Writing a Hella Good Book Description

I am working on a kick ass book description. It will be the first thing people read on Kindle when deciding if they want to buy the book or not.  I have to say that I’m struggling with this task a bit.  Here’s what’s making it tricky…

The book, titled Blue Violet, is paranormal (with a little romance thrown in too).  Sort of X-men meets Twilight – only no vampires.  The tricky part is that many of the coolest parts of the book that would catch people’s attention in a book description are revealed a little at a time.

For example, you start the book not knowing if the main character, Ellie, is a normal girl or someone with powers (and no, I’m not going to tell you which it is).  And the “bad guys”, called the Vyusher (see if you can figure out what that word means), don’t really make an appearance until several chapters in.

So the question becomes, how much do I reveal in the book description to make sure I snag people’s interest without spoiling the book?  It’s a conundrum.

And this is where the power of the internet is my best friend.  There is a lot of great advice for first-time, self-publishing writers out there – if you can wade through a lot of useless drivel.  I found this blog post by another self-published author, Karen McQuestion, and it was the exact advice I was looking for – and 30 minutes later, I was done.  (Needless to say, I’ll be following that blog from now on.)

http://mcquestionablemusings.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-method-for-writing-book-description.html

To do item #549: First draft of my book description – check. So without further ado, here is the book description for Blue Violet:

Other than her twin brother, Ellie Aubrey is all alone in the world, their family having been murdered by a rival clan called the Vyusher many years before. But a mysterious dream reveals to her a potential new family in a group of people with extraordinary powers. Despite her brother Griffin’s warnings, Ellie risks coming out of hiding and moves to Colorado to find the Jenners, although she attempts to remain safely anonymous as she slowly befriends them. In finding them, she may have also found a soul-deep love with Alex Jenner. But at what cost? Ellie has unwittingly placed them all in terrible danger as the Vyusher once again threaten everything she holds most dear. Now Ellie must fight to save all of their lives.
Exceptionally imaginative and magically romantic, Blue Violet delivers equal parts fantasy, romance, and suspense. A must read for paranormal fans everywhere.

I am very open to feedback if you have any.  This is a first draft after all.

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