You may have heard it called a 'book description,' a 'product description,' a 'blurb,' or 'back cover copy.' There are a lot of names for it, but the point of it is to help readers discover your book!

One of the trickiest things about writing book descriptions is getting out of the 'author' mode and getting into the 'copywriter' mode. You have to stop thinking of the book description as just a synopsis for the book, and start thinking of it in terms of marketing and promotion.

The purpose of a book description is to improve the odds that a reader will purchase your book.

We actually posted two great blog posts on this topic—one for fiction and one for non-fiction—and we think they'll help a lot!

Solve Reader Problems with Better Book Descriptions (for Non-Fiction)
 
Capture Readers With Better Book Descriptions (For Fiction)

These two posts give you a complete breakdown of what it takes to write good back-cover copy (aka 'book descriptions') that will help entice readers to pick up and purchase your book. Even if you're hiring an outside service to write your marketing copy, these posts will help you build an awareness of what makes good copy work.