A book jacket fits around the outside of a book, to give prospective readers a glimpse at the storyline. The content on the book jacket must be short be short, yet informative. The reader needs to be able to pick the book up, scan the book jacket copy and have a good idea of what the book is about. This copy also serves as promotional material, it is meant to engage the reader enough to make her want to purchase a copy of the book.
Instructions
1. Read the book jacket content on a few books of a similar genre to yours, to see what other authors are using to promote their books. This will help you get a few ideas on tailor your content to best interest the reader.
2. Write a summary of your book. Include the main characters and major plot lines that occur in the story. This will help you to determine which characters need to be included on your book jacket, and which main parts of the story should be highlighted.
3. Narrow your summary down to a one-paragraph synopsis of the book. Try to keep it down to approximately 200 words. Don't give too many details away, because you want to intrigue the reader and keep her interested. You might want to start out with a question to draw the reader in, or with a teaser that touches on the main plot line.
4. Write the content in a way that it serves as a subtle sales pitch to the reader. After all, the purpose of the book jacket is to give the reader a glimpse into the book, so that he wants to buy it and read more.
5. Keep the design of the book cover in mind when you're writing the copy. This will determine the amount of room you have for copy. You need to know how much space you have ahead of time, so you can plan accordingly.
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