Writing a great blurb

I've had to reject a few books from The Racket due to the fact that the blurbs that came with them were either gibberish, dull or just didn't say what the book was about at all. They just wouldn't tempt people to read the whole post - or subsequently click through and buy the book.

I don't have time to review the books submitted to me, but I will reject submissions if the blurb and the accompanying book cover (in a small thumbnail size picture, please!) aren't of a high enough quality.

I'd suggest that everyone wanting to submit take a look at this blog:

http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

Authors send their query submission letters to an agent who offers advice (often done in a very blunt but effective manner) on how to improve it.

There's a lot of good advice on how to write attractive, exciting blurb and it's well worth checking out :)

Spine Slaughter by Nick Spalding - Comedy horror short

"Please forgive the self-indulgence for the second time in a week, but I just wanted to let you know that Spine Slaughter is now available as an individual download!"

On a warm summer's day the village of Wincing On Thames is attacked by the most unlikely of monsters.

Hoards of deadly hedgehogs are on the loose and out for blood.

Can hockey-stick wielding teenager Jason, Scab the skinny punk, and their terrified friends survive the onslaught of spiky terror?

Warning: This short story contains gore, profanity and gratuitous nudity … There's a children's tea party at the beginning though, so something for everyone, I think.

Download now for the stunning low price of 99 cents (71p UK) at:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords

Or (if you haven’t bought it yet) the story is also included in Life … With No Breaks – Second Edition, for the equally amazing price of $2.99 (£1.96 uk) at:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords

“This may not be the best short story you read today, but it will be the most ridiculous!”

Nick Spalding

Life...With No Breaks - Second Edition by Nick Spalding - Comedy

Life … With No Breaks - Second Edition by Nick Spalding.

Updated & edited to a professional standard.

Now including killer hedgehogs!!

Amazon US Amazon UK Smashwords

About the book:

"I'm Nick Spalding and I thought I'd try to write a book in 24 hours. Turns out that’s impossible, It took me 30. Read about how (and why) I did it … "

Join Nick as he wends his merry way through an odyssey of non-stop writing, covering a variety of subjects in a selection of anecdotes, asides and humorous stories ... dredged up from a brain functioning on caffeine, nicotine and the occasional chocolate biscuit.

After you've read Life...With No Breaks, there's a very good chance you may never look at the world again the same way!

Updated, edited and now including:

Spalding's Glorious Glossary of Great British Terminology
Spine Slaughter - a tale of gruelling hedgehog related terror
_________________________

"Readers will consider this a scream of a book ... and that's before they know its history – that Nick wrote the whole thing in a single sitting." - Mark Coker, CEO Of Smashwords

"A collection of anecdotes, muses, adventures, misadventures and confessions that reads as satisfyingly as a novel. It's paced, it's organised, it's witty, it's wise, it's from the hip … and it's put together with admirable word-economy by a master story-teller with much to say and only a weekend to say it in." - Neil Marr, Editor in Chief, BeWrite Books

"This book is kind of a ’stream-of-consciousness’ writing …I definitely recommend the entertaining writing style." - Red Adept reviews

"What kept me reading past the first couple of pages? It was the voiceover … From out of nowhere, the ghost of Lenny Bruce (as perhaps portrayed by Woody Allen) was speaking to me, and I, captivated, could not break away." - M. David Blake
_________________________

Available at:

Amazon US Amazon UK Smashwords