throw another bear in the canoe

Flap copy is like writing abstracts, yes? The problem being how to say enough and get people interested without saying too much? I hate doing abstracts!

I didn't see your last evening's post till this morning. And now I have to say, I am infinitely impressed with your ability to actually sit down and finish these things despite the anguish involved.

I, personally, have no completed novels (wretched or otherwise) to my name, but I DO now have a kitchen with large swaths of extreme cleanliness!

(And I posted my review of that other writer's book I was telling you about ... and said book is now filed in my trash can.)

Do you write flap copy with your toes? That's a high degree of difficulty.

Now I want to read "Bogeyesque Leech Mines of the Amazon"... (actually, you could even do away with that first adjective).

It's a title that just screams* action!, adventure!, excitement!, stalwart 1950s-pulp-film-style explorers!, and blondes in not-at-all-suitable-for-jungle-treks clothing!

JD

*like Rene Russo in "Get Shorty"

How many copywriters does it take to change a lightbulb?

A VAST AND TEEMING HORDE, STRETCHING FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!!!

Still the best publishing joke every.

The trick (I found) to writing cover copy is to, um, write it as a parody of the form, and then take it down a bit. When I was editing Classics Illustrated and had to produce anywhere from 4-20 back cover blurbs in a single afternoon, I licensed myself to use as many hackneyed phrases and exclamation marks as possible--on the clear understanding that I would later go through and prune out the stuff that was too over the top. Reading the copy aloud--breathlessly--helps, too.

Courage.

Am I the only one made to giggle by the phrase "flap copy"? There's just a certain.... ring to it.

I always wondered who wrote jacket copy (or flap copy).

Depending on the publishing house, editors, marketing, or writers. More usually editors or marketing, actually. *g*

That's kind of what I thought / expected - which is why I was a little surprised when you said you were doing it for this one.

Which begs the question: do you have only yourself to blame for this particular trial, or was it someone else's idea? :)

First rule of publishing: never volunteer.

Oh, wait, that's the Army. Anyway, it applies. *g*