What is Jacket Copy? Blurbs that Work

Jacket copy helps you you describe your book so it sounds appealing. This short book description is important to the life of the book. Specifically, jacket copy helps you find the right agent and market the book to publishers. 

Writing your jacket copy early boosts your creative process is wise, even as you’re writing the book. Think of it as a mission statement for the book as much as a marketing tool. 

Here’s a definition of jacket copy, how jacket copy works, examples of jacket copy and how to write your jacket copy.

I suggest writing your jacket copy early. For example, when you’ve finished the first 40-50 pages of the book and perhaps wondering, “What do I do with my book now?”

What is Jacket Copy?

Jacket copy is a brief statement about what the book is, and why it will appeal to readers. It generally appears on the left-hand flap of a hardcover book or the back of a paperback.

When it’s time to find a literary agent for your book, you’ll use these 2-3 paragraphs to describe the book in the query letter you send to prospective agents. Think of it as the elevator pitch for your book. 

Writing jacket copy is the most critical writing you'll do for your book. Depending on how appealing your statement sounds to an agent, she will ask to read the book … or you'll never hear from her again. 

Writer’s Tip: Before choosing an agent for your novel or memoir, read up on literary agent red flags.

Jacket Copy in Publishing

If tan agent decides to represent you, she’ll use your jacket copy to pitch the book to prospective publishers. Within the publishing house, the acquisition editor will use the same phrasing when explaining your book to their boss, or to their marketing team, and so on. These critical sentences follow the book publication cycle.  

Jacket copy, also called flap copy, will also end up on your book's Amazon and Goodreads pages. Your jacket copy will also find its way into any press materials sent to NPR, NYT, and elsewhere. Jacket copy will, in short, determine if the book is a success.

What is Synopsis vs Jacket Copy?

You may also hear the term “synopsis” in publishing. Most agents don't request a synopsis, although some agents do. A synopsis is usually about a page long, and it describes the entire book—beginning, middle, and end.

The first few paragraphs will be the same as your jacket copy, but it will continue from there to detail the rest of what happens. In nonfiction publishing, book proposals feature an “overview” section, which is similar to a synopsis (1-2 page description of the whole book). 

How Does Jacket Copy Work?

Jacket copy can be more important than any writing in the book itself. If it's good, the agent will use your words when pitching the book to publishers.

Sometimes, once a book is under contract, a marketing person will help re-write the jacket copy, but it's extremely unusual these days for a book with a flawed jacket copy to make it that far. 

Writing your jacket copy early helps you stay focused on the book’s plot and meaning when writing by distilling what’s exciting for you about the book.

How To Write Jacket Copy 

In general, your jacket copy should be half a page, double-spaced. When writing jacket copy, you’ll want to describe the first quarter or half of the book. Explaining too much gives away spoilers—and won’t entice readers. 

In this piece from Bookriot, Ethan Nosowsky, Graywolf Press’s editorial director, suggests channeling the book’s tone, mood, or style, “while doing some very concrete things very quickly to catch a potential reader’s interest.” 

Jacket Copy Checklist

Your jacket copy should contain the following aspects:

• Name of protagonist

• Primary conflict

• Convey the book’s tone – funny, thoughtful, mysterious 

• Captures your book’s essence and fun. What makes you excited to read it? 

• What’s cool or unusual about this book compared to others on the market? 

Nosowsky suggests avoiding these “shoals” or jacket problems: 

• Empty adjectives and adverbs (such as “very”) 

• Dead words (for example, “thought to himself,” or happy/sad/mad)

• Words that only appear in the context of catalog or jacket copy (such as “pulse-pounding thriller”)

• Transparent hyperbole (Example: “In this best mystery ever written”)

Suppose I wrote a thriller. I’d look at Jo Nesbo and Lee Child’s descriptions on Goodreads to get a sense of how other books in this space are described. In fantasy and sci-fi, the first paragraph of a jacket copy usually sets up the world of the book, and then the second paragraph turns to the main character. 

Example of Jacket Copy

In general, Goodreads uses a longer version of the jacket copy than Amazon, so I recommend looking at Goodreads to find examples. 

Here’s an example at Amazon for R.O. Kwon’s The Incendiaries. (159 words)

A powerful, darkly glittering novel of violence, love, faith, and loss, as a young woman at an elite American university is drawn into a cult's acts of terrorism. (Note: This first sentence can also be thought of as a logline, or one-sentence summation of the story)

Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall meet in their first month at prestigious Edwards University. Phoebe is a glamorous girl who doesn't tell anyone she blames herself for her mother's recent death. Will is a misfit scholarship boy who transfers to Edwards from Bible college, waiting tables to get by. What he knows for sure is that he loves Phoebe.

Grieving and guilt-ridden, Phoebe is drawn into a secretive cult founded by a charismatic former student with an enigmatic past. When the group commits a violent act in the name of faith, Will finds himself struggling to confront a new version of the fanaticism he's worked so hard to escape. Haunting and intense, The Incendiaries is a fractured love story that explores what can befall those who lose what they love most.

Compare this with the 220-word flap copy at Goodreads for the same book. 

FAQs about Jacket Copy

What is a logline?

A one-sentence description of the book. The logline is used on Publisher’s Marketplace to announce a publishing deal. The book’s jacket or online copy may also use the logline. Here’s an example from Andrew Sean Greer’s latest book, “Less is Lost” 

In the follow-up to the best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Less, the awkward and lovable Arthur Less returns in an unforgettable road trip across America.

What’s the difference between jacket copy and a blurb? 

Writers without experience in publishing often confuse jacket copy with blurbs. Blurbs are the quotes from other authors that go on your book’s jacket or Amazon page. While many websites use blurb and jacket copy interchangeably, “blurb” in publishing lingo only means praise for the book. 

How Long Should Jacket Copy Be?

Keep jacket copy under 220 words or so. You’d be surprised at how long 250 words can be. So, honestly it’s usually under 200 words. However, jacket copy word count also depends on genre. Literary work will have more basic, shorter jacket copy. But genre fiction will be longer. For example, with sci-fi and fantasy jacket copy, the first paragraph is primarily world-building.