“So, what’s your book about?” From the moment you tell anyone you’re writing a book, that is the first question they ask. I struggled with that question. I knew what my book was about, what I had trouble with was trying to wedge my saga—three generations of a family, over five decades, with multiple characters, male and female, all integral to a story about racial discrimination, passing, coming of age, sex, love, friendship and lies; that takes place in Virginia, New York, Paris, Florence and Montego Bay—into a succinct description that will pique someone’s interest and, can be delivered in about 15 seconds. I never did learn to do that elevator speech thing well.
Now I have to deal with the ultimate “what is your book about” challenge. In the crowded world of fiction, an author gets just a couple of chances to answer that question for a reader. What can I do to get someone who doesn’t know Donna Drew Sawyer from Adam or Eve, interested enough to consider reading a book by moi?
The first hurdle, getting a prospective reader to notice, then pick up the book in a bookstore or choose it from an online bookseller’s array of literary fiction, is accomplished by the cover. Initially, we all judge a book by its cover. The second hurdle—which is higher—is the marketing blurb, those few words that grab a reader’s attention and compel them to want to read more.
Blurbs are used everywhere; book covers, dust covers, catalogues for online and brick and mortar bookstores, book reviews, items and mentions, publicity pitches, author introductions and more. The blurb, sometimes shortened to a couple of paragraphs, sometimes used in its entirety, is the way you talk about a book in almost every context—it is a key part of that extremely important first impression. If the cover and the blurb do not do sell your book, your book does not sell!
Many of you have already told me how much you love the cover for PROVENANCE, I love it too. I was fortunate to work with a couple of wildly talented designers, Francesco Di Biase and Federica Quadrelli, in Milan, who understood the book’s essence and were able to distill it into a cover that makes you want to pick it up and turn in over. Now the blurb must work its magic.
After input from some wonderful marketing people and my dear beleaguered friends who know the book from the fifty-eleven-dozen times I’ve asked them to read it, we’ve crafted the blurb for PROVENANCE that appears below.
I would love to know if we accomplished the job – would you pick this book up and take it home? Please let me know what you think.
PROVENANCE is an exciting and emotional tale about the redemptive power of love, the healing influence of the arts and the ultimate aspiration—freedom. In an expansive saga that weaves historical fact with fiction across five decades and three generations, PROVENANCE is about an American family determined to escape the barriers of race, class and gender.
By challenging a privileged society designed to make it impossible to achieve anything, PROVENANCE’s flawed and captivating characters succeed by gaining unparalleled access to everything. However, they must ultimately come to terms with who they are—evoking Shakespeare’s caution, to thine own self be true—or pay the price for living a lie.
On his death bed, Hank Whitaker confesses to his wife, Maggie, and 18-year-old son, Lance, that he is a black man—passing for white. Hank’s revelation changes everything for his family. Richmond’s racial integrity laws make Maggie a criminal and, despite his racially ambiguous appearance, Lance must now abide by the brutally restrictive laws that govern the lives of Negroes in the segregated south.
Lance and Maggie, at the insistence of her indomitable mother, Charlotte, flee the provincial south for Paris; hoping to defy racism like many African Americans did in the early 20th century. Seeking solace in the cafés, clubs, salons, galleries as well as the boudoirs of the City of Light, Lance finds purpose within the vibrant community of talented artists and wealthy expatriates who define the art world after World War I. Like his father before him, Lance’s glorious life, based on secrets and lies, eventually begins to unravel, exacting a heavy toll on him and everyone he dares to love.