What it should not give is list of reviews.
I found this link shared by J.A.Konrath on Facebook.
So, I'm thinking Kool! Free Books! New Authors to love!
Then I go and start reading the blubs on Amazon. For those of you who don't know, the blub is that bite of information on the back of the book or via kindle, the write up under the title on Amazon.
That's where I hit the brakes. One had a quick; this person and this person now have this mystery to figure out...followed by 10 reviews. Gee, if I had wanted to read the reviews, I would have clicked on those little stars on top. Basically, I now know nothing about this book that hooked me. Pass.
Another gave too little info. Detective has to solve a murder but will it lead him into trouble? Gee, that told me nothing. All murder mystery books just got covered by that blurb. Pass.
Reading these blurbs annoyed me and got me thinking about how important and how much skill goes into writing them. Don't tell me the story, tell me why it's an interesting story. I had a writer friend who could spit this stuff out like candy. I told her my one book was about an angel who saved someone who was destine to die and then she had no destiny and another angel doesn't want her to marry his human and on and on... that's a crappy blurb. I know. I struggled.
My friend turned it into this;
"When an angel appears to tell Shay Deville she can’t marry her fiancé because she will forever alter his destiny, she thinks she is going crazy. Shay learns she was supposed to die seven months ago, but Merrick, her own guardian angel, broke angelic law and saved her. Now she is a woman without a future – or a guardian.
In spite of the angel’s warning Shay refuses to give up her dreams. She hunts down Merrick, her renegade angel, and demands he help her.Guardian Angel Merrick knows the Heavenly Handbook better than anyone, but when the time came to help Shay Deville cross over, he just couldn’t do it. Now Merrick is stripped of his wings and banished to the earthly realm until he corrects his mistakes and completes the destiny of his charge. But how can Merrick arrange to take Shay’s life when he has fallen in love with her? How can he not?
Will Merrick give up his wings and forever be cast to Earth for the woman he loves?
Can a woman without a destiny ever find happiness, or true love?"
Well, why didn't I think of that Heavenly handbook thing? So seamless. So easy and it gets the gist of the story across.
Bottom line? Tempt me, make me excited to see what's going on inside those pages. Go check out the link of free mystery books. I did buy/get a few of the one's with the best blurb.
These books hooked me with their blurb.
- Someone Elses Daughter by Linsey Lanier
- A Gluten Free Murder by P.D. Workman
- The Ink Man Lies by Julia Hughes
- Last Call by J.A.Konrath
- Murder in the ER by Jackie Holiday
- Justice by Ann Voss Peterson
Peace out! I got some reading to do.
