Book Boffin

Print Book and eBook Self-Publishing for Creative Entrepreneurs

Book Descriptions versus Book Synopsis

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Book Descriptions versus Book Synopsis

A synopsis is different to a book description, which is again different to a blurb. In the self publishing space, you do not necessarily require a synopsis, in the traditional sense.

To publish your book on the online bookstores requires a long and a short book description, these are sometimes are referred to as a blurb – but this is incorrect.

There are a lot of different definitions out there for these terms, so this is my understanding of it.

Why do you need a book synopsis or book description?

The purpose of a synopsis is to sell your work to a publisher, whereas the purpose of a book description is to sell your work to a reader.

The publisher looks at a synopsis through the lens of finding a commercially viable product, whereas the reader is looking for an entertaining read. Both audiences are looking for different things: the former is a commercial decision, the latter is an emotional decision – so the wording for a synopsis needs to be different to a book description, to fulfil the different needs.

Synopsis:

A good synopsis is written in a way that helps a publisher evaluate if this product is likely to get a good return and is worthwhile their investment. A good book description is written to hook the reader in so they want to invest both their money and time reading the book.

Being two different audiences to fit two different purposes, they need to be written in very different styles.

Developing your synopsis is important if you plan on taking your work to a traditional publisher.

A synopsis is written as a brief summary of the major plot points of a book, or an abridgement of the book’s contents, articulated in an interesting and succinct way. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. They are normally included with a cover letter to a publisher who is considering their work.

For some sound advice on constructing a synopsis, Jane Friedman has it covered.

Book Descriptions:

A book description is written to entice a reader with the journey or transformation the book will provide to them, without giving away the answer or ending. It is a grab of one or two key points and shaped into a teasing summary of the outcome or conclusion a reader can expect by reading this book.

When self-publishing your book to an online bookseller such as Amazon, iBookstore or Kobo, you will need both a long description (about 1000- characters) and a short description (about 400-500 characters).

The short description appears on the back of the book cover, so a potential reader can scan the back and decide if they want to purchase, and the longer descriptions are included on a landing page or where online bookstores allow book descriptions to be placed on the book’s sales page. As it does not need to fit within the confines of a book cover, this allows you to elaborate a little more, whilst still remaining within the conventions of it’s purpose, which is to hook the reader.

If you are stuck for words when crafting your book description, here is a brilliant piece of reverse engineering to come up with book descriptions, by Joanna Penn.

A Book Blurb:

Book blurbs are different again, and a terrific sales tool for your work. Read more about book blurbs here: http://bookboffin.com/how-to-get-book-endorsements/

So to sum up, I see the synopsis as a selling tool, and the book description as a promotional tool. One is sales, the other is marketing.

If you have already developed your synopsis, I don’t want to discount the work that has been done because that can incredibly useful when working with designers and copyrighters to develop your product and marketing pieces. Include your synopsis with your brief to enable them to get a quick grasp on the type of book this is, so they can get the styling and messaging right.

When you are self-publishing, you are bypassing the traditional publishing houses so don’t have to try and sell it to anyone except your target audience – they are now your gatekeeper. So your only job now becomes building an audience of fans of your work, and that is easily done through showing them the amazing journey you can take them on in your book. And one of the ways to do that is through an effective book description.

Tips to Get Glowing Endorsements for your Book

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Tips for Getting Glowing Endorsements for your Book

Endorsements (or blurbs) can be a real credibility boost for your book. When you find the right person that is highly relevant for your market, their endorsement can provide word-of-mouth marketing that is leveraged to the degree of stardom of that endorser.

So aim high and just ASK.

When looking for endorsements for your book, keep in mind the most successful endorsements are usually given by someone influential in your book’s genre (particularly in fiction) or a thought-leader of the industry or niche in which you are writing about (which works well for non-fiction books).

Endorsements are not the same as reviews. Although less leveraged than endorsements, reviews are incredibly valuable to authors. Reviews are given by fans of your work or readers of your books. They are usually unsolicited, impartial and you probably don’t know the reviewer personally.

And in the same way the right celebrity endorsement can provide the break-out success you are hoping for your book; reviews en-masse can become the catalyst for a book’s longevity or quick death.

So how do you find the right person to endorse your book? Here’s some tips for finding the right endorsement:

  1. It’s all about the name – social proof is a powerful force in marketing. A nod from a high profile person attaches their brand to your work. So for this same reason, choose wisely.
  2. When it’s not ‘all about the name’ – see what I did there? Yep… totally contradicted myself, because us humans don’t always use our logical brains.
    A glowing endorsement from a lesser known person can sometimes be more effective at selling your work than a ‘Meh’ endorsement from a well-known person. You be the judge when deciding which endorsement should take up the premium real estate in your book.

When you find someone who agrees to endorse you, here’s some tips on how you could provide some framework for the endorsement:

  1. Is there a particular angle you would like them to cover that highlights an area of the endorser’s expertise that also has the most relevance to your book? Let them know what you are looking for, they will probably find it helpful to be given this direction.
  2. Ask for their title, in relation to their endorsement of your book. They may wear many hats (professionally) and may keep some separation between them, so always check with them what title they would like to use with their name in relation to the endorsement.
  3. The endorsement does not have to be long. A well articulated one to two paragraphs is sufficient to provide potential readers with enough proof as to the quality of your work and what they will gain by learning from you.

And here are some ideas in how to keep the endorser/author relationship strong, positive and in flow:

  1. Provide the book in the format they want to read it in. If you are asking someone to take the time to read your book, give it to them in the most reader-friendly way possible, for them.
  2. Don’t send them a half-done book. Send your book once it has been copy-edited and proofread. Asking them to read a book full of typos and incorrectly structured sentences will interrupt their reading flow and may affect how glowing the endorsement ends up.
  3. Communicate your expectations – When you give them the book, let them know up front when you would ideally would like the endorsement sent to you, and give them all the ways they can send it to you, for example: email address, Facebook PM etc. And provide them with sufficient time to carve out some space in their schedule to read your book and give thought to the endorsement – I would recommend 6-8 weeks notice.
  4. Remind them of the deadline – don’t wait til the due date to ask them where the endorsement is. Send them a note a couple of weeks prior to remind them of the date you will need the endorsement given to you in order to stay on track with your publishing schedule.
  5. Thank them. They have done a nice thing for you. Their brand of fairy dust liberally sprinkled over your book may just give your book the amplification it needed to boost it beyond the boundaries of your influence. Thank them sincerely and send them a copy of the book once it’s published.

If you are interested on further reading about obtaining endorsements for your book, this Writer’s Digest article provides excellent perspective on how to approach this process.

Finally, a book blurb is not the same as a book description. We cover book descriptions in detail here: http://bookboffin.com/book-descriptions-book-synopsis/

Building Your Digital Platform

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What does it mean, to ‘Build A Platform?’

This can be a most confusing phrase for someone starting out. Popular advice is to be told to start building a platform before you are ready to start selling your work. The thinking behind this is sound – if you have some followers, fans or friends engaged with you and listening to your message, it will be far easier to sell them your products when you launch them into the marketplace.

Even established authors with an existing publishing deal are asked to do some work on their own to increase their brand awareness. Three years ago, Simon & Schuster started asking their signed authors to start posting video.

The confusion often begins when you start to ponder ‘How?’

Does that mean I have to start a blog, or become a great speaker from stage, or having every social media account filled to the brim with sage advice, sending everyone into a click-frenzy of likes, shares, re-tweets, plus 1s?

These are all a good places to start, but probably the most effective approach is to watch and ask – where are your people?

Every industry has their preferred method of communication. Sure, most people may be on all social networks, a little bit. However, once you start listening to the conversations, buzz and chatter going on in your industry, you will start to notice that there are places where conversations explode! And for every industry this is different.

For example, sports stars and celebrities tend to tweet, so followers of sports stars and celebrities tend to go to twitter to interact.

Similarly, if sports stars are on twitter, that’s where the coaches go for up-to-date information, and that is where they tend to stay – because the majority are already there. Why bother taking it somewhere else?

And if celebrities are tweeting, gossip magazines, celebrity-following blogs and fans tend to go to twitter and stay on twitter.

It makes sense for photographers share on image-rich sites like instagram and facebook – showcasing their work is made easy for them.

For inspiration people tend to go to Pinterest – it’s just such a seamless way of looking for holiday ideas, crafty inspiration, pot-luck dinner winners or passion projects and pinning them to your own board for reference. It’s like having your own personal team of collaborators and idea-incubators helping you along with your next venture.

I think Oprah summed it up beautifully when she said:

“Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show, and that is where your power lies. In every way, in every day, you are showing people exactly who you are. You’re letting your life speak for you. And when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give in whatever platform you have.”

Are you building a Platform or Building an Empire?

Nothing beats building your own empire. When you are building your empire, you are thinking of your product or service as a business and putting it to work for you.

Put simply, an author platform is all about attracting the right readers to you, and building a direct relationship with them, without relying on anyone else.

So whether is it building a platform or building your empire, tell your story that:

  • shows off your best work
  • demonstrates the problems you solve
  • how transparently you solve them
  • cares about who you serve