC

The first thing most of us do when we pick up a book is flip it over and read what the back says. For this reason, the book blurb needs to be engaging and concise. Otherwise, the potential buyer isn’t going to invest.

General Guidelines

Book blurbs look a little different for each genre, but there are some key things to keep in mind for all back cover content.

• Tension—What is at odds? What seems like an unsolvable problem?

• Intrigue—How is this book different from others of its type?

• Elevator Pitch—Does the blurb build quickly and pack a punch?

• Length—Remember, this needs to fit on the back cover of a relatively small book. No more than 250 words.

• Main Idea—What is the big picture plot? Who are the main players?

• Tense—Blurbs should always be in present tense rather than past or future.

The back cover is a tool used to sell the book. Because of that, the reader needs to get the big picture of the book in as little space as possible. There’s no guarantee a reader will pick up the book and actually buy it. The book blurb needs to pull the reader in, and make them want to follow through on the purchase.

However, the book blurb should have no calls to action. If every book had “Buy me!” written in bold letters on the back, no one would buy any of them. The main goal here is to sell the book using nothing but the content (and to present that content in clever ways).

Keep in mind, these back covers should engage the reader, but keep most of the plot hidden. No one wants to spoil their book before someone even reads it.

Fiction

The main goal with a fiction back cover is to sell the plot or the main character. This helps the reader determine if the book itself is plot-driven or character-driven.

For a plot-driven back cover, take the big picture plot and boil it down to a sentence or two. Make it into an elevator pitch. What are the biggest plot points? What is the main theme of the book? For example, say your writer has a book about two brothers taking a road trip, but halfway through the journey they find the Fountain of Youth—one decides to drink from it, and the other doesn’t. Here’s how that would look for a plot-driven back cover:

Two brothers, a car, and the Fountain of Youth. One chooses to take the plunge and have a taste of everlasting life. The other begs him to get back in the car and finish their cross-country journey to find their father. Instead, he sneaks a vial and brings it along for the ride. Now, they face not only the tension brought on by their differences, but by those who want the vial for themselves.

In this example, characters aren’t mentioned by name and the plot is the driving force. This is what that same premise looks like when driven by character:

Michael and Matthew Louis don’t see eye to eye. Despite sharing a father, the two long-lost brothers have nothing in common. Michael wants to find their father to heal family wounds. Matthew wants to hear his father’s reason for leaving. When they journey out on a cross-country road trip to find him, the brothers come across more than they bargained for: the Fountain of Youth. Already at odds, the brothers find themselves in danger when Matthew decides to take a vial with them—and Michael is left wondering why they’re being chased across the country.

Character-driven back covers let the reader into the inner world of the characters rather than the plot. Of course, the plot is still hinted at, but the motivation is still focused on the characters.

Overall, there isn’t a clear benefit to choosing one structure over the other in terms of selling the book. It depends entirely on the actual content of the book. If the book is plot-driven, it’s better to write plot-driven back cover copy. If the book is character-driven, it’s better to write character-driven back cover copy.

Creative Nonfiction

Unlike with fiction, creative nonfiction (CNF) relies purely on character. This does not mean the back cover should be in first person, though. The back cover needs to be in third person like the fiction examples above. Otherwise, it starts to drift into Facebook post territory.

Creative nonfiction back covers depend on the pivot point and the main character. Help your writer decide what the main pivot point (the point where their thinking or lifestyle changed dramatically) of their book is, and condense it to its big idea. Then, figure out what their big theme is within that pivot point. Did they get a job in Washington and realize their position was much more than the job description let on? Did they get married and realize married life wasn’t for them? Pinpoint the event and the writer’s reaction to that event. Here’s an example:

After spending years in medical school and interning at the best hospital on the East Coast, Dr. Abigail Spencer finally joined a surgical team in New York City. Despite growing feelings of conflict about her life path, Dr. Spencer continued to break new grounds in medicine—until she had an accident of her own and became one of the patients she worked with every day. It wasn’t until she sat on the other side of the table that she realized being a surgeon wasn’t what she wanted. It wasn’t until she heard other patients talk about their tragedies that she realized who she really wanted to be.

The main goal here is to get the reader to feel something strong for the author as quickly as possible. The more emotion and tension, the more likely the reader is going to want to take a journey with the author.

Nonfiction

For nonfiction, the back cover is going to be a bit more cut and dry than fiction and CNF. The main guidelines are still applicable, but they are going to present themselves in a different way. Rather than focusing on narrative plot points, the main idea here will be to pick out the lens of the book.

The nonfiction back cover should focus on the big picture. What is the author aiming to answer by writing this book? Whatever that question is should be the main focus of the back cover. Here’s an example from an author published by our company:

Did you know that over 700 million people live on less than $2 a day?

Nearly 10% of the global population struggles to survive 24 hours at a time. Eradicating extreme poverty may seem like a simple issue, but in reality, it’s very complex.

In Uplift and Empower: A Guide to Understanding Extreme Poverty and Poverty Alleviation, you’ll learn about:

• The history and context of poverty and how the Industrial Revolution shaped modern social structures

• Major challenges caused by poverty and what it means to live within the poverty mindset

• Innovative solutions to addressing poverty, such as new methods for job creation and community engagement

• And so much more...

This book is an exploration into one of the most pressing issues of our time. It’s for anyone interested in becoming part of the solution, and everyone that’s ready to Uplift and Empower.

— Uplift and Empower by Danielle Hawa Tarigha: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641379243/

Notice how a question is the main driver of this copy. That’s the main goal for a nonfiction back cover. What question is being answered? The more you can narrow the focus down to one question, the more engaging the back cover will be for readers. There doesn’t need to be an explicit question asked on the back cover, but it should give a hint as to what the author wants to answer over the duration of the book.

Examples

Fiction

The triumphant success of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” compels fledgling poet Frances Osgood to meet her literary idol, a mysterious, complicated man who soon has her under his seductive spell in an all-consuming affair. And when Edgar’s frail young wife breaks into their idyll to befriend her rival, Frances fears that deceiving Mrs. Poe may be as impossible as cheating death itself...

Creative Nonfiction

From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of marriage—and a life, in good times and bad—that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

Nonfiction

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff: https://www.amazon.com/Cleopatra-Life-Stacy-Schiff/dp/0316001945/

Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first and poisoned the second; incest and assassination were family specialties. She had children by Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most prominent Roman commanders of the day. With Antony she would attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled both their ends. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons; her supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order.

Muse Editorial LLC
Next

Writing an Eye-Catching Amazon Blurb