Blurbs & Book Covers

Allure of the Depths Blurb and Updated Cover

Hello all,

So I’ve been struggling with the blurb of Allure of the Depths (I changed the title back, as you’ll see later), but I finally wrote something that I think is decent, so I thought I’d share it alongside the updated cover as well. I hope you don’t mind two posts in a row about the same WIP, but this should be the last thing I post to this space about Allure of the Depths for a while, so it should be fine.

I’ll start with the updated cover. Here it is:

I tried to take on all of your advice. Like I already mentioned, I got rid of the ‘The’ in the title like Sofia suggested. I tried to follow Maya’s advice and make it more mermaidy by adding a silhouette of a mermaid, but I don’t know if it’s too subtle. It’s supposed to look like you can’t see her well in the water, but it just looks like she was added on above the image. However, I don’t mind the effect too much. I also added the box as it was looking a little plain, but this was earlier in the design (before I added the mermaid).

Now, I’d like to give you the blurb. It’s not perfect by any means, but I think it’s good enough for now. It’s definitely on the longer side (218 words), but I’m not sure what, if anything, should be cut.

For as long as he can remember, Azul Lanzo has felt the ocean calling for him. Raised in Navarón, a port city once famed for siren hunting, he always tried to conceal and repress his yearning. But, when he finds a siren washed up on the coast, his curiosity reawakens and he’s drawn in deeper than he’d ever imagined.

Nerida Escarra never dreamt of venturing far from the underwater city of Alintera, both because of the monsters below and the monstrous humans above. Raised on stories of a horrific war, she always feared the brutality of the people from the surface. But, when a human rescues her from a storm, she begins to doubt everything she’s heard and an inquisitive defiance sparks within her.

As the storms battering the coast of Navarón and the waters surrounding Alintera worsen, beasts lurking in the depths and memories from the past arise to devastate human and siren alike. After Nerida is forced to bargain with a sea-witch to save his life, Azul becomes something other than human- another siren. Alongside Nerida, he uses his newfound powers to investigate the mysteries behind the dark legion. How did the first war begin? Why is an ancient guild hunting them? Can they quell the rising tensions before they erupt into a newer, bloodier war?

While I really like the first two paragraphs, I’m not so sure about the last one. I feel like the way I worded Azul becoming a siren is really off. As well as this, he doesn’t actually become a siren until Chapter 6, and doesn’t go underwater until Chapter 8 (and originally it took even longer), so I’m worried I might be mentioning something that happens too far into the story. However, since it’s such a vital part of the plot, I feel like I have to mention it.

(Yes, I did change the setting to Spain’t solely so I could call Azul, Azul. I know I said his name was Adair before, but I didn’t like the name, and I’ve actually been struggling to come up with a name for him. However, I think Azul is nice and just about goes with the ‘water’ theme, so hopefully I won’t be back to changing his name on a daily basis.)

So that’s everything. As always, any feedback and criticism for the cover, the blurb, or even Azul’s name is accepted and greatly appreciated. I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the topics.

Thanks in advance and stay inspired!