Blurbs

A few years ago I was reading some book blurbs; the text written to entice a potential reader. It can either be a short description of the book, or a note about something else by the same author, such as: "For all those who loved Chocolat ... Vianne is back"

For instance, here is a brilliant short one from James Herbert's book "Fluke"

"The story of a dog who thinks he's a man ... or a man who thinks he's a dog"

This works; it describes the central theme of the book well, and introduces a mystery that might appeal to readers.

Not all are good. One, for an American romance-slash-action thriller, had the following:

"He was fire. She was ice. Together they made steam."

It may work for some audiences, but for me this seemed an absolutely horrible piece of text. It told us nothing about the book, and as a hook it was meaningless. It's fun inventing alternatives, though:

"He was fire. She was ice. Together they made a puddle."

"He was fire. She was ice. She extinguished him."