Bios, Book Blurbs & Back Cover Copy

The sad truth is, readers really do judge a book by its cover. And although most authors spend a lot of time and resources on their front cover, ensuring they have the perfect title and professional-looking images and design, they often overlook the back cover. This is despite it being just as important, if not more, than the front in selling and positioning their book in the marketplace.

In this two-hour, jam-packed workshop, Bios, Book Blurbs & Back Cover Copy, we’ll focus primarily on back cover copy—the art of writing a concise, targeted book synopsis. If written correctly, your book description (essentially a free ad) can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal in persuading readers to buy your book. A synopsis can also be tweaked and used to pitch editors, agents, booksellers, event coordinators or the media; create social media posts, web content, press releases or metadata for book discoverability; or promote your writing in as few words as possible to be ready for your proverbial “elevator pitch” moment when someone asks, “What’s your book about?”

We’ll also look at other elements of an effective back cover: author bios and book blurbs. Come prepared with a story in mind to apply exercises on these above topics. If you wish, you may also bring a 25-word-or-less story synopsis, one-line story pitch or one-paragraph bio (150-words max) to share and discuss, time permitting.

About Wendy

At 42, Wendy Kitts went from a nine-to-five cubicle-grey existence in accounting, to living in Technicolor as a professional freelance writer—without ever having written anything before. Twenty-five years later, Wendy—who lives in Shédiac—has written over 300 articles for publications such as Readers’ Digest, the LA Times, and the Globe & Mail and has published ten nonfiction children’s books. In 2011, her trade book—Sable Island: The Wandering Sandbar—was nominated for several readers’-choice awards and chosen as Top Five New Brunswick Books by CBC-Radio and Top 100 Gift Books by the Globe & Mail.

And up until her recent retirement, Wendy had achieved something most think impossible: for nearly two decades she supported herself solely with her writing (and writing-adjacent activities such as editing, author presentations and workshops), creating a laptop-lifestyle and fulfilling her dream of living at the beach year-round—including 12 sunny years in California.

We gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship of: