I’m taking this both ways I originally interpreted it — a blurb for an actual project, and a response in a game like this one.
So I’m going to provide two blurb examples. One is well-known, one is something I wrote about a week ago.
[name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] and the Philosopher’s [name_m]Stone[/name_m]
[name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by a beetle-eyed giant of a man, enrols at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch, and does battle in a deadly duel. The [name_u]Reason[/name_u], [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] is a wizard!
This is the blurb I remember from the first copy I owned of this book. I remember it so well primarily because of that final sentence, and also that list.
I mean, it’s not a triple, I swear that’s, like, the rule we were always taught.
But let’s look at mine. Aimed at a similar age range and probably flopping horribly:
A Rational [name_u]Magic[/name_u]
*When they’re sent to stay with their aunt [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] for the whole summer holidays, [name_f]Lani[/name_f] and [name_f]Anya[/name_f] Ferrin don’t quite know what to think. *
Nothing ever seems to change in Terrenfell, but nothing’s the same anymore.
Between a new aunt and cousin and the strange rumours in the air, things already seem to be unnaturally interesting, but the stories of the old well in the woods are the most fascinating of all.
Though some secrets stay far below the surface for a reason…
[name_m]Can[/name_m] [name_f]Lani[/name_f] and [name_f]Anya[/name_f] solve the mystery of the well, or will they become the first disappearances linked to it?
Quite a bit longer, but there’s a couple of key similarities, I’d say.
One: The main character/s name is introduced quickly.
Two: Plot points. In [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], it’s the duel, [name_m]Hagrid[/name_m], Quidditch, and Hogwarts. In A Rational [name_u]Magic[/name_u], it’s the well, the twins, the mystery, and the possibility of disappearing.
So there’s my points. Don’t tell them everything, don’t tell them whether the characters will win or lose, because that’s just pointless.
Most of my plot points come up in the first half, I would say. In [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], they’re all the way through the book, so it doesn’t just mean you have to not talk about that big event towards the end.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] don’t give the outcome.
Make sure that we know the name of your protagonist/s.
And the title doesn’t need to feature in the blurb. Sometimes it can (such as in what I wrote for ‘The Endless Sea’), but look at [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] again.
While his name is, obviously, mentioned, the [name_m]Stone[/name_m] is not.
In ‘A Rational Magic’, magic isn’t mentioned at all. Neither is anything remotely linked to rationality, but within the story the title will be explained.
And that’s fine. It can be involved in the blurb, it can be ignored in the blurb, but it’s got to be relevant somewhere in the book. For A Rational [name_u]Magic[/name_u], it’s mostly [name_f]Lani[/name_f] and [name_f]Anya[/name_f] themselves who bring the title’s relevance.
[name_f]Lani[/name_f] believes in magic, [name_f]Anya[/name_f] in science, and solving the mystery of the well takes both of them. [name_m]Hence[/name_m], A Rational [name_u]Magic[/name_u].
I was very proud of that one.
