Why Cover Descriptions Matter
Full disclosure up-front: Susan Helene Gottfried was my editor for The Rock Star in the Mirror. I have read and enjoyed her entire ShapeShifter series. In other words, we both "do" rock fiction.
Susan, along with Jett Ostra, runs a fabulous review blog called The Rock of Pages. Jett does what she calls "coveting" posts, where she talks about a new piece of rock fiction that she's seen, and may be interested in reviewing.
Why do I tell you all of that?
Because a book series about which Jett wrote one of those coveting posts had very vague cover description -- not much plot information, no character names, etc. She literally could not decide whether she wanted to read it.
And the author and friends decided it was time to dogpile.
Susan wrote a lovely rebuttal, which you can read here.
Your book description and its jacket art are the only opportunity you have to pull someone in to see if they want to look inside your book. It's important that the "romance copy" be enticing and the cover professionally done. They are what Walt Disney called "the weenie" -- the thing you offer to get people to take a closer look at your product.
I also want to take this opportunity to remind my fellow authors that it serves no one to respond to a review. It just makes all of us look unprofessional.
Thus endeth my two cents on the matter.
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