Do book blurbs influence your book buying habits?
Apparently publishers think so because you’ll find blurbs on front and back covers of many books—and they’re hoping if you see that one of your favorite authors loved a book…that maybe you’ll buy it to see if you’ll love it, too.
The process of getting blurbs, though, is a little unusual—actually, there are lots of different ways to go about it.
I was delighted to get some great blurbs from several authors I really respect, who write books in my genre, for Delicious and Suspicious. My editor at Penguin asked me, months before the book went into production, if I had any ideas of authors I’d like to ask to blurb my book. And I did.
My editor did something I really appreciated—she asked the authors’ editors if it was all right if they blurbed me. A couple of the writers have more than one series and she was concerned that they would feel like they needed to try to fit in reading my book when they should be writing their own, instead.
I’ve also blurbed another book in my genre for another Penguin author and was happy to do so. But last week, I had a request to blurb a book…and there was just no way I can.
Right now I’m absolutely swamped with my own writing and promo-related stuff. I felt bad about it, but I knew that I would be really frantic if I fit someone else’s galley into the mix.
Reasons you might not be able to blurb a book:
There are only so many hours in the day. And it does take hours to read a book—and then more time to come up with a pithy blurb.
Your agent and/or editor(s) don’t want you to blurb right now. Because you’re under one or two tight deadlines.
Sometimes people ask you to blurb your book and it’s not your genre. I think it makes more sense for an author to blurb a book that’s in their genre—that’s what the reader is expecting. If Stephen King is endorsing a book, I’m not expecting the book to be a romance.
Sometimes people ask you to blurb their book and you aren’t sure if you’ll like it. If I’m blurbing a book, I want to be able to wholeheartedly endorse it. You want to be enthusiastic in your support of the book.
With some publishers, there might even be a problem with you endorsing a book at a competing publisher. I’ve never run across this—but I wouldn’t be at all surprised. This isn’t an area I’ve heard a lot of discussion over.
Sometimes you get requests and you wonder if the book was actually edited…especially if the email from the writer isn’t even well-written. And you wouldn’t want to endorse a poorly-edited book…you want it to be a professionally-edited book. If your name is enthusiastically endorsing a bad book, then it makes you look unprofessional, too.
What to do if you can’t give a blurb:
Remember that it’s a huge honor to be asked to blurb a book. The author is saying that your endorsement of the book is important enough to help sell it.
Remember that it can be difficult for an author to approach another writer about blurbs. Respond quickly and politely to the request and don’t make the author feel bad. Be nice.
The idea is to pay it forward—if you can. If you can’t, for whatever reason, respond quickly and professionally. Most writers, I think, want to pay it forward. After all, there were many different people who gave us help and support on our path to publication.
Have you blurbed or asked for blurbs? As a reader, are blurbs something you even notice when you’re book browsing?
You are so right about the rub off thing. I recently picked up a book that had been given a great blurb by an author I like. The book did not live upto the promise of the blurb, and I hesitated about picking up the latest book by the author who had endorsed it in the first place.
I don’t trust the blurbs, they are always too positive, so I don’t pay much attention to them.
The last book I read (The Kite Runner) had a blurb written by Isabel Allende on the front cover, probably not a disadvantage to boost sales >:)
Cold As Heaven
Elizabeth – You have such very good points about blurbs! I admit I’ve never been asked to blurb a book (although I would like to do that). I often find that blurbs aren’t really accurate. More than once I’ve started a book because of what the blurb says and just been very disappointed. On the other hand, they are a way to get the word out about a book, and about one’s own work. Besides, they are now an integral part of the marketing process.
One of my publishers throws the burden of getting blurbs on the author. It’s a terrible situation to be in, because it forces you to put authors you know on the spot. I really, really don’t like having to grovel, and when you get the ‘sorry’ you never really know if it’s because they’re busy or don’t think they want their name associated with your book. I had one Big Name author say she’d blurb the book, but when I followed up to see if she was going to have time with her busy schedule (even though she’d sent me an email saying, ‘I haven’t forgotten; you’re next on my list’) I never heard from her after that.
I prefer to believe blurbs won’t help me! :-)
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Your raise so many good points about the give and take of blurbs. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it’s so true. It is about giving back. I have to admit that blurbs influence me if they’re done by writers I respect.
Thanks for a great post!
Marissa
Blurbs usually don’t influence by decision to buy a book.
And if someone asks ME for a blurb, I’ll be shocked! But it would have to be a genre I read, like science fiction or fantasy.
Blurbs can be attention-getters, definately, but I’m glad you’re consciencious about how you do it, because there’s nothing more annoying than reading a blurb, getting interested in the book because of it, and then once you’ve read it yourself you figure out that the blurbing author couldn’t POSSIBLY have read all the way through the book…
ahem
sorry, that’s a pet peeve of mine…
Tessa.xx
Honestly, as a reader – I don’t pay attention to the blurbs. They certainly don’t cause to buy or read a book I hadn’t already planned to read.
I have blurbed a couple of books. Even so, I don’t pay a lot of attention to blurbs on books that I’m considering buying. Some author whose books I like and read will catch my eye, but I really judge by the back cover synopsis and then reading various pages in the book itself.
I understand why publishers want blurbs, but honestly, I’ve never bought a book because of them. Why? I look upon them as mini press releases. I’ve written press releases and I know the game. Cynical? Yes. Let me read the inside cover or the first few paragraphs. That’s what sells me on a book.
I can definitely see where it could be a conundrum. I feel like the author blurb is evidence of credibility, so I’d never want to SAY anything I didn’t MEAN–but at the same time, it would be REALLY HARD to say to someone that something wasn’t good–it is is fine line.
I really like the point about the editors doing the actual talking, too, so nobody gets in trouble, but that really DOES commit the author once it’s agreed.
Rayna–So it made you question the author’s judgment. Not good for the author, who should have been more careful about who they blurbed!
Cold As Heaven–Well, and sometimes you’ll see the blurbers mentioned in the book’s acknowlegements page. :) So friendship comes into play, too. So you’re doing well not to totally trust them.
You make a good point–some blurbers are WOW blurbers. They would make me really take notice. If I saw Rowling blurb a book? I’d be interested. But then–I don’t think she ever DOES blurb, does she?
Adventures in Children’s Publishing–It’s definitely a give and take. And it’s a little stressful–almost like asking someone for a date to ask them to blurb your book. But it’s a really good thing for an author to do, if time allows. If an author NEVER blurbs when they’re asked, I don’t think they’re being fair.
Alex–You shouldn’t be shocked at all! Think of the network you’ve got now…I’m surprised it hasn’t already happened.
Tessa–And then the blurbing author has lost credibility with you. And that’s NOT good!
Bookwoman–Which makes me wonder if blurbing really works like the publishers hope!
Helen–That’s usually the way with me, too. I’m usually a back-cover copy reader, or I’ll pick a book because of a book blogger’s endorsement.
Hart–I would hate to think of someone agreeing to blurb my book and then backing out of it because they didn’t like it! But I’m sure that kind of thing goes on sometimes. Ack.
It *is* more of a commitment, isn’t it? :) Especially when you end up with a nice galley in the mail from the editor herself/himself. Yeah, that would be a book I’d quickly work on blurbing.
Margot–It’s good advertising for the blurbing author, you’re right. *Occasionally*, I’ve read a new release by a debut author…and didn’t know who the *blurbing* author was. If I enjoyed the book, I looked up the blurber. Sort of backwards, but I have done it before.
Thanks so much for this great breakdown! I have a three-book deal for romantic comedies, and the first hits shelves next August. I’ve been waiting to hear from my editor about how the blurb process works and whether I should be out begging for them, or if she might help with that. It’s great to hear a bit more about how that process works. Thanks!
Tawna
Good advice Elizabeth. Blurbs are interesting and something I’ve only noticed since I’ve started writing myself. Thanks for the peek behind the scenes. :)
I hope to have this problem one day. That said, I’ve bought books by new authors who’ve been blurbed by my faves…and the new book has not been good. So I really don’t pay much attention to them now when I make a purchase.
I am impressed if it’s a name I know on an author that is new to me…But not if there are too many blurbs. Too many and all on the back seem excessive. And if they have too many “…”, then they had to cut too much out of the blurb!
That being said, I know all of this is just impression and probably has nothing to do with the actual truth of the blurb.
Great post!
Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
Terry–After all the rejection that writers get along the way, you hate to think that you’d get ANOTHER one with an upcoming release! And promising to “get back” to an author and NOT…that’s not cool at all.
Tawna–Good luck with your releases! Yes, my editor even offered to contact some authors for me, if I wanted. But I knew quite a few cozy writers by that time, so I didn’t need her to have to help me out. Still–it meant a lot to me that she WOULD have done it for me. And she did contact the writers’ editors for me.
Elspeth–So true! After all, if there was a BAD blurb, it wouldn’t end up on the cover. It’s not like a review of the book.
Asking another writer for blurbs is stressful, at least for me, especially knowing how much of a time commitment it is. I’ve been lucky to get a few excellent blurbs, thank goodness, and I’m very grateful to those blurbers.
I don’t think I really notice blurbs much – if anything, I’m more likely to be swayed by reviews online rather than a blurb on the actual book jacket.
I notice book blurbs, but they don’t influence me to buy the book. The book’s back cover description is usually the final selling point for me.
Belle–I rely on book bloggers a LOT. More than I rely on my newspaper’s reviews, even.
Laura–That and a review is what does it for me. Although I’ve been known to be influenced by blurbs before. :)
Jemi–It just goes to show that blurbs don’t really do a lot for marketing, if readers don’t notice them!
Carol–I’ve done the same thing–treated the blurb like a review and bought a book I ended up disappointed with.
Michele–Right! If there’s no room for the back cover copy because of all the blurbs, then that’s a problem. :)
Alan–It’s stressful, for sure. On the happier end of things, it looks like the authors who’ve had more than 4 or 5 books out don’t do blurbs anymore. :)
Blurbs don’t really influence my buying choice much. I know that many are contrived and fake. What convinces me more are blogger reviews from people I respect and if I’ve read the author before.
CD