One of the challenges of promoting a book is figuring out how to descrbe it for various venues. Peachtree was responsible for the following summary for the Library of Congress listing:
As the family gathers at her grandmother’s bed-and-breakfast for a murder mystery weekend, seventeen-year-old Jen confronts her ambivalent feelings about her mother, who disappeared fourteen years earlier, and about the possibility that she might be dead.
I thought about using that for the description for the SCBWI Michigan website. But after looking at some of the other entries, I saw that I could put in just a bit more flavor. Instead of starting from scratch, I went to the flap copy of my novel. Once again, this was generated by Peachtree. Clearly that was too long. But I saw some things that I could use. I won’t type all of that in here since it’s actually quite close to the product description on Amazon. You could read that here if you like, so you can see how I condensed it.
Jen is scheduled to spend the summer helping Grandma Kay run a Victorian bed and breakfast. But Grandma Kay’s plans include a lot more than housekeeping. She intends to solve a real mystery from the past: the disappearance of Jen’s mother. During the build-up to an elaborate, role-playing Murder Mystery Weekend, Jen’s worst suspicions are aroused. Could a member of her own family be responsible?
Kristin-
This sounds like quite the story! I can’t wait to read the rest of it. Clearly you have a publishing company to print and promote your book. If you ever feel you need extra advice on the ins and outs of the marketing world, you should check out my site. It might help you feel more comfortable to understand what your publishing company is doing to promote your book. Just a thought.