PALLAS: Blurbs, ARC copies, and All That Stuff
As I prep my debut novel for release, I have some thoughts
It’s May 1st, almost a whole month since I started my Substack, Mechanical Pulp, the place where I post poems, short stories, and a serialized novel… But nothing yet on the non-fictiony side, what I’m doing and where I’m going. Here’s some updates, behind-the-scenes, etc!
I have a book coming out soon! Pallas! (Would you like to know more?)
The Blurb
As I've stated elsewhere, blurbs are the bane of my existence. Summarizing my book in an enticing way, without revealing too much but without being vague, makes my brain hurt like Mr. Gumby in the Brain Specialist sketch. I fuss over my wording and really wish someone would come by (glasses, moustache, handkerchief) to take out all the bits of it, bash me over the head.
After the cover, the blurb is an incredibly important part of grabbing the reader. They see the cover, if they like it the first thing they do is flip it over to read the back. If the blurb stinks, they’ll assume the rest of the book follows suit and back on the shelf it goes. (Or, they click right on out of your online listing.) At least, that’s my book buying process, so I’m thinking for at least a few of you it’s the same. For some reason my first couple pages don’t give me the same fear—my voice is my voice, like it or don’t—but the back of the book is a marketing tool. They might not even give my first couple pages a chance if the words on the back are no good.
So, as my cover designer and I finalize some design choices and I start prepping the interior for formatting, I keep thinking of the bastard blurb.
But first, some details:
The book: Pallas
The genre: Sci-fi/horror
My elevator pitch for getting beta readers: “It’s like a cerebral The Wicker Man, in space, with body horror.” Few disagreed, there’s a start.
So I’ve narrowed it down to two choices.
Choice A:
Kylan Bence vowed to himself this was his last contract, no more routes through the Belt. After years of mining and hauling freight for Ceres Mining Company, and feeling exploited, he was more than ready to go back home. Assigned a dilapidated, malfunctioning old truck cancels those plans—he’s forced to make an emergency landing on the asteroid Pallas, without knowing if the Company would spring for his rescue. He’s waiting around to die, his life given a price tag.
Pallas is a ghost settlement, with no recorded contact in decades, and an odd gap in the computer database. With not much else to hope for, Kylan sends in a distress signal—when he sees a glimpse of a human on his screen, he has to know the truth for himself.
Inside the dome he finds a lush, vibrant world, and strange people inhabiting it—and they need Kylan to stay. But the threat isn’t what Kylan can see, but what’s hiding in the soil, the air, and under the skin.
Choice B:
Sarra’s life is all diagnostics, maintaining the automation that keeps the settlement on Pallas running. Her tiny universe of text on screens, separate from the rest of the dome. When a light on her console blinks for the first time in years, a signal from outside, she answers it, risking punishment... her curiosity is too great.
Stranded on a lonely asteroid, Kylan Bence is waiting. If the cargo he’s shipping is worth the cost of retrieval, great, if not, he’s left for dead on a busted ship. There’s nothing in the database about the settlement he had landed near, short of a brief note from decades before, but he sends his distress signal anyway—why not, what’s he got to lose—but to his surprise, someone answers, and he needs to know if he’s really alone on that rock.
Inside the dome he finds a lush, green world, beautiful and captivating. Fresh water, real food. The people there are hospitable, so friendly he could stay. Sarra suspects it isn’t all in kindness, and the elders that govern the settlement seem to need Kylan, or a part of him, but with their secrecy no one understands why... and most are too afraid to question. With Sarra’s access to the computer systems, if anyone can get Kylan out, it’s her, and together they uncover those secrets, threats hidden in the soil, the air, and under the skin.
I worry Choice A focuses too much on Kylan’s situation before the start of the book, but then I worry Choice B is not only too long, but structured too much like a romance novel blurb with both main POVs… Which obviously isn’t, uh, reflective of the content. Maybe I’m completely wrong!
There is of course the dreaded Choice C:
Neither, they both suck, start from scratch (again.)
I’d super duper appreciate any and all comments/criticisms, or help deciding between the two. Exactly half of my beta readers liked A and half liked B, so I’m just as torn.
Advanced Reader Copies
Cover and blurb aside, I’m hoping for a late July release (this depends on when the cover/interior is done,) which should give enough time to (hopefully) get the Goodreads listing in order and get a couple reviews. I’ve spent hours and hours researching how to go about this, short of “cold-calling” (cold DM? Cold email?) reviewers directly, which makes me want to puke with anxiety. But since I have no team behind me, I suppose I should get over myself. That said, if you’re reading this and you want a free copy in exchange for an honest review: lisakuznakbooks@proton.me, I can send you a quick and dirty .epub to get going any time!
This also kind of follows, as a suggestion from my cover designer: Author quotes. You know, ask Stephen King (ha! as if) really nice to read my book and he writes something like “I couldn’t put it down!” and I get to slap it on the back, with the blurb. That would be cool, but again, the crippling anxiety. What if I ask another author, they say “sure!” and then they read it and think it sucks? Do they make up a line anyway? Or do they just politely ghost me?
I’d like to put my book on as many ARC sites as possible, but budgetary constraints make this a bit difficult. I’m thinking Book Sirens for sure, maybe one more. Netgalley would be great, but even with some sort of group discount, it’s quite expensive, so that’s out. Then there’s all the paid review sites like what Publisher’s Weekly has, and others, but again, cost-benefit ratio, and would anyone who reads indie really care about what PW says?
With IngramSpark dropping their upload fees, if anyone wanted a physical ARC and was willing to wait for the cover etc to be done, or at least a mock-up just for ARCs, that’s another option too, though I’m not sure how common that is these days for indie releases.
The Reality Is
I’m likely really overthinking a lot of this, but since this is my debut, I suppose that’s normal. Or I’m just neurotic. (I am.)
Indie standalones (I might do a sequel to Pallas but haven’t decided yet) and especially indie debuts almost never make back the money put into them, and I’ve accepted this. But I still want to give my book the best chance I can.
Fun fact: I almost signed this book with a shady (though I didn’t think it was when I first submitted to them) small press. They accepted it, and instantly I started getting some really weird vibes. When it came to discussing the contract, the guy in charge got really belligerent with me over trying to negotiate some points, so I said “ok man, good luck with your press,” pulled my book. I decided to stop querying it altogether and go full punk rock, DIY the bitch, and here we are. It’s so close! I first started writing it in December 2019, right before the start of Big Pando, so I am VERY ready to unleash it!
Other Books in the Works:
If sci-fi isn’t your cup o’ tea, I have a literary fantasy (of the flintlock variety) that’s ready for a professional edit, but again, I’m having to save my pennies, so it likely won’t be coming out ‘til 2024. I’m so eager to talk about this one, but I feel like it’s far too early yet. It is a VERY different beast compared to Pallas, or even Pull Me Under (which you can go ahead and read in the meantime, a new chapter every Saturday!)
I also have another fantasy (medieval wizards and stuff) in the first-draft stage, so as far as a release date, lets say A Long Ways Off. But when it’s ready for beta readers I’ll be announcing it here on my substack ASAP!
I’m aiming for Wednesday to finish up/post The Well Part 2, so stay tuned for that. I have a contemporary flash fiction piece in mind for next week. (I’m trying to post at least one thing between PMU chapters. Everything so far is an experiment, I have no clue what I’m doing, but thanks for coming along for the ride!) Speaking of, while I have you here, I’m going to be rearranging the PMU posts to their own sub-substack (silly word) but I’m told it shouldn’t affect what my current subscribers get in their inboxes. If it does, let me know. Also, hopefully soon, I have some better graphics for everything. Some doodles for PMU instead of the stock, colourful smoke thing going on, maybe a banner image for the main page, a logo, stuff like that.
That’s about it, please comment if you have any opinions on the blurbs! Constructive criticism is always welcome, too—on any of my posts!
Peace!
This book looks cool! I used to be a freelance book blurb writer. It’s a tough medium! My advice would be to open the blurb with what the stakes are. For example:
Kylan Bence is waiting around to die, his life given a price tag too high to be worth a rescue. Inside the ghost settlement of Pallas, Sarra sees a signal from the outside come across her console for the first time in years, does she dare risk banishment or death by responding?
That’s not perfect, but I think readers are more likely to read on or click through if they have an idea of what’s at stake right away.
Okay, before I comment on A or B or anything else, let me just say that you have voiced every thought I've had on publishing. Excuse me while I go cry for a while. I'll finish when I get back.
<French accent> Many moments later...
A, definitely A. It's the perfect lead into the story, gives nothing away, but sets up the protag's situation perfectly, as well as outlines the dangers ahead of him. I loved it. B, as you mentioned, felt as if it were a romance novel. I mean, if it's a romance novel, fine, but you listed it as scifi/horror, so A's your GO in my opinion. Also, have I mentioned how much I love abandoned/seemingly abandoned megastructures? If not, let that question serve. I would very much love to read the ARC. I'm willing to put aside the time for it.
PS If it "sucks", I will politely tell you it wasn't "my thing" -- because truly, in the age of indie authors, I've read novels that I wouldn't [fill in the blank] that receive extreme praise. What does that mean? That there is an audience for EVERYTHING. More to the point though, as has been said before, critique, not criticism. But I'm betting it won't.
PSS Can you tell I like to ramble and read the sound of my own words? T_T