Writing Weekend Warriors: BCC - The hardest 8-10 sentences!

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Saturday, July 18, 2015

Writing Weekend Warriors: BCC - The hardest 8-10 sentences!

A Dark Curse

Miss Arabella Howland is content to forgo the London marriage mart to assist her father in his research, especially when it comes to his intriguing patient, Louis Radman. But it’s not long before Bella’s curiosity alerts her to the danger of her father’s work . . . and to the fact that Louis is not who or what he seems.

A Bright Promise

After centuries struggling with his vile existence, Louis Radman will soon be free of his affliction, thanks to his very capable physician. Unfortunately, his heart is less secure around the man’s tempting daughter. His yearning to walk in the light once more is complicated by his desire for the delightful Bella, who is as intelligent as she is fearless. But if history has taught him anything, it’s not to tempt fate.

An Unforgiving Past

Still, happiness has a price and Louis is soon reminded that mortality comes with unfortunate limitations. To protect his new bride, he must face the demons from his past who wish to pull him back into the vampiric fold. Yet, if he’s forced to return to his midnight world, he might lose his beloved Bella forever . . .


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What sells your book besides the cover? It’s the back cover copy or BCC. In 8-10 sentences, you condense the heart and soul of 400 to 500 pages to show plot, characters, setting, motivation and conflict. I’ve been doing that a lot lately as the first three books of my vampire romance series Touched by Midnight are getting ready to relaunch. The above is the BCC for the first book MIDNIGHT KISS which may be available as early as this week (squee!!).

After years of suffering some awful overwrought and inaccurate synopses placed by marketing on the backs of my books, I love to write my own BCC (it’s like putting together puzzle pieces and my OCD brain geeks out on that!) and I have an editor in ImaJinn’s fabulous Brenda Chin who’s totally okay with that. Using the three step formula of 1st paragraph Her, 2nd paragraph Him, 3rd paragraph What keeps them apart/Creates the conflict from BelleBooks’ Deb Dixon’s fabulous Goal, Motivation, Conflict (if you don’t have that book in your writing library, you should!) to cut through the chaff to the meaty seeds of the story, I’ll work those sentences around (sometimes for longer than it takes to write an entire chapter!) until they connect (avoiding the purple prose standards from the’90s original BCC of “burning touch,” “eternal lust” or “dark ecstasy” - snort!). With Brenda’s deft touches, we arrived at the above.

How did we do?

JUST IN: MIDNIGHT KISS is now available in e-format at Amazon and Barnes & Noble! The fun thing is this cover was the mock up and isn’t the one that will be permanently featured on the book (it got changed to become more ‘vampiric’!). Could be a collectible edition . . . Sink your teeth in and enjoy!!




Weekend Writing Warriors is weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Your post needs to be live between 12:00 noon on Saturday 07/11/15 and 9:00 AM on Sunday 07/12/15. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.

Visit other Weekend Writing Warriors to see what they’re up to this weekend!

Spread the word, share the love, warriors. Twitter hashtag #8sunday.

20 comments

  1. Hey Nancy. Interesting blurb you have here. So far, I'm not good at those although I'm only working on my second novel. It's nice to see how other authors handle it.

    I have to put on my moderator's hat for just a minute. Thanks for including a trackback link as our rules state, but the dates aren't updated from last week. Please be sure you update that paragraph every week, or leave the dates out. New participants, especially those who've never done a blog hop before, might find it confusing. Thanks so much, and we hope to see you next time!

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  2. Great job with the BCC, Nancy. I've read MK a couple times - okay, maybe 3 times, 4 tops! - and this new BCC entices me to read it again! And I'm off to order Dixon's book for my writing library!

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    1. You'll love it. GMC is a must for getting to the heart of your characters.

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  3. Great job! I hate writing blurbs, which is funny because I actually got paid to do it for a while at a video production company. It's easier with other people's stuff, I guess. You certainly seem to have a handle on it.

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  4. I have always admired your ability to be concise with your blurbs while still including all the essentials. This method of using Debra's GMC as a template is genius! What a great tool for those of us who still struggle with this. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Great job! For me, writing the blurb is almost as hard as writing the book!

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  6. You aren't kidding about the blurb being the toughest part to write, but you did such a fantastic job with this one! Kudos to you on a job well done! :)

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    1. Thanks, Evelyn. I guess it isn't such a thankless job, after all!

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  7. An excellent blurb, really hooks the reader!

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  8. You summarize the story, (or at least it seems to summarize it (having not read the book)) without giving the plot away. Good Job!

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  9. Wonderful blurb! Hooked me. I don't like writing blurbs, but when I do, you're right, it can take longer than writing the first chapter. lol

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    1. Don't even get me started on query letters . . .

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  10. What a wonderful taste of your work, Nancy! Congrats on it being reborn! (Only a slight vampiric pun intended!)

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  11. A nice summary of the story, characters and conflict in one... I may have to find that book now. :-D

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  12. Terrific blurb/intro to your book. As stated above you did a great job without giving it all away. Great job.

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