Definition
A blurb is the short description that sells a book: the back-cover copy and the description on Amazon and other stores. (The word is also used for endorsement quotes from other authors.) A fiction blurb usually introduces the protagonist, the inciting problem, the stakes and a question that makes readers want to find out more.
Good blurbs are short, specific and genre-signalling. They avoid summarising the whole plot and end on tension rather than resolution. Nonfiction blurbs focus on the reader's problem and the promise of the book.
Your blurb is also the raw material for video: the first line often becomes a hook, and tools such as xBookvideo's Book DNA can turn a blurb into tropes, hooks and a visual style.
Practical tips
- Lead with a hook line, not background.
- Name the genre signals (tropes, tone) readers look for.
- Keep paragraphs short; it is read on phones.