January 19, 2011

RTW: Blurbs & betas

Each week, YA Highway hosts Road Trip Wednesday, a blog carnival in which YA Highwayers discuss a topic on their blogs and invite readers to do the same. This week's RTW topic is:

Blurb it! Write a blurb for your favorite book or your own work.
Now, 'blurb' can be taken two ways: a short, smart recommendation debut authors beg established authors for (or in a general sense, a short, smart recommendation one author makes for another author's book), OR the short description that appears on the back/inside flap of a book. 

I'm a lot more comfortable creating the second kind of blurb for my own novel, but I'm also terribly paranoid about publishing information about MAGGIE online (because yes, technically anything a person posts online, except in private forums, is "published"), so I'm going to go with the first definition (the broader one, anyway) and blurb two great beta reads I had the privilege of critiquing last year:



"A tender story of two teens in sleepy Reliance, Texas, as newcomer Poppy and born-and-bred Rey are pushed to the limit by absent parents, family secrets, and the pressures of small-town life. You'll see the sun rising over the dusty highway. You'll hear the warbling country songs on Rey's old truck radio. And you'll want to run away with Poppy and Rey again and again."

EIGHTEEN MONTHS OF OCTAVIA HEATH (screenplay) by Glenna Walsh

Credit
"A snappy, insightful character study of a one-woman recipe for dysfunction: Vee is a helping of tragedy, a dash of hair dye, a smattering of sarcasm, and a full portion of a man who might just teach her how to stop running. If Juno was a damaged, 20-something European, this would be her story."


If you blurbed any book, be it your WIP, a favorite book, or a beta's WIP, what would it be and what would you say?

13 comments:

Marquita Hockaday said...

Oooh, Sarah and Glenna's books sound really good :) Great blurbs, I def. have to get you to read my stuff now if you can make it sound that good!

Unknown said...

These are great. I've never heard of either book, but now I definately want to read them.

Unknown said...

Eee! I love your blurb about RELIANCE! And Glenna's book sounds amazing. I love your line about "If Juno was a damaged, 20-something European"! I get the picture immediately.

Abby Stevens said...

Thanks, Quita! Of course, Sarah and Glenna's works (Glenna's is actually a screenplay) are Just. That. Good! I'm sure yours is, too! I'm itching to read it. :)

Kate, thank you! They are both excellent writers. If you get a chance, check their websites out - their names are linked to them above.

Alicia Gregoire said...

Wow. I wanted to read Sarah's before, but now I really want to.

For Glenna's I love that last line comparing it to Juno. Not that I've seen Juno, but I'd totally get it if I had.

Erinn said...

NICE these are BOTH books I can't wait until they query and get on the shelves.

Tracey Neithercott said...

Those were great! I love this line: If Juno was a damaged, 20-something European, this would be her story.

Glenna said...

That Juno line is SO FREAKING GREAT, thank you SO much Abby! You are freaking wonderful about blurbs, you even make mine sound good, and I'm sure Sarah's is just as amazing as you describe it.

And that book store scene is so perfect!

Rebecca B said...

These books both need to get published ASAP so I can read them. Great job blurbing them!

Jennifer Hoffine said...

Great blurbs. I especially loved, "you'll want to run away with Poppy and Rey again and again."

Angelica R. Jackson said...

Seems like you have a knack for this! Especially when the authors chime in about how well you "got" their books!

KatOwens: Insect Collector said...

Very cool of you to blurb your betas. I wish I'd seen this in the AM, I would have done it too.
Love the idea, and love what you did with it!

Pam Harris said...

Whoa, these were great! I know who I'm bugging for a blurb now. :)

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