Hook, Line and Stinker

So I've been steadily procrastinating lately. The dreaded administrative stuff that goes along with publishing. Requests for art work and blurbs and tag lines.

Shoot me now.

I know what my characters look like, but having to describe them down to a "T" is a major pain in the wazzoo. Because artists need details to get it right, and by the time I get to this part of my work, I'm already onto something new. So I have to dig up all those messy points of fact and relay them all over again. Plus, I'm a creative writer, not paint/picture artist. Half the great covers I've had have come from the artists' fertile imaginings, not from me.

Then there's the blurb/tag line sheet. Every publisher has it, though they'll call it something different. Some want you to fill out tables of information, others want more generalized paragraphs. Either way, I drag my feet each and every time I have to write one of these.

Think about it. You might buy a book based on the blurb, so it's very important to get it right. Imagine taking 50,000 words and condensing the gist of those words into 300 words. A short, engaging synopsis to make the reader want to buy the book.

Like pulling out my fingernails one by one. And then the water torture starts--the dreaded tag line.

If 300 words is hard to get to, imagine 25. Writing the one liner is very difficult, at least for me. I want to be witty; I want to make that reader look deeper into my story. From the cover to the tag line to the blurb, excerpt, and--hopefully--to purchase the book.

Yeah, I know, "quit your whining." Hey, it's Tuesday, and though it's nearly noon, I've barely had any coffee. Gimme a break, and pray I get through my tag lines with my sanity intact. Though, my sanity is questionable on the best of days. Toodles.