The Family Jewels

To further on this morning’s “A Hot Package” posting, this evening I’d like to take you a little deeper into the nirvana that is working with a big publishing house. In particular, let’s delve into the Blurb Composition Questionnaire!

I’ve never done one of these before, always suffering through the blurb-process all by my lonesome. So this is so exciting for me. Yes, I’m an idiot, but at least I’m a jolly one at the moment.

Here are a few of the questions I’m supposed to answer to help the pros write the “Ravenscar” blurb. I’m calling these the Family Jewels of the story (this is where the meat is, baby!) These are by no means direct quotes, simply summarizations of some of the info they are looking for. Maybe this will help you in creating your own blurbian masterpiece. *smiles*

         -What genre is the story? They give a whole bunch of choices and ask me to pick all that apply. For “Ravenscar” I have chosen: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense, Erotic Romance. Dreamspinner Press only publishes LGBT books, so that part of the equation is implied.

         -What is the tone of the story? They want descriptive adjectives here, such as: humorous, lighthearted, bittersweet or grim. These you have to come up with yourself. A few I’m thinking of including for “Ravenscar” are: atmospheric, epic, earnest, and stormy.

         -What is the setting of the story and does it play an important part in the plot?  I answered “Yes” to this one. “Ravenscar” is all about the mysterious atmosphere that surround these two men’s love story.

         -Give the biographies of all major characters, including primary and secondary roles who play a major part in the storyline. I only had to list three folks here. Quick and surprisingly easy.

         -In five sentences summarize the storyline. Still working on this one. In fact, it’s the only question I haven’t touched yet. Why? Because, knowing me, it will be the hardest. So, tomorrow I’ll deal with this sucker.

         -What is the major crisis or obstacle the couple have to overcome in the story? This one was easy to answer but I’m leaving that a surprise for all of you.

         -What details do you NOT want included the blurb? I like how they realize that the audience needs to be left in the dark about certain things. Personally, I’ve always thought the blurb should be more of a tease than a summary.

There are lots more questions, but these I found the most interesting and the most fun to work on. I’m just enjoying the ever-loving heck out of this whole process! I hope you guys are too!

Until tomorrow…

Chloe