Back Cover Copywriting & Editing
What is back cover copy?
Back cover copy, also known as book jacket copy, is a tantalizing introductory text that aims to persuade the target audience that this book will knock their socks off. Browsing readers find this text on the back cover of a printed book, its online sales pages, and other spaces where the book is promoted.
Back cover copy may include:
A short synopsis (book description)
Endorsements (blurbs) from celebrated authors, review outlets, and other authorities
A catchy hook, tagline, or pull quote
Comparative titles (books in the same vein)
An author bio
For self-publishing authors, back cover copy is a major marketing tool. Readers do literally judge a book by its cover. Irresistible back cover copy is a gateway to new readers and future fans. An amateurish description, on the other hand, will turn readers away before they’ve even reached page one.
The art of back cover copywriting
There’s an art to crafting compelling back cover copy, which is first and foremost a sales pitch. You have only a few moments of a browsing reader’s attention to persuade them that this book is the shiniest one on the shelf. A stellar pitch captures your book’s essence and flaunts its merits in under two hundred words.
As a book editor, I’ve seen my share of back cover copy that does more to hurt the author’s credibility than sell books. Long-winded description, foretelling a long-winded writer. Synopses that skip over the core narrative conflict, promising a dull read. Synopses that sidestep the most important plot points. Copy that is too sophisticated for the book’s target audience, signalling that the author doesn’t know who they’re writing for. Author bios that underplay the writer’s most impressive accomplishments...
Will your back cover copy make readers drool with anticipation—or cringe? Hiring a publishing professional to edit your back cover copy is a good way to get a sanity check and bolster any weaker areas of your pitch.
Or perhaps you’d rather have a professional book editor take care of crafting solid back cover copy. I write or rewrite custom back cover copy for writers whose books I’ve edited.
Hook your future readers with captivating back cover copy.
Back Cover Copywriting
In this service, your book is distilled into a succinct synopsis that introduces the premise and the core narrative question(s) to your target readership. I’ll also craft an author bio based on your answers to a brief questionnaire. Depending on the nature of your book, I may suggest a tagline to whet readers’ appetite or draw a pull quote from your manuscript that effectively conveys the protagonist’s dilemma. If helpful, I’ll propose comparative titles (similar books) to situate your work in the market.
I’ll submit my draft of the back cover copy for your feedback, then apply your comments to produce a final draft. You’ll then have publish-ready back cover copy on your hands!
Back Cover Copywriting includes:
☑ A concise synopsis designed to entice the reader (max 200 words)
☑ An author bio (1 paragraph)
☑ A tagline, pull quote, and/or two comparative titles (if appropriate)
☑ One round of revisions that incorporates your feedback
Please note: If you’re planning to include endorsements in your back cover copy, you are responsible for sourcing them.
Back Cover Editing
You’ve composed your back cover copy. Go, you! Now, to get your text gleaming and reader-ready, we’ll give it two rounds of polish. First, I’ll provide constructive feedback on your draft to guide your revisions. Then I’ll mark up your freshly revised copy with further edits, confirming whether your revisions are on target and cleaning up mechanical issues. Once you’ve approved my edits, your back cover copy will be ready to publish.
Back Cover Editing includes:
☑ Two rounds of editing of your back cover copy (max 250 words, including a synopsis, hook/tagline, book review extracts, and/or author bio)
☑ Substantive feedback to guide your revisions
☑ Confirmation of whether your revisions have hit the mark, with further recommendations if helpful
☑ Line and copy edits to polish your written expression
Please note: If you’re planning to include endorsements in your back cover copy, you are responsible for sourcing them.
I’ll assess whether your back cover copy puts your best foot forward:
Will this text appeal to a clearly defined target audience?
Have you accurately and concisely captured your book’s essence, including the core conflict, the major players’ goals, and the stakes involved?
Do your synopsis and optional tagline tease the reader and make them want to find out more?
Does your author bio do a stellar job of introducing you to your target audience?
If you have included endorsements, accolades, or comparative titles, are they relevant and persuasive?
I’ll also clean up any typos, convoluted sentences, and other distractions:
Is the information logically organized?
Could any long-winded parts be trimmed down?
Are any areas unclear?
Are there grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors?
Does the text flow smoothly from sentence to sentence?
FAQ
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We’ll make a great team if you write…
🚀 Middle grade fiction — Realistic & imaginary worlds
🌩️ YA fiction — Character-driven with all the big feels
🎇 Picture books — Fiction & nonfiction
🔮 Speculative fiction — Urban fantasy, high fantasy, magical realism, soft sci-fi
❤️🔥 Romance — Contemporary, paranormal, romantasy, LGBTQ+
🕰️ Memoir — Identity, coming of age, relationships, family, nature & environment, travel, health & wellbeing, visual art, dance, music… or hit me with your wackiest topic!
🎴 Graphic novels — Junior, Middle grade, YA
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Please contact me and share a brief description of your WIP, along with an excerpt of the first 5000 words or so (or the full manuscript of a picture book).
To familiarize me with your creative vision and publishing goals, you are welcome to fill out this questionnaire.
Or, if you prefer, we can schedule a free 15-minute tea & chat to get acquainted and discuss your editing needs.
I’ll email you a quote and a free sample edit to help you decide whether we’re a good creative fit.
Once we’ve decided to partner up (hurrah!), I’ll send you a brief agreement. Signature of the agreement plus a 15% deposit guarantees your slot in my calendar. Payments may be sent by e-Transfer (Canada) or PayPal (US & international).
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Yes, absolutely! I need to be intimately familiar with your book’s contents to ensure that they are accurately and persuasively represented in your back cover copy.
Accordingly, Back Cover Copywriting & Editing services are available only for writers whose manuscripts I’ve read for a prior edit (for example, a Manuscript Evaluation, Developmental Editing, or Line and Copy Editing).
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It’s a great idea to try your hand at writing your own back cover copy. This is a valuable marketing exercise that forces you to figure out how you’ll present your book to your target audience across a variety of media: your website, online book retail platforms, social media, newsletters, interviews and author talks, and so on.
That said, if you don’t have a ton of experience marketing your books, or sales are slow, consider hiring a professional to edit or rewrite your back cover copy. If your book description is mediocre, prospective readers will assume that the story itself is mediocre too.
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No. If you land a publishing contract, it will most likely be the editorial and marketing teams (and sometimes the publisher) who collaborate to produce the book jacket copy.
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100% Human Editor
I do not employ LLMs such as ChatGPT to edit manuscripts. I won’t feed any part of your work to an LLM; nor will I use AI to inform my editorial judgment or draft my communications.
100% Human Author
I do not accept submissions of manuscripts that are partly or fully AI-generated. If you didn’t create the storyline and characters, or the prose isn’t entirely your own, we aren’t a good editorial match.
Using a spelling and grammar checker to correct typos is perfectly fine.
“Laura has the gift of encompassing the content of the story, the interests of the readers, and the author’s wishes.”
— Zel Winter, author of Unveiling