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Cielle
Feb '16

So you're creating a comic! Awesome. You have the whole thing plotted out, you know exactly what this story is about. Perfect. But how do you write that perfect blurb that enchants readers enough to want to stay? Without giving away important plot points? And without being too vague? How do you summarize your magnum opus into that tiny space? Yikes.

I am by no means an expert, but here are some tidbits I've noted as effective side-bar blurbs.

1.Less is more

Some of the best pitches are only a sentence or two. Of course some stories might need a little more than that to explain the story, but the pitch doesn't need to tell the reader everything there is to know about your comic. What it should do is tell the reader what to expect from your story, namely the who, the goal, and the conflict. You don't need to talk about the themes of your comic either--just tell us what it's about! If your pitch is longer than a paragraph, you risk readers losing interest. Which leads to tip number 2...

2. Leave out the exposition

I'm sure that the bitter war between poltergeist and hobgoblins that happened 200 years prior to the story is really important, but why should readers care about it and how it pertains to your characters if they don't know your characters? Unless I'm specifically searching for a comic about a war between hobgoblins and poltergeist, I'm probably not going to be interested in hearing about the backstory. Generally the "exposition prologue" is frowned upon, and the same rules apply to the pitch. You only have a small blurb to hook a potential reader's interest.

3. Provide an update schedule

Personally, knowing that a comic is on a set schedule (e.g. every thursday, every other sunday, etc) is more likely to get me to subscribe. Why? Because it's heartbreaking to get attached to a story that never updates. Likewise, a comic that only updates only 6 months is hard to follow because usually by the time it updates, I've forgotten everything that happened before. I've seen some creators use their banner as a place to provide the update schedule as well. I say why not do both?

4. Avoid Vagueness

Generally it's better to be more or less specific than most people can be sometimes (please note the sarcasm). If you think about your overall story as divided into three major acts(or four, if you have a four act story structure), the side bar pitch should summarize the first act, or the introduction. It's also better to stick to what actually happens in the story rather than the themes. (Personally, I think the themes of a story should speak for themselves, but that's another topic). It's okay to have a mixture of themes, but be concrete. What would you want to read: "A story about friendship, ambition, and the struggle against the forces of evil.And pirates." or "As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of nakama, is setting off in search of "One Piece", said to be the greatest treasure in the world. (from Baka updates)". On the other hand...

5.Don't give too much away

You don't have to (and probably shouldn't) give away a major plot twist in your blurb. Even if that twist is the inciting incident. If the synopsis of Tokyo Ghoul said[spoilers you've been warned] "Ken Kaneki only wanted a date. Instead he gets turned into a ghoul and suffers mental, emotional, physical, and psychological abuse. He also learns the horrors of having to make coffee for ungrateful hipsters (aka ghouls)." You want to whet the readers appetite and hint at what's to come. To be fair, I rarely see synopses that give too much away. but if the description summarizes everything that happens in the first volume/chapter, I think it can take away from the story.

6. Ignore me

By all means, please disregard everything I said before doing anything that feels wrong for your story. The beauty of being a comic creator is that the world is your oyster! It's your story, you can do what you like ^.^

Do any of you have any useful tips I left out? What do you think makes an effective side-bar blurb/pitch/synopsis/description? What makes you want to keep reading? What turns you away from a story? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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    Feb '16

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joannekwan(ง ˙o˙)ว here to help~
Feb '16

Nice summary! Also if I might add, if your comic has NSFW elements, tell people in the blurb too and quickly mention if it's for gore/violence, sex/nudity, swearing etc.

I personally don't like blurbs that are more than three sentences long. Sure sometimes if it's a brand new story with only a cover page up I'll look there to see more of a synopsis and appreciate something longer, but once you have a few comic pages up, most readers will get the gist of the story and mood hopefully.

jacintawibowo
Feb '16

Yep! Great summary tips. I really like short summaries that take less than three sentences (as @joannekwan said!) to set the stage.
Nothing is a worse turn off for me than someone who takes a paragraph or an essay to explain a story. Going on and on over how awesome it will be, how great the world building is, how intense the character relationships are, etc. Keep it simple!