Expectations of the Book Description

I am not a 'judge a book by it's cover' kind of person. Although, a cool cover can catch my eye. I almost always read the description on the sleeve or back of the book. A book description can make or break my decision to read it. Book descriptions are usually written by the author and therefore reflect their style in only a few paragraphs. The book description tells you about the world, the characters and the story. It is a great feat to entice the reader without revealing the secrets of the story within. So I have come up with some standards for the writing of a book description:

#1. Don't be drastically vague. I understand that it might be scary to reveal the secrets of your book and you don't want the reader to make a decision on these few paragraphs, but the truth is that the reader is going to make a decision to read your book, or not, by this piece.

#2. What you write in the book description is a promise that you are making to the reader. If you write a description about thrilling swordfights in the jungle, I will be unhappy if I find that there is only one swordfight in the jungle and the rest of the story is about a girl trying to find a job in the city. The same goes for romance. If your book description doesn't mention any romance, there shouldn't be any. I don't mean that you must reveal the girl or boy of great interest, I just mean that you should mention in some way that there are a few mushy scenes. If romance is a tiny part in your story and not at all important to the plot than it is fine to leave out.

#3. The three things that should almost always be included in your book description are plot, characters, and setting. Here is an example:

Princess Elizabeth Hammond is on the run for the first time in her luxurious life. The people who are after her seem to be looking for something important to the uprising that is causing havoc in her kingdom. They wont stop for anything as they track her through the haunted woods. As Elizabeth deals with the wood dwellers, and some terrifying creatures, she finds that her life is on the line and she must make a decision about where her loyalty lies. If only she didn't have the added worry of her growing relationship with an uprising boy, who harbors terrifying anger at the kingdoms royal family.

That was a short example, but it gives you a good picture of what the story is about. Now, if you opened that book and started reading, only to find that Elizabeth spends most of her time hidden in a cabin talking to her cat, you would feel that I didn't fulfill the promise I made in the description.


 I hope you feel very educated about Book Descriptions. If you decide to veer from my standards for a more "unique" idea, please be cautious and let your description reflect your story.