More than Writers

I have a mentor for my latest WiP – which is a novelty for me.  I sent him my manuscript so far and just before our first meeting he asked me to send him a short summary of my book, the sort of thing that might appear on a back cover, before we spoke. But a good blurb takes a long time to write, doesn’t it?  Condensing a book, even a short one, into a really concise paragraph or two is an art form in itself.  I did send him something – but I hope it never goes on the back cover of the book because it is extremely dull. So what, usually, is the purpose of the text on the back of a book? If the title is the first thing a potential reader sees, the blurb is often a close second.  It follows that it needs to be unique, interesting, attention grabbing and at the same time truly reflect the nature of the book. But on the other hand, it has to appeal to the right audience for the subject matter. So if I were writing a populist book on quantum physics (which I am n...