The dread Synopsis, Blurbs, Back Cover Copy, and their friends

First things first. Here's the (tentative and possibly subject to more edits) back cover blurb for Weather!

Julian Lambert has protected those with supernatural abilities from enslavement and death his entire life. But there is more to Julian than even he suspects, and when his own powers surface, he finds himself as much at risk as his charges. Now he’s no more than a useful tool, with nowhere to hide from the hideous fate that awaits him. He’s saved others, but can he save himself?

I hate writing the synopsis for a novel. Hell, I don't even know what the proper pluralization for synopsis is. But I hate writing them. By synopsis, of course, I mean the document in which you are supposed to relate all the major plot points and the resolution of the novel in an engaging and witty way so that whomever you're pitching it to can get a good idea of what happens in your novel without actually reading it. Actually, it's at the point where I'm pretty sure I've never written a synopsis that's made it out of the house. 

Blurbs/Back Cover Copy are easier. They're the little description that goes on the back cover of the book. These can actually be fun. Writing one is as close as I ever get to outlining. (I'm one of those awful people who sits down in front of the computer and just types). The way I get ideas for this varies. Two of my favorite inspirations are trailers and anime opening sequences. 

A blurb is more or less a trailer for your book. You stick all the exciting things in it, add a bit of deception, and release it into the wilds in the hopes that it'll make people want to go see it or at least go, "Well, the special effects seem okay..." 

As for anime opening sequences, I find it helpful to think about what an opening sequence for one of my stories would look like. (I have, many times, burst out giggling upon envisioning my characters in one of those slice-of-life type high school dramas, but that fact is neither here nor there...) It helps me figure out which characters I should focus on 'pitching' to my audience, and lets me find a way to make all of them as heroic and exciting as possible. Since a number of my characters fall on the 'sullen and snarky' side of the line, this is important. 

Also they're shiny and flashy. I like shiny and flashy things way too much. 

*Ahem* In any case, blurbs are important, even if they are hugely annoying to write. And since one of my friends has given me a cold, I am going to go drink massive quantities of hot lemon and honey and hope this post made some sort of sense.