Make It Personal BSB 115

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: Our Once Warm Earth Matthew Rasnake 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 her honeymoon, while enjoying a weekend camping with her new husband and her adoptive father on a northern California mountain, they’re driven from their idyllic getaway by a sudden, deadly storm. An unexpected signal warns of disaster, but the promise of safety propels them across the mountain in a desperate race to survive the end of the world. Her dream is shattered, her family is gone, and she and those who are left survive at the mercy of their would-be protectors. Can Mel hold on to hope and find the strength to free them all or will she, like so many others, give in to 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. Buy Our Once Warm Earth today, and help secure humanity’s future.

Targeted Takeaway:

The start of your story isn’t really the beginning. The opening scenes are establishing shots, setting things up for … the inciting incident! This is an external force operating on the main character, forcing them out of their original place or emotional state and into the action of the narrative. And it’s where your story really begins. That’s why it has to be in your blurb. It creates excitement and gets readers invested in the MC’s journey and struggle. But just like with the opening of your novel, the inciting incident isn’t the first line. Take a moment to establish your character’s initial situation, so that when things change, it’s that much more dramatic. As important as it is to recognize that the inciting incident is an external event acting on the character, it’s equally critical to remember the blurb needs to be about your protagonist, not the story they’re moving through. Stay zoomed in on the MC’s perspective rather than telling the reader what is happening to them. In other words, keep it personal. Potential readers are going to gravitate to your character’s struggle and triumphs, not the things that create that tension. So make that inciting incident personal. If you do, you see your sales “begin” to rise.