Do you read blurbs when you’re in the bookstore browsing for a new book to read? Would a blurb highly praising a book make you buy it? What if it were a blurb by an author you admire? If you’re an author, do you write blurbs for others? Under what circumstances?
Blurbs are those pithy remarks on the back cover (or inside pages) praising a book as the next masterpiece or a really good scare or a page-turner, etc.
As a reader, have you ever even thought about or cared about blurbs? Maybe you haven’t, but authors have … and do.
But how do authors get blurbs? They can ask for them from friends and other authors who write in their genre. They can get their publicist or agent to ask for them. Their editor might ask other writers in his/her stable. (Yes, authors can be part of a stable, just like a nag, er, race horse.) And in today’s everything’s-for-sale days, authors can buy a blurb.
Rachel Donadio has written an interesting article in The New York Times Sunday Book Review on blurbing. (It’s both a noun and a verb. Sometimes it’s even an adjective, as in “you blurbing whore.” Read the article if you don’t understand that one.)
After you read the full article, tell me,
1. Have you ever written a blurb?
2. Do you pay attention to blurbs?
3. Would you ever pay for a blurb?
My answers? 1. Yes, 2. Sometimes, 3. No – well, maybe, it depends, is the author writing the blurb a really, really big name in my genre and would s/he promise to write a review that would send thousands racing to the bookstore to buy my book and five copies for friends? Okay then, my answer to #3 is a definite maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Okay, that’s my final answer …
5 months ago
1. Have you ever written a blurb?
ReplyDeleteDozens of them, some for my own promo but mostly for others. Dunno how much it helped them, my last name is hardly King yet }-:>
2. Do you pay attention to blurbs?
Like you, I skip to the bottom and see who wrote it. Sometimes I'll still read it if the first 3 or 4 words really grab me.
3. Would you ever pay for a blurb?
Maybe for a big namer's - which is ironic, the big namer's don't need the $
1. Yes, I've written one blurb and was extremely flattered to be asked!
ReplyDelete2. I notice the blurbs, but they don't make or break whether or not I buy the book in question.
3. No. That really rubs me the wrong way.
Oops! David FItzgerald is my boyfriend - I was accidentally signed in under his account!
ReplyDeleteOops! David FItzgerald is my boyfriend - I was accidentally signed in under his account!
ReplyDeleteSome writers write under a pseudonym. You're the first I've met who comment under one. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOver the past year or so, I've begun to ask one Oak Tree author to blurb another OTP author's work, and it seems like we are ALL enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten great blurbs and a chance to get a two-fer on the promotional things.
Still, I ask a lot of other people too...and I have a stack now. So anyone up for blurbing, contact me and I'll run through the inventory of work-in-progress!
Actually, I've never written a blurb. I was really intimidated when the publisher told me that they wanted me to get the blurbs. Luckily, I had a few friends that said that they would help out. I think that this is where networking comes in to play. When you are comfortable with people then you can ask them, or they can ask you. Do I pay attention to blurbs? Not really. But mine got more attention because I had one from Tess Gerritsen. Would I pay for one? No, and if someone asked for money I would probably say "no thanks". Wouldn't that be the same as buying off a reviewer? I was just thankful that the people I asked really liked my book.
ReplyDeleteBillie,
ReplyDeleteDo you ever have someone you've asked to blurb come back and say they can't because they didn't like the book?
You are so right, Teagan. The Who in who blurbs you can really make a difference. And Tess' is a name that would get recognized.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you pay for a person to blurb you, do they have to do it? What if they don't like it? Or do they even actually read it? Or what if you don't think you got your money's worth?
1. No, I haven't, but I have asked to endorse after publication.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, I do pay attention to blurbs on others work. They mean a lot to me.
3. No!
I've written blurbs, and read them, but often they're so insipid one wonders if that's the best the writer could do. LOL. I don't think I'd pay for one. Would you? And how much would one cost?
ReplyDeleteDani
http://blogbooktours.blogspot.com
The consensus seems to be that most of us would not want to pay for a blurb. It just seems wrong. But I never say never because I've seen things change, especially in this Internet age. Years ago I would never have guessed that someone like Patterson would have others writing his books for him and not telling his readers (he tells now, but he didn't always).
ReplyDelete