These are tired phrases in blurbs. I don't know where they come from. I remember twigging on these in Amazon prime summaries.
"centres around" "follow X as they" "Y finds herself in Z"
I also notice some people are putting marketing hype into their blurbs. I think this is a mistake. You're making claims (telling) instead of demonstrating those claims in your writing in the blurb (showing).
When we read a blurb we want evidence of something interesting. That means we need to understand the basic main character and plot (how the character must grapple with stakes), and have a tweak on what's unique.
I find authors are so afraid of "giving away" the story that they resort to tired phrases, marketing hype, and coy references to events.... such that we can't figure out what is happening or why we should care.
We live in a world with unlimited stories already told... you have only seconds to make an impression.
Ideas are not valuable... execution is. Five people can tell me in detail how they will tell a story, but *how* they do it is all that matters and that's what needs to show up in the blurb.
The last time I walked into a bakery, they offered me a free sample. It was so good, I bought a box. and returned several times. Do that :)
"centres around"
"follow X as they"
"Y finds herself in Z"
I also notice some people are putting marketing hype into their blurbs. I think this is a mistake. You're making claims (telling) instead of demonstrating those claims in your writing in the blurb (showing).
When we read a blurb we want evidence of something interesting. That means we need to understand the basic main character and plot (how the character must grapple with stakes), and have a tweak on what's unique.
I find authors are so afraid of "giving away" the story that they resort to tired phrases, marketing hype, and coy references to events.... such that we can't figure out what is happening or why we should care.
We live in a world with unlimited stories already told... you have only seconds to make an impression.
Ideas are not valuable... execution is. Five people can tell me in detail how they will tell a story, but *how* they do it is all that matters and that's what needs to show up in the blurb.
The last time I walked into a bakery, they offered me a free sample. It was so good, I bought a box. and returned several times. Do that :)