The hobbit tells a fantastic story of adventure, danger, friendship, and courage, and serves as a prequel to the even more immersive and epic book series, the lord of the rings. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by smaug the. The book remains popular and is recognized as a classic in childrens literature. A blurb is a short promotional piece accompanying a piece of creative work. Other specific plot elements and features in the hobbit that show similarities to beowulf include the title thief. The writing styles of each book are quite different. To write a good blurb, you have to make it short and exciting, yet relevant. Keep in mind at all times the blurb is what sells the book.
Think about your favorite blurbs and what about them draws you in. Compare yourself to other writers or your book to other books. For ebooks, the description is posted on a book s purchasing page, along with the book cover and price. How to write a blurb definition, examples, and more.
Thats why we will be looking at some more good book blurbs in a few more genres a continuation of the examples of good fiction book blurbs part 1. All of the books we made for testing had hard covers, but the book we made with blurb got high marks for its extrasturdy cover. The hobbit is the unforgettable story of bilbo, a peaceloving hobbit, who embarks on a strange and magical adventure. It may be written by the author or publisher or quote praise from others. Remember this is just a starter layout, you can customize your covers, or any area of your book to your liking using the wealth. If you have a lot of blurbs, you can put them on their own pages, usually right at the beginning of the book. Summary plot overview bilbo baggins lives a quiet, peaceful life in his comfortable hole at bag end. How to create a back book cover blurb that sells i just published a guest post which goes into this with some examples. Translated worldwide into more than 60 modern languages, now hobbitus ille is finally published in latin, and will be of interest to all those who are studying the language, whether at. Tolkien had used gnome in his earlier writing to refer to the second kindred of the high elvesthe noldor or deep. In that sense, a good blurb is anything but subjective. Lewis famously called the book a marvellous classicinthe.
How to create an effective book cover and blurb lesson. How to write a book blurb in 4 steps the opening of your blurb has to be incredibly precise and dynamic, says editor rebecca heyman. When your front cover is complete, click on the back cover and edit the text fields to your satisfaction. Book summary bilbo declines, reluctant to leave the safety and comfort of his hobbit hole. Its briefno more than 100150 wordsand creates interest in the story without giving away major spoilers or the ending. On taking up writing it had not once occurred to me that one of the tasks of being a writer might be to come up with those concise, quippy phrases on the covers of books. Excerpts from lewis carrols original manuscript for alice in wonderland. Chapter 18 begins with bilbo awakening after the battle. The hobbit, or there and back again is a childrens fantasy novel by english author j. When you hear about authors being asked to blurb a book, its this endorsement theyve been asked to provide. Bilbo baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home. Bilbos adventure takes him face to face with trolls, goblins, a riddling creature named gollum, elves and of course the dragon.
The hobbit, much like the rest of tolkiens writing. We ordered only the default, standard pages from each service. You know, the ones that readers use to choose the book they want to read next or throw on the pile beside the bed where, among the. Firstly, highlighting your success in the book writing world. Tolkiens childrens adventure story would later become the natural prequel to his masterpiece the lord of the rings and the two works have become some what intertwined.
For a lot of firsttime authors, i think theres an instinct to make sure readers understand everything that happened in the book s universe before the beginning of the actual story. Your blurb or bio is a short, concise, effective introduction and description of yourself. It aims to get the reader interested in buying or reading the book. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of the hobbit. Bilbo lives in a hole because he is a hobbit one of a race of small, plump people about half the size of humans, with furry toes and a great love of good food and drink. A simple outline for writing a killer book blurb ink and. How to get incredible blurbs for your book scribe writing. The blurb is a promotional description, found on the back of the book. All you have to do is provide me with some information and i will write one undeniably catchy blurb. R tolkien this blurb shows a clear blurb with text.
The book blurb s main purpose is to lure readers in and captivate them enough to buy the book. Michael siemsen is the usa today bestselling author of 6 novels, including the dig, a warm place to call home a demons story, and exigency. How to write the perfect blurb examples, formula, opening. I have to force myself to read it the writing style being 80 years old makes me want to fall asleep the story is halfdecent but doesnt entice me to go further. Tolkiens the hobbit quiz with the release of the second film in the hobbit trilogy, test your knowledge of the source material jrr tolkiens book and find out if youre set for treasure or.
Blurbs were originally printed on the back or rear dustjacket of a book, and are now found on web portals and news websites. Examples of good fiction book blurbs writing rights. In this post, we tell you how to write a book blurb in five easy steps. All that the unsuspecting bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a staff. The story of bilbo baggins, a hobbit who likes to stay home and live a quiet life.
The trolls bert, tom and bill who even has a last name, huggins exist alongside bilbo, gandalf, thorin and smaug. Several of these adaptations have received critical recognition of their own, including a video game that won the golden joystick award, a scenario of. He learns the value of adventuring and of course returns home the greater for having gone of this journey, bringing back with him, not only treasure but a magic ring of invisibility. Getting a feel for different types of blurbs can give you inspiration to write yours. Bilbo provides a more moderate example of the effect of greed. Keep in mind at all times the blurb is what sells the book, so.
In the hobbit, young bilbo baggins casually living in his comfortable little hobbit hole is whisked away by the legendary wizard gandalf and a. This book was written in 1937 and even today it is a best seller all over the world. R tolkien that takes place in the fictional world of middle earth, which is the setting of most of the authors works. The hobbit provides examples of or the sources for the following tropes aerith and bob. How to write a catchy backcover blurb that sells 2020. The first authorized adaptation of the hobbit was a stage production by st.
It uses twilight as an example, but dont hold that against me. The hobbit is a timeless classic, which is a tale of bilbo baggins, the wizard gandalf, gollum, and the spectacular world of middleearth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon smaug the magnificent. Blurbs are a brief description of a book typically found on the back of a book or within the book sleeve of a hardcover book. You can also edit the blurb flourish ornaments just like any font, experiment with changing the size and color. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat.
A book blurb also called a backcover blurb or a book description is a short description of the book s main character and conflict, usually between 100 and 200 words, that traditionally is included on the inside cover or on the back of a book. The next day, he is visited by dwarves who believe bilbo can be of use to them in their journey to the lonely mountain to reclaim their ancestral treasure, now in the possession of smaug the dragon. Tolkiens heavy use of irony in the hobbit builds suspense as the characters embark on an epic journey to the lonely mountain to fight smaug and regain their birthright. An introduction to and summary of the novel the hobbit by j. They often use three full stops at their ends an ellipsis to leave the reader asking questions. Tolkien published the hobbit, or there and back again. A blurb is the description of the story found on the back cover of a book. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which his long white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots. Work by convincing readers to take a chance on it, or. The key with fiction is to excite and engage your reader. He made the one ring its power it great, but the ring was taken away from him. Subsequently, the hobbit has been adapted for a variety of media including stage, screen, radio, board games and video games. Creating a book blurb, while still technically writing, is closer to a science than an art. These may be used for an interview, a book jacket, or even an event program in which you are a presenter.
Here, the narrator reveals that as the dwarves tirelessly paw through the endless riches in smaugs lair, bilbo eventually finds himself bored. The lord of the rings would introduce more characters with such names as samwise gamgee, ted sandyman and bill ferny, all from the general area of middleearth around the shire and bree. Tolkiens own children, the hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it. The hobbit, or there and back again is a fantasy novel by english author j. One day his world is shaken up by the arrival of gandalf, a wizard. Blurb distinct from the back book cover blurb is this 12 line endorsement of a book by a celebrity or another author that sits on the book s front cover. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by smaug the magnificent, a large and very dangerous. The hobbit, is one of the worlds most popular classic stories, appealing to adults as much as to the children for whom j. While theres no perfect formula for writing the best blurb for your novel, there are some patterns worth noting.
He lives in northern california with the wife, the kids, the dog, that cat, and he occasionally wears pants. If you want instruction on how to write a professional biography from someone who actually cares. The blurb that appears on the back cover of your book, and on your amazon page, will either. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter. In ebook and selfpublishing, a book blurb is whats used on the main online sales page. It should introduce your main characters, give an insight on conflict, depict genre and arouse interest. Its safe to say that a wellwritten blurb is absolutely essential to your poetry book s overall success and reputation. Your book blurb must be wellwritten to get a readers attention. Make sure you supply me with a general synopsis as well. He can occasionally be swayed by the lust for riches, as anyone might be, but he ultimately has a better sense of perspective, quickly. There and back again2014 this is the order of the hobbit series. Putting blurbs in the book description or the about the book section can add a lot of social proof to the book. Sample text for the hobbit, or, there and back again by. Examples of good fiction book blurbs when it comes to writing book blurbs, looking at genres is one of the best ways that you can figure out how a good blurb should go.