The Art of Blurb
August 8th, 2007 by Allison Winn Scotch
As an author, I probably don’t view blurbs like an average reader. Heck, I’m not sure that I view books like an average reader – first, I check out the publisher, then I read the acknowledgements to see whom I might know, then, if I’m really curious, I’ll google the writer to learn more about her history, her book deal, her life. But this is all beside the point. Today, we’re chatting about blurbs, or, for the uninitiated, those quotes on the backs of books that sing the praises of the words inside.
Now, it’s a long-whispered secret in the literary world that blurbs are often nothing more than cashed-in favors, an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” scenario, in which one author agrees to laud another author’s work in exchange for a bit of publicity on the back of the book or for a future favor. Whether or not this is often true, I’m not sure, but I do know that in my case, this cynical application didn’t hold. In fact, to garner blurbs for The Department of Lost and Found, I emailed authors whom I thought might be interested in my material and asked them (very politely) to take a peek. Some didn’t have the time, some didn’t give blurbs as a rule, but many of them did write back and say, “Sure, if I like the book, I’m happy to endorse it.” And a few weeks later, they did. There were no secret handshakes or promises for reciprocation, though certainly, I am grateful to these authors, and should I ever be asked to help them out in some way, I’d do so in a heartbeat.
So what do these blurbs do for an author? Do readers really take them into account or do they toss them aside as just another part of the promotion machine? I’m not sure…because of my original statement: I’m in no way objective about how I see blurbs. I certainly see some authors’ names on backs of books too often, often enough that I suspect that they’ll endorse anything, or often enough that I know that their agent or editor insisted that they blurb material that they might have only glanced at or didn’t feel strongly about. But at the same time, I have my experience: authors who, I believe, genuinely enjoyed the book and who blurbed me because sure, it increased their own visibility, but also because they liked TDLF enough to help get the word out.
Do people buy books based on blurbs? I doubt it. I mean, I can’t imagine picking up a random book and opting to buy it solely based on what other authors said about it. But, do they help? For sure. If a cover catches your eye, and you peruse the first few pages and you’re liking it well-enough, and then you flip to the back and see a few quotes from authors you enjoy, will that help slam dunk the deal? I’d think so. I’ve even gone out and bought books from blurbers after I’ve enjoyed one of the books they’ve endorsed.
All of this is to say that in my mind, blurbing can’t hurt, and perhaps might even help. As an author, you need every leg up that you can get: the Barnes and Nobles are bursting with thousands of options, and if a blurb might help set you apart or catch a reader’s eye, then by all means, you’re gonna go for it.
But I’m curious: do you ever buy books based on blurbs? Do you disregard them as shady back-scratching or do you see them as genuine expressions of appreciation for a book or author?
if i am actively looking for a particular book, probably not. but if i’m just browsing, it could be the deal breaker. i’m not sure i actually buy books based on blurbs, but i do read the blurbs. and if some top name author (like stephen king) actually took the time to endorse a book, i’ll give it a second glance. i do think most successful authors do not have the time to endorse any newbie who asks, and if they do, it would be for a good reason, like the book is exceptional. most authors i have met really have a lot of integrity.
If the blurb is written by an author I really do respect, YES, definitely, I’d be more inclined to buy a book blurbed by them.
I just bought a book on vacation based on a blurb. I’d read everything by a certain favorite author, but wanted something with that same “feel.” I found a book she’d blurbed by an author I’d never heard of, and it was perfect.
I sometimes review books, and sometimes the galleys come with blurbs. I ignore them — don’t want my opinion to be swayed by what someone else said. But when I bought books for the fun of it, I might glance at the blurbs and see if I knew any of the authors who chose to comment.
I ignore almost all author blurbs. Reviewer blurbs can sway me sometimes. Why the difference? Because I’ve read too many glowing author blurbs for terrible books. However, I don’t think it’s all about back-scratching. I think the issue is partly that not all authors are great reviewers, and partly that often author-reviewers have strong biases due to friendship.
Over a several-year period I noticed that one group of authors tended to be featured on each other’s covers, always with glowing quotes. In my opinion this group includes a couple fantastic authors and a couple mediocre authors, so I was puzzled by the uniform praise. I researched them a little, and found that they’ve been friends and writing partners for decades. I think that group’s loss of objectivity is particularly extreme, but different forms of it are common.
I don’t. Sometimes an overly generic thumbs up is even a turn-off.
Review blurbs, on the other hand, from say Booklist or Library Journal seem to have more cred with me.
A question for Allison: in what form did you send your book to authors for blurbs? Manuscript? ARC?
Blurbs do influence me if they are from a reviewer or an author with whom I’m familiar. And, if there are a host of positives from authors that I haven’t heard from, it still increases the likelihood of buying IF I like what I see in flap copy, browsing, etc.
Ray
www.floggingthequill.com
I tend not to pay attention to blurbs at all, unless I’m stuck somewhere without any other available reading material.
Blurbs only influence my decision to buy a book if they’re by an author I really respect, such as Neil Gaiman.
I get asked to write blurbs quite often (by publishers rather than authors, usually.) When I really hate the book I decline to do a blurb and I tell the publisher why. My blurbs are always truthful. However, when a book has strengths and weaknesses I do write about the strengths only, and I guess that is a little misleading.
Ray-
We sent in two rounds: the first was a bound manuscript, and that’s where I think I actually got nearly all the blurbs from. The second was when the galleys came out - the blurbs I’d already gotten were actually on the back.
Allison
I don’t look at blurbs. I want to see what the book is about and not ready what someone else thinks of it. Reason being is that most of time, I disagree with the reviewers!