In an article by Laura Miller over at Salon magazine, she discusses the pitfalls of book blurbs. I’ve created a few of these, and sometimes it is difficult to come up with an honest one. Here is what Laura Miller thinks:
From back-scratching to overpraise, why author endorsements are so bad — and so unreliable
Here is an excerpt about book blurbs:
The conventions and excesses of blurbology do invite mockery. (The term “blurb” is sometimes mistakenly used for the publisher-generated description printed on a book’s dust jacket — that’s actually the flap copy. “Blurb” really only applies to bylined endorsements by other authors or cultural figures.) Like anything that people would rather not do, blurb-writing usually isn’t done very well. So why is it done at all? Because you, dear reading public, persist in giving credence to it. Please stop.
For those unfamiliar with the process, here’s how it works. Once a reasonably finished draft of a manuscript has been completed, the author, at his publisher’s insistence, begins the grueling and humiliating process of begging blurbs from better-known writers. The aim is to score praise from established authors whose work has a similar appeal — a wacky, gay-positive memoirist will try for Augusten Burroughs or David Sedaris; a female writer of mordant short stories approaches Mary Gaitskill, and so on — but these can be nearly impossible to obtain.
The most prominent authors are inundated with such manuscripts, far more than they can ever read, especially if they hope to get on with their real job — which is, of course, writing their own books. Many have adopted a blanket no-blurb policy, and most of these will at least occasionally wind up departing from that policy, usually for personal reasons. They might do it for a good friend or a former student, or as a favor to their editor or agent.
You can find the rest of the article here. As an author, I’ve been asked to write blurbs for new books coming out. You want to be honest with the reader, but also supportive of the author. It can be a tricky situation.
What’s your experience? Have you found that book blurbs are helpful and accurate?
P.S. I am an ex-shrink who writes award-winning novels. Check out my books here.
If I’m interested in a book (good reviews from both professionals and readers on amazon or what have you, plus the flap copy appeals to me) and it also happens to have a blurb from an author I really like, I do feel more confidence going ahead with the purchase. That being said, I’m not going to buy a book based on blurbs alone, and lack of blurbs also won’t keep from buying a book.
Out of curiosity, have you ever been approached to write a blurb, but after reading the manuscript you decide you cannot “deceive the reader” and ultimately have to tell the author that you can’t do it? Or are you more or less locked into writing something favorable even before you’ve read the ms?
Hi Scout,
I am a big reader of reviews, too, and figure out pretty quickly the reviewers I can trust. There will always be readers who give good, thoughtful reviews. And I like to think that the reviews I write on Amazon and other places are of that quality. There are also always going to be readers/reviewers who are snarky and have an ax to grind. It’s easy to see through these people.
Regarding blurbs: I can usually find something positive to say about a book. Though if I don’t really like the book or feel that I can’t recommend it, my blurb is usually so vague and not what they want, that they don’t use it anyway.
From one of my wonderful email subscribers:
“Unless I were collaborating with another author/writer, I don’t see how their opinion of my work should have any bearing on it. I certainly wouldn’t be asking for it, based solely on the fact of she or he being a writer, also. If I had a good friend who just happened to be an editor or a professor of literature, I might be inclined to ask them to give me an over-all opinion privately, but I would not seek their endorsement. Creativity is an individual thing to me, and should be should be viewed as such, be it in the form of music, or a painting, sculpture, or a written work.”