What the blurb generator does
The marketing blurb generator creates the two pieces of cover copy from your manuscript's chapter synopses and character data: a back-cover blurb (150–200 words) and a one-line tagline (10–15 words). It uses your story's genre, characters, and narrative arc to produce genre-appropriate copy without revealing endings or major twists.
Retailer listing descriptions are a separate job, handled by the Retail Metadata view. It generates a description per retailer — Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo — each tuned to that store's HTML rules and character cap, with a preview that matches the real storefront. Generate your cover copy here; generate your listing copy there.
This is Bookshaper's first content-generation AI feature. Unlike the analysis engine, which examines your prose and provides feedback, the blurb generator creates new text. The key distinction: it generates marketing copy about your book, not your book itself. Your prose is never touched.
The blurb generator requires chapter synopses to understand your story. Run chapter analysis first if your chapters don't have synopses yet.
Generating your first blurbs
Open the Market rail in the sidebar and pick Blurbs, under Storefront. If your manuscript has chapter synopses from a previous analysis run, click Generate Blurbs. You can optionally provide tone guidance to steer the AI toward a specific voice or style.
Generation takes a few seconds. Once complete, two blurb cards appear: back cover and tagline. Each card is immediately editable. You can revise the AI-generated text to match your voice, add details the AI missed, or rewrite sections entirely. Your edits are saved automatically.
- Tone guidance is optional but effective. Examples: 'dark and literary', 'light and humorous', 'tense and fast-paced'. The AI uses this to adjust word choice and sentence structure.
- If you don't like the results, click Regenerate. Each generation produces fresh output. You can regenerate as many times as you want.
- Word counts are displayed on each card so you can check whether the blurb hits the target length for its type.
Checking your blurbs
Whether you use AI-generated blurbs or write your own, each field shows its word count against the recommended range — 150–200 words for the back cover, 10–15 for the tagline — and flags it when the copy runs over or under.
Writing checks run as you type, on every plan and without spending credits. They flag concrete, checkable problems: copy that runs long or short, tired blurb constructions, and weak openers. They never claim a blurb is good — that judgment stays yours.
Tips for better blurbs
Back-cover blurbs work best when they focus on the protagonist's core conflict and what's at stake. Avoid summarizing the plot. Instead, present the central question or dilemma that the reader will want to see resolved. End with a hook that makes the reader want to open the book.
Genre signals help. Phrases like 'For fans of...' let readers self-select, and the generator grounds them in the comp titles you pinned in Comp Titles rather than inventing books. Pin your comps and confirm your trope tags before generating — blurbs work without them, but the copy comes out more generic.
Taglines should be evocative, not descriptive. The best taglines capture the emotional essence of the story in a way that creates curiosity. They work on book jackets, social media, and advertising because they are memorable and intriguing rather than informational.