You've read the cupcake story? It's readable? Huh. See, this is why summaries matter.

My summaries blow goats.

In the alley, while kneeling in something nasty. I hate the things. I can never, never, ever come up with a good one.

As a result, I'll use a line from a play, poem, or song pretty often.

I don't have a problem with summaries per se -- and "this happens and then this happens", though uninspired, is at least reasonably clear -- but any summary that mentions cupcakes as the chief determiner of whether one goes to a conference or not? Only in Hello Kitty fandom, or something.

I've read a lot of stories with poetry or song lyrics as summaries, or introductions. Actually, you know, I once read a whole series of stories where the title of the first was based on a complete mishearing of some song lyrics. The writer had this whole thesis about self-hatred and redemption that was very nice, and had nothing to do with the song she was obsessed with. She discovered her error about story 4, and after that it was more openly and honestly a silly romp.

I've read a lot of stories with poetry or song lyrics as summaries, or introductions.

I do that pretty often, or I use a line from the story that doesn't in any way constitute an actual summary. Just a blurb.

I'm probably not a very good marketer.

I didn't write one...next time.(If there is.)

Honestly, I look for two things in summaries:

1) Did they manage to do something wrong with their prose within the three sentences of the summary?

2) Do I have any interest in reading this? Throw me a bone, here.

Poetry/lyrics can work for the latter if I like them - to the point of getting me to click, anyway.

I hate hate hate them.

If they were not required, I wouldn't write them, I hate them that much.

Part of it is that what I write is hard to write summaries for half the time, or I've gone and decided it would be fun to subvert some badfic tropes, and thus any summary would sound like, well, badfic.

The only summary of mine I like is "Change one thing, and the world goes pear-shaped."

Most of mine are the lame kind - so and so thinks about things, this is what happens to X after Y. The only one I really like is the one that warns about tubby custard, creme rinse, bdsm, and Farrah hair.

I get about half and half--sometimes I love the summaries I come up with, sometimes they're closer to crap. The thing I really have problems with is titles.

Me too...I stole from an established story last time I needed one.