A description has one job: turn a browsing reader into a buyer before they scroll. Most fail in the first line, because they summarise the book instead of promising an experience. The hook is not what happens — it is why the reader cannot put it down.
What you receive
- A hook paragraph of two or three sentences that states the situation and the impossible choice.
- Stakes and escalation without spoilers: what the character wants, what it costs, what happens if they fail.
- A closing promise that names the emotional payoff — the reason someone picks this book tonight.
- Formatting for the store: bold lead-ins and short paragraphs for Amazon, plain text for Kobo and Apple, HTML-ready for your site.
- A short version for ads, newsletters and social posts, plus a one-line logline for metadata.
How it is written
- Read the book. Not the outline — the manuscript, or the full sample if the draft is long. Voice matters more than plot here.
- Study the shelf. The descriptions your likely buyer is reading right now, and which of them get the click.
- Draft two routes: one driven by situation, one by character, because the stronger route differs by genre.
- Cut. Every sentence that could appear in another book’s blurb comes out. Two rounds, then final formatting.
Why length is not the goal
Amazon shows roughly the first three lines before “read more”, which means the opening carries almost all the weight. A 600-word description that starts slowly converts worse than a 180-word one that opens with tension. We write for the fold first, then expand for the reader who did click, so the description works at both depths rather than assuming everyone reads to the end.
Fiction and non-fiction are different jobs
Fiction sells feeling and consequence: voice, stakes, the promise of an emotional ride. Non-fiction sells a result and a reason to trust the author — the problem named precisely, the method explained, the credential earned in one sentence. Both are written from research and both avoid the two killers: a list of chapters pretending to be a description, and a blurb that gives away the ending to prove it is a real book.
Testing before you publish it
The final draft is checked against three questions. Does the first line work with no context at all? Does the third sentence make a promise a reader can repeat out loud? And does it read like the book — same tense, same register, same intimacy? We also test it in place: on the listing, at phone width, beside the cover. A description that reads beautifully in a document and collapses into grey on a phone is not finished, and it is the version most readers will actually see.
Pricing
| Tier | Scope | Price | Was | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 description | $20 | $20 | |
| Professional | 3 descriptions | $50 | $55 | |
| Bulk / Authority | 5 descriptions | $80 | $80 |
Frequent questions
Do you need the whole manuscript?
The full text gives the best result, but three sample chapters plus a synopsis is usually enough for fiction.
Can you match my existing series voice?
Yes. Send the earlier descriptions and the new one will follow the same rhythm and structure.
Is a rewrite of an existing blurb possible?
That is the most common brief. We diagnose why the current one stalls, then rewrite rather than patch.
Commission a description — send the manuscript or sample and the genre.