An Interview with a Book Blurb Writer

How often do you think about your book’s blurb?

You know the paragraphs on the back of your book (or in your Amazon description) that tells your reader what your book is about.

If you said “not enough,” you’re not the only one. I’m guilty of not giving that hard-working piece of copy its due.

But there’s one person out there to change that. Jessie Cunniffe of Book Blurb Magic is on a mission to change that once and for all.

Not only does she write custom blurbs for authors like yourself, but she also teaches authors to write their own.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with her to ask her about her work and why you should be thinking more about your book’s blurb.

1. Who are you and how do you fit into the indie book space?

Hi, I'm Jessie. I'm a professional book blurb writer and coach. I fit into one of the last stages of the indie publishing sequence of events, just before your cover design. The cover designer is going to ask you for the blurb to put on the back cover, and that's something you need to have prepared and ready to go.

Blurbs are super important to your sales, so you don't want that to be a last-minute, slapdash kind of event. I either help authors to write their own—in audits or through my courses—or they can just hand it all over to me, and I'll write it for them.

2. Why should an author have you on their team?

Blurb writing is a particular skill. It's a weird niche. I fully admit that. Essentially, you (the author) have spent all your time writing a book. You haven't spent all your time thinking about how to sell it, and my job is to think about how we sell it.

I focus on making sure that we have a piece of writing that attracts your ideal readers and connects with them, because we don't want just anyone to pick up your book and read it. We want the people who are going to be die-hard fans—who are going to stay in your audience, give you five-star reviews, and buy every book you ever write. My job is to figure out how to position your book in your market.

You want to be a magnet to your ideal readers so they say “This book really gets me" or "I'm gonna learn something from this book" or "I love these characters. I really connect with them. I cannot wait to read the book!”

You can spend as much money as you like on a beautiful cover and on all the editing and the proofreading—which we know are important—but no one's going to get inside if they can't get past cover and your blurb. They just work so perfectly in tandem.

We always say, “The cover sells the click; the blurb sells the book.” So you really need both. And the blurb is the final hurdle for many readers. I can't say enough how important it is.

3. What’s the one thing you wish indie authors knew about your profession?

What I wish indie authors knew about blurbs is that they’re non-negotiable. I know that sounds really biased coming from me, but it pains me to see the authors sharing their budgets where they say, “Here's what I budgeted for: This much for a cover; this much for a developmental edit; and this much for proofreading.” That's all super important, but the blurb is equally important. That's the main thing I wish authors understood. 

A good one will cost you three hundred dollars. That's so much cheaper than, say, full development edit or the sort of stuff you're spending money on those big packages. And I know that it's not like your budget is gonna stretch for every possible add-on, but I wish that authors were including blurbs in their budget.

4. When should an author think about booking your services and how much should they budget?

The ideal moment in time to get your blurb done is when the whole story is set in stone. Don’t come to me when you’re in developmental edits, because changing the blurb later is a real pain.

I always suggest that we work on the blurb when you're in the proofreading phase—when no characters are going to be killed off, removed or added. Even more minor changes than that—like a minor change in the character's motivation—could be something that shifts how we approach the blurb. 

I've got a price point for every budget. If an author wants to work with me, it's $295 USD for a single custom blurb. However, I also have discounted bundles. And if you want to save a little bit of money and learn a bit more about writing blurbs, my blurb audits are $195 USD. The audit is when you write the blurb and bring it to me. Then, we work together in real time on a Zoom call. I've also got a course if you want to do it yourself, which is $67 USD. And you can use that for every blurb you ever write.

5. When would you recommend an author not book your services?

I’ve never been asked that before. Never? If it's going to put you in a lot of financial pressure, I would be the last person to tell you to sacrifice your last dollar. However, blurbs are important. Your blurb could change everything for your sales, but I also can't make any guarantees because there are just so many different factors at play.

If you're under financial pressure and uncertain, then I recommend grabbing the course. I have a thirty-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. Sometimes people jump into the course to get a feel for my style, what it is that I teach, and how I operate as a blurb writer. 

If you've got zero-zero dollars, I also have a free cheat sheet that you can get here!

6. What’s your favourite part about your job?

The variety! I don't write blurbs for one genre. I'm always adding different genres to the blurbs I've written. I get a lot of romance blurbs across my desk, as well as a lot of fantasy, but I love especially nonfiction. There's a whole plethora of things that people write about! There's so much variety in what I do. I'm never bored.

I also spend my days listening to and reading people's stories. Some days I feel like a little kid. Some of the fantasy stories are so amazing. I'm totally in awe of how creative people are. People tell me stories all day, and I love it!

7. How does someone book you?

The best way to book me is by filling out the form on my website, which you can find here.

You can also email me at jessie@bookblurbmagic.com. The best way is through the website, but sometimes people like to have a chat about which service they should choose, and I'm more than happy to do that.

I know from reading Jessie’s blurbs and watching her rewrite a blurb live, that she’s the real deal. I recommend her whole heartedly.

Click below for her two blurb courses. If you write romance, you’re going to want to check out The Spicy Blurb Playbook.

*Note: These are affiliate links.