Today on the show, Best Page Forward Editor-in-Chief and special guest Robert Scanlon explore the intricacies of great blurb writing!   To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Old Debts by T.L. Riffey Detective John Hanlan hates these kind of cases. 'Normal' murders were bad enough but add the uncanny and he really disliked them. Called to a peculiar murder scene, he immediately knows there's more than the usual insanity involved and deduces that the killer is after the Ruv's Blood Book, their grimoire, and has no problem killing to get it. After more bodies drop, Hanlan fears he will always be one step behind and others will pay for his failure to catch this cunningly mad killer. Will he be able to stop this Janus-faced scourge or will the world literally become hell on earth? If you love contemporary murder mysteries with ties to the supernatural you'll enjoy this different and unique take on werewolves. Buy this preternatural read and find out if this killer forces the Ruv to come out of hiding to save humanity.

Blurbs Sell Books

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T oday on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Effigest by Amy Campbell What use is magic if it can’t protect the ones you love? Outlaw mage Jack Dewitt already failed his wife and his town, and he’ll be damned if he’s going to lose his daughter. Spurred by guilt, he seeks the one person who might know where she went… Politician Malcolm Wells had everything, but he hadn’t counted on falling for Blaise Hawthorne, a young mage imprisoned as a war criminal. But Blaise is running out of time, and there’s no one left for Malcolm to turn to—except an outlaw with a grudge. When Jack storms into town demanding answers, the men form an uneasy alliance. Jack and Malcolm plan a bold gambit, and it might be crazy enough to work—that is, until the nightmares of their dark pasts threaten all they care about.  A gritty yet uplifting fantasy set in an Old West-inspired atmosphere featuring found family, unbreakable bonds, and men and women who are unapologetically true to themselves. 

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Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: The Holler Thief by Jim Heskett These woods hide a body. Can a rookie gumshoe solve the murder before he ends up six feet under? Harry Boukadakis is a little too old to start from scratch. The retired hacker launched his private eye business in the Ozarks to the sound of crickets. But a neighbor’s broken window and a box of stolen cigars bring a jingle to his doorbell, and his first real case. While hunting down clues with bodyguard Serena Rojas in tow, Harry hits a snag when his prime suspect turns up dead. And when pistol-packing goons try to scare him away, Harry grits his teeth and rushes headfirst into hill country to find answers. Will this self-made sleuth catch a killer or face a hail of bullets? The Holler Thief is a thrilling and funny private eye mystery. If you like small-town suspense, high-tech toys, and more twists than you can shake a stick at, you’ll love Jim Heskett’s jaw-dropping tome. Buy The Holler Thief to stop a crook today!

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Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: American Girls by Cecily Wolfe Love, loyalty, lies...twin sisterhood has a price. How long could you keep a life-changing secret from your twin? Victoria is the adventurous twin - fearless, friendly, and popular - so why is bookish and agreeable Thora suddenly distant, keeping secrets from her sister for the first time in their lives? Written by two sisters, incorporating real childhood and adolescent memories with fictional details, American Girls looks at the best and worst of growing up girls in the 1980s Midwest and the devastating power secrets can wield over the closest of relationships.

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Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb One: Time Blink by MJ Mumford Syd Brixton doesn’t want to know what happened to her missing twin…unless a dead man can change her mind. When Syd Brixton was eleven years old, her identical twin Isla vanished from a park in broad daylight and was never found, splintering her family apart, leaving Syd permanently scarred by guilt. Fast forward twenty years. Syd has a comfortable home, a satisfying job at The Merryport pub, and a stable, long-term relationship with Coop, a handsome firefighter who wants nothing more than to start a family. Then it all comes crashing down. On a blustery night outside the pub, Syd's favorite customer, Morley Scott, falls victim to a horrific accident. Moments before he dies, he gives Syd an extraordinary gift: the power to travel back in time. Back to when he was alive. Back to the day Isla vanished. Will Morley be able to convince Syd to uncover the truth about her sister's disappearance? Or will Syd avoid that painful and dangerous truth at all costs to focus on saving Morley's life instead? If she makes the wrong choice, she could lose everything...her home, her family. Her life. All in the blink of an eye. Blurb Two: Our Once Warm Earth by Matthew Rasnake A deadly storm. A beacon of hope. One peaceful night on the mountain may be humanity's last...   Restless Army-brat Mel wants nothing more than to settle down to a quiet suburban life. A week after their honeymoon, Mel and her new husband are camping on a northern California mountain with her adoptive father when a deadly storm rises over the mountain. A government signal promises protection from the growing global catastrophe that may yet bring the world to its end. Mel must choose whether to stay put and die together or to drag her family through the storm and across the mountain in search of safety.   With her dream shattered and her family torn apart, Mel lands with other broken, weary survivors under the Army's familiar heel. Can she hold on to hope and find the strength to inspire and free them all, or will she finally give into the darkness and let the Earth swallow her up?   Our Once Warm Earth is the first novella from a near-future sci-fi post-apocalypse series. If you like realistic settings; believable, relatable characters; a dash of science-futurism; and a rich vein of hopeful promise, you'll love this compelling story of one woman's fight to preserve her family and humanity itself.

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Back at our regular time, BPF Lead Trainer John Phythyon and the Blurb Whisperer Abigail Dunard get into the nitty-gritty book descriptions! To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Shattered Loyalties by Ellen Martin Revenge may be sweet, but is it worth betrayal, murder, and Shattered Loyalties?   Presidential hopeful Dylan Randle the III is no angel. Journalist Penelope "Pepper Mills" tried to reveal his darkside, but like always he and his reputation slither through the cracks unscathed. Pepper, who once interviewed global heads of state, lost everything and was condemned to writing obituaries in New Orleans.    Four years later the ostracized journalist convinces her editor to give her a second chance to redeem herself as a serious reporter. Just as she was getting her life and career back on track, Dylan, now a Presidential candidate, makes a campaign stop in New Orleans.  At the end of the New Orleans campaign rally and the crowd dispersing, Pepper will unexpectedly witness Dylan physically intimidate his wife. The inner demons she has carefully kept in check for so long reawaken with a vengeance. Unable and unwilling to control her compulsion to destroy Dylan's dreams, this tenacious journalist becomes even more determined to unmask him for the degenerate he actually is.  With the help of a cast of characters, "Pepper" will doggedly unravel Dylan's twisted past, but not without triggering a tsunami of life altering consequences. 

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Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and special guest BPF Writer-editor Robert Scanlon tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Breaker by Amy Campbell Break or be broken. Blaise Hawthorne fears all he’ll ever be is an unwanted outcast, stuck living at home with his parents for the rest of his days. Born a Breaker, his unbridled magic wreaks havoc with a touch. When enemy soldiers storm his town hunting for spellcasters, he escapes and flees the only life he’s ever known. Chance encounters with a pegasus and a surly gunslinger set Blaise on the path to a new life where he’s accepted for who he is. But even an outlaw mage can’t outrun the past, and his returns with a vengeance. When his chosen family is threatened, can Blaise find the grit to harness his volatile magic into a saving grace, or will his most dangerous challenge be his last? This gritty, uplifting fantasy is the first book in the Tales of the Outlaw Mages series, set in an Old West-inspired world. If you enjoy found family, LGBTQ+ representation, baked goods, and a whole lot of heart then look no further. Break away from the beaten fantasy path with Breaker today.  

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Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and former cohost Jim Heskett tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Good Vibrations by Patrick J. O'Connor A human. An alien. A one-afternoon stand and a fertilized egg. What could possibly go right? Greg and NaDii are going to find out. They're about to become a hybrid family, it turns out. In book one of this series, during the life of their first child, Robby ( or Bobby) Firestone, the two parents discover their children have a hybrid vigor that makes them far more than the sum of their parts. When his unexpected, half-human genius is revealed, Bobby galvanizes the Terran and HaChii races both ways. The admirers, and the ones who want him dead. Can salvation from the future save Bobby in the present? Can Bobby's sister keep a low enough profile to avoid the people—dangerous ones—who stalk her brother? Why bother? She's way more dangerous than they are! Targeted Takeaway: A good blurb is all about simplicity. It doesn’t matter if you have written a fantasy epic with ten major characters all working to save the world from evil, a layered and deeply complex literary novel about the triumph of the human spirit, or a clever murder mystery with a ton of twists and a criminal mastermind slipperier than Professor Moriarty. To get the sale, the book description has to boil things down to their most easily digestible state. To do this, you need to follow one character. No matter how important the others are to your narrative, your blurb needs to zero in on just one. When readers are skimming through Amazon listings, their brains are not in Absorb Complicated Ideas mode. They’re glancing quickly, trying to determine if what they’re looking at sounds like it’s worth gambling their money and time on. And in that mindset, they aren’t interested in lots of detail or remembering the names of everyone important to the story. So, pick your “most” main character and focus on them. Follow their emotional journey through the early part of the novel. Make readers care about them, and they’ll buy. And if you’re lucky, they’ll choose to follow you … through every book you write.

Whom to Follow BSB 125

Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: The Veil by Benjamin Mahoney She's never been really crazy about him, though she found his persistence charming. Will her feelings change when a hit accident leaves him in a coma? Lisa is a visionary. Despite her family past riddled with misfortune, Lisa is certain that a better world is possible, and she works tirelessly to improve the lives of others. She is an accomplished fund raiser, and has established a foundation dedicated to helping families cope with disabilities. Inspired by the potential of architectural solutions, Lisa strives to become a professional architect. She dreams of one day building and running resorts that cater to these special needs family. All of these dreams come to a crashing halt when the doctor discovers a tumor in her brain. Matthew, a man of some means, sees the fire in Lisa's eyes, and he is smitten be her charm and her passion for the cause. Matthew pledges an undisclosed sum of wealth to Lisa's foundation.  When a hit-and-run accident leaves Matthew in a coma, Lisa find that he has left her his entire estate - a substantial fortune. However, Matthew's mother, Maura, is alarmed. Maura files for an injunction to prevent Lisa from seeing her son, citing Lisa as a danger to comatose Mattew because of her vested interest in his fortune.  Lisa decides to sign a statutory declaration waiving all her rights to the fortune that Matthew intended to leave her. Will that be enough to convince Maura of Lisa's true love for her son? The Veil is a tale of sweet romance in the modern world, featuring fascinating characters and confounding plot twists. If you like raw emotions, engaging romance, and tales of the triumph of the human spirit, you'll love Benjamin Mahoney's powerful novel.  

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We have a great show in store for you this week! Please be sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcast and answer the Question of the Week in the comment section. The winner this week is Erik Marshall. Top Tips of the week include how to master your author bio, who is helping new authors get started from zero, and how to utilize free bonus content. The 5 News stories that matter most to indies this week include why publishers are getting into the subscription game, what subscriptions Audible is rolling out in the UK, how to use the right keywords on Amazon, how to brighten your book pages on KDP and how to find your book’s comps and sell more. Question of the Week: Have you created a list of comp authors for your books? If so, who are they? If not, what’s the first step you’ll take toward building that?

Episode 383 - Subscription Surge, Author Bios, and Keyword Connections

Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Liberty 2041 by Carolyn Feder Gold A fighter, a force of nature seems to describe her best, but in reality, Jesica is anxious, insecure, and self-preoccupied. Her disguise, an inflated ego, is her worst enemy, except, of course, for the nefarious World Chancellor. Will she dare show her vulnerability to get rid of him, saving the world from a morass of toxicity or will she cave in and disappear into anonymity? Targeted Takeaway: Longtime listeners know we emphasize character development over plot. Readers identify with characters, not the stories surrounding them, and therefore a blurb needs to focus on that protagonist’s emotional arc through the early part of the novel. This helps readers identify with their problems and root for them to conquer them. However, we do need to understand the world in which the person exists. For an emotional conflict to resonate, we must know why it matters to the character. In other words, we need stakes. Something has to be at risk for the MC, or your deep character study won’t matter. The protag simply exists in a white room – blank, featureless, isolated. We need to get them out of the White Room and into the world. While we will always tell you the plot doesn’t matter, you have to give us enough of it that we understand the stakes for your protagonist. If readers see what your MC stands to lose, they’ll want to buy to find out what happens. And that makes you the winner.  

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Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Of Seekers and Shepherds: Children of the Younger God, Book One by G.H Duval For more than four centuries, the realm of Avelare has enjoyed peace. The nations of Farkoast, Kirin, and Senechal have learned, by necessity, to settle their disputes through non-violent means as the world’s super power—the nation of Coerdom—forbids war in the name of their pacifist younger god, Hirute. Siare au L’espri is Hirute’s chosen Spirit Shepherd. A telepath and oracle, she is half of the pair known as the First Stewards. Together with her husband—a creature of primal power known as the Formynder who exists solely to serve and protect Siare—they govern the nation of Coerdom. With the threat of Coerdom’s Shepherds at her back, Siare has enforced Hirute’s centuries’ long prohibition on warfare. Serving decades longer than expected, Siare now questions the edicts to which she has been sworn as she grows weary of containing the self-destructive tendencies of the humanity she has worked so long to preserve. At the sunset of her reign with no successor in sight, her Shepherds are seceding and the Great Houses, once firmly under her control, grow insubordinate. Siare’s successor must soon be found if humanity’s fragile peace is to hold, for she finds herself increasingly willing to leave humanity to fend for itself. Spring au Terre has the questionable luck to come of age at this perilous time. At 16—the age of majority—the time has come for Spring to make decisions she barely understands but will be forced to make. Should she heed her mother and marry her aristocratic suitor, embarking on a life of privilege but with little room for her Earth magic? Or should she heed her Master and enlist in service to the First Stewards—honing her already considerable magic and serving as a Shepherd of Coerdom, but leaving behind her younger sister, Mina, to whom she is deeply attached and whose long illness requires Spring’s healing touch? Both options leave Spring wanting, and she yearns to create a new path for herself that Coerdom has never seen. As all three women struggle with a series of revelations that thrust them into new lives—ones they never could have imagined—they will find themselves at the very heart of a global struggle. Together, they will have to decide between the safety of the known and the very remaking of their world. Targeted Takeaway: Readers love happy endings. Ironically, though, they hate happy middles. They want to have some conflict in their novels. And by “some conflict”, we mean, “LOTS of conflict.” So to make sure readers know they will be getting what they want, you’ve got to have conflict in your blurb. We need to see that MC wrestling with something that could keep them from getting what they want. BUT, while a blurb needs to feature conflict, it can’t have a ton of conflicts. Remember that the human mind can only handle two or three new ideas at once. So the more problems you throw at the protagonist, the harder it will be for the reader to keep track of what’s happening.  And if they get confused they’re going to say, “No.” So stuff your blurb full of conflict, but make sure you there’s only one or two of them in total. After all, we don’t want readers feeling conflicted about whether or not they’ll enjoy the book!

One Conflict to Rule Them All! BSB 122

Millie by M. Ross Potter Being abducted by aliens wasn't part of her plan… falling in love, either. She cannot trust any man again, least of all the tall, strong and mysterious alien warrior with whom she shares a cell or the burning and unexpected desire that awakens within her. Being kidnapped by an alien race was not in Millie Hoving's plans, nor in those of her friends when they went to Las Vegas for a short vacation. But when they woke up in a cell inside an alien spaceship, they began looking for a way to escape and return to Earth ... If only things were that easy. Bur'han doesn't believe in soul mates . When the commander of his squad orders him to infiltrate a ship full of slaves and rescue the destined couple of the crown prince of the planet Zhelora, he believes it is just a great waste of time. Soulmates do not exist, they are just stories that grandmothers tell their grandchildren to distract them from the war against the Anhamenkthys. But if that little, defenseless, curvy human who awakens every protective instinct she possesses turns out to be the lifemate of her future king, Bur'han does not intend to hand her over. You will make it yours regardless of the consequences. Targeted Takeaway:   Ad copywriters are rebels. They may not have tons of piercings, toss tea in Boston Harbor, or fly X-wings. But they are bomb-throwing radicals intent on overthrowing tyranny. And their target is the rules of English grammar. Chafing under the oppression of restrictive rules thunk up by boring dudes centuries before they were born, the copywriter fights for linguistic freedom. But these literary psychopaths are not rebels without a cause. Oh, no. They have a worthy aim in mind: Sell more books. They use fragments and begin sentences with conjunctions – anything that makes for dynamic, punchy copy that gets a click on that buy button. So join the revolution, my friends! Embrace your inner rule-breaker to bring energy, agency, and most importantly, conversion to your blurbs!

Blow it up! BSB 121

Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Mortal Encounter by Luna Breid A couple holds their human attacker by the neck; a predator once, now a tasty prey. From the street to a plate, is it hunger or lethal justice? Clara and Thomas long a tasty piece of meat. When a human stabs Clara on their way home, they can’t believe their luck. Now they need to take him home for a well-deserved dinner without raising suspicions from the passersby. Otherwise, they risk the peace treaty between species, endangering their children and their kin. How can they take their unexpected prey breaking no rules? This is the first book of the Numbered Stories series and can be read on its own. Click on Look Inside or download the sample to see if you would enjoy this book. Caution: This book is not recommended for young readers. Targeted Takeaway:   In the short-attention-span world of the Twenty-first Century, you only have a precious few seconds to capture a reader’s interest. So you need to grab them right away. Both your hook and your opening sentence need to be brief. At Best Page Forward, we keep our hooks to a mere 150 characters or less. That way, they stay punchy and grabby, and they can be used as Amazon Ad copy. Our opening lines are even shorter. We restrict them to six to ten words and don’t allow any plot. Emotion only! This way, they land with the force of a devastating right hook, and that gets a reader’s attention. When you’re crafting your blurbs, keep that first sentence super-short. Open a short, impactful sentence of just 6-10 words that lasers in on the protag’s initial emotional state. Hit your reader hard to get their attention, and then you can give them more detail. That’s a surefire way to deliver a sales knockout.

For Starters, Keep it Short BSB 120

Today on the show, BPF trainer and writer John Phythyon and copywriting guru Abigail Dunard tackle an author-submitted blurb to dissect it and understand how to write killer sales copy. To watch video of this episode, view it on Facebook at Best Page Forward. Here are this episode’s read-along selections: Blurb: Kate the Kitty Goes Potty by Kristine Hokstad-Myzyri Is potty training going slow? You are not alone. Make potty training fun! Includes a free potty chart, coloring pages, and worksheets. Kate loves to play outside. But today, playtime is at stake when strange noises in her tummy disturb her. Kate worries when her belly growls like a bear. What is making the sounds? Will she reach the potty in time and complete all the steps, or will she miss playtime? Story-driven step-by-step guide to potty training Rhyming prompts to make learning fun Written by a child care professional Beautifully illustrated A happy, potty-trained toddler in just one easy step. That step is ‘Add to Cart’. Targeted Takeaway: Have you ever solved a problem? You know, one of those big problems? The kind that vexes you, that seems like a giant mountain you could never climb? I’m certain you have. Every one of us has experienced that sense of cutting the Gordian Knot. And it’s a powerful, satisfying feeling. Accomplishment makes us feel alive, strong, potent. When we read, we want that same sensation. In literature, we call this agency. Your MC needs to be able to act on the universe, shape it, master it. They need to be in control of their own destiny. And you have to show this in your book description. Your protagonist should always be the subject of the sentence. To have agency, the protag must perform the action, not have it forced on them. Make them the master of their destiny. Everyone wants agency – in their lives and in their literary heroes. Make sure your protagonist has it and that it shows up in the blurb. Readers will thank you with sales.

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A podcast for authors who want to improve their copywriting skills and create better book descriptions. Hosted by author Jim Heskett and copywriting expert Abigail Dunard.

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Blurbs Sell Books

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