Please Give a warm welcome to Victoria Danann, author of My Familiar Stranger, who is guest posting today.
BLURBS. Arghh! by Victoria Danann
A blurb is a short description of a book. It's distinguished from an actual "book description" by length. It's basically a paragraph. Smashwords allows 386 characters. Sounds sufficient to describe a 113,000 words book?
If you're a reader you take these mini-synopses (Yes. I had to look up the plural of synopsis.) for granted, just as authors did before we became authors. It looks easy. A ten minute task at most. Four months and a hundred revisions later, I'm still tearing my hair out.
You say: "Come on. How hard could it be? Has anyone ever called you melodramatic?" I say: "Well, yes. They have. But that's not relevant to this discussion. Really!"
I would much rather write a full length novel than try to compose a blurb. Trying to pare that 113,000 words down to 75 is not just hard, it's torture. It's cruel, I tell you. The short description that I currently use for My Familiar Stranger follows. This is the best I can do while avoiding spoilers.
"Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own. She is stranded. Alone. Far from home. A stranger in a "strangish" land.
Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?" I can't tell you how often reviews will say something to the effect of "don't pay too much attention to the description.". See, the problem is that I wanted to create something that hadn't been done before, something that defies both formula and genre categorizing. I succeeded at that, but, it turns out that, like everything else in the universe, that comes with two sides. The good news is that it's different. The bad news is that the difference throws a wrench into the way the industry is set up to market books.
The second book in the series, The Witch's Dream, is due to release October 14th and the problem has expanded.
It's snowballing. Here's what I've got so far... "From New York to Ireland to Edinburgh to Siena to the Texas Hill Country to Napa Valley, modern day knights, heroes, witches, demons, psychics, vampires, werewolves, elves and fae come together where emotions intersect. From promises to rages to hunts to epiphanies, The Witch's Dream proves that true love can find you in the strangest places, when you're least expecting it, even when you're far, far from home."
See what I mean? There's no way to give a SHORT description of this book without having it sound stupid or juvenile or both which leaves me standing here as usual saying, "But it's not! I swear!" At least I have finally found a genre label that kind of, sort of, maybe fits. Paranormal Romantica. How about that?
BLURBS. Arghh! by Victoria Danann
A blurb is a short description of a book. It's distinguished from an actual "book description" by length. It's basically a paragraph. Smashwords allows 386 characters. Sounds sufficient to describe a 113,000 words book?
If you're a reader you take these mini-synopses (Yes. I had to look up the plural of synopsis.) for granted, just as authors did before we became authors. It looks easy. A ten minute task at most. Four months and a hundred revisions later, I'm still tearing my hair out.
You say: "Come on. How hard could it be? Has anyone ever called you melodramatic?" I say: "Well, yes. They have. But that's not relevant to this discussion. Really!"
I would much rather write a full length novel than try to compose a blurb. Trying to pare that 113,000 words down to 75 is not just hard, it's torture. It's cruel, I tell you. The short description that I currently use for My Familiar Stranger follows. This is the best I can do while avoiding spoilers.
"Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own. She is stranded. Alone. Far from home. A stranger in a "strangish" land.
Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?" I can't tell you how often reviews will say something to the effect of "don't pay too much attention to the description.". See, the problem is that I wanted to create something that hadn't been done before, something that defies both formula and genre categorizing. I succeeded at that, but, it turns out that, like everything else in the universe, that comes with two sides. The good news is that it's different. The bad news is that the difference throws a wrench into the way the industry is set up to market books.
The second book in the series, The Witch's Dream, is due to release October 14th and the problem has expanded.
It's snowballing. Here's what I've got so far... "From New York to Ireland to Edinburgh to Siena to the Texas Hill Country to Napa Valley, modern day knights, heroes, witches, demons, psychics, vampires, werewolves, elves and fae come together where emotions intersect. From promises to rages to hunts to epiphanies, The Witch's Dream proves that true love can find you in the strangest places, when you're least expecting it, even when you're far, far from home."
See what I mean? There's no way to give a SHORT description of this book without having it sound stupid or juvenile or both which leaves me standing here as usual saying, "But it's not! I swear!" At least I have finally found a genre label that kind of, sort of, maybe fits. Paranormal Romantica. How about that?
My Familiar Stranger, By Victoria Danann
The Order of the Black Swan #1
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Fantasy
Publisher: 7th House
Date of Publication: April 21, 2012
ebook -Buy Link
ISBN: 978-1-933320-49-6
ISBN: 978-1-933320-49-6
WORDS 113,000
Date of Publication: August 31, 2012
print ISBN: 193332077X
PAGES 328 (5x8 paperback)
PRINT: Buy Link
Book Description:
A secret society, hot guys, and vampires come together for a once in a lifetime adventure and a once in a lifetime opportunity proving that true love can find you in the strangest places, even far, far from home.
Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own.
Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?
My Familiar Stranger is a full length, stand alone, Paranormal Romance novel that also sets up the foundation for the Black Swan series. It is loved by fans of paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and urban fantasy.
Erotic quotient: A few steamy scenes. No menage. No BDSM.
Date of Publication: August 31, 2012
print ISBN: 193332077X
PAGES 328 (5x8 paperback)
PRINT: Buy Link
Book Description:
A secret society, hot guys, and vampires come together for a once in a lifetime adventure and a once in a lifetime opportunity proving that true love can find you in the strangest places, even far, far from home.
Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own.
Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?
My Familiar Stranger is a full length, stand alone, Paranormal Romance novel that also sets up the foundation for the Black Swan series. It is loved by fans of paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and urban fantasy.
Erotic quotient: A few steamy scenes. No menage. No BDSM.
About The Author:
For the past thirteen years, Victoria has illustrated and authored Seasons of the Witch calendars and planners.
Though works of fiction are a departure for her, she has had this series simmering on the back burner of her mind for years. In addition to authoring and illustrating Seasons of the Witch, she plays rock music and manages one of Houston's premier R&B/ Variety/Pop bands.
This series will include some of my actual experience in the paranormal with fictionalized anecdotes from my journals during the years when I was a practicing "metaphysician", but most of the material is fantasy.
GIVEAWAY QUESTION:
“Since the ancient Greeks, and probably since we became sentient, men have been asking the question, ‘What do women want?’ I think I know what the answer is – at least for a lot of us - and it’s related to why Paranormal Romance is so popular with women and so satisfying to the core in a way no other genre can be. Before I began writing for this audience, I read about two hundred PNR books and realized that there is one element common to almost all and that it can only be expressed in a fantasy world. Can you guess what it is?” (NOTE: You don’t have to match my answer to win. I’m always interested to hear what other PNR fans think.)
The prize is a free download of M.F.S. with Smashwords coupon. Anyone who gives a thoughtful answer wins.
“Since the ancient Greeks, and probably since we became sentient, men have been asking the question, ‘What do women want?’ I think I know what the answer is – at least for a lot of us - and it’s related to why Paranormal Romance is so popular with women and so satisfying to the core in a way no other genre can be. Before I began writing for this audience, I read about two hundred PNR books and realized that there is one element common to almost all and that it can only be expressed in a fantasy world. Can you guess what it is?” (NOTE: You don’t have to match my answer to win. I’m always interested to hear what other PNR fans think.)
The prize is a free download of M.F.S. with Smashwords coupon. Anyone who gives a thoughtful answer wins.
I hear ya! My synopses tend to be long as well. I haven't had too much trouble yet because my book isn't yet out and I haven't been forced to dumb it down too terribly yet. I'm someone who struggles with writing even short stories. I very much struggle with word maximums! Good luck with your blurb! :D
ReplyDeleteI think I've decided to stick with the ridiculous and hope potential readers can see past it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for having me. Please come to the Virtual Release Party of the second book in the series, The Witch's Dream, on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/vdanann#!/events/373844549351785/ (search Order of the Black Swan on Facebook)
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome, Thank you for stopping by.
ReplyDelete