I've just been signing off on the blurb for my new book, The Third Sin, coming out at the end of April. My publisher is brilliant at coming up with a framework that sums up the book better than I could myself so what I do is really just a bit of tweaking here and there.
It's an anxious business, though, and I give it a lot of thought to be sure it's just right. I'm acutely conscious of the blurb's importance as the calling card you place in the hands of the casual browser.
I know the ways in which I choose books myself. There are various factors, of varying levels of importance. First and foremost, of course, is the author. If it's a new book from an author I love I'll order it before it's even published.
Next comes word of mouth. I have several friends who like the sort of books that I like and a recommendation from one of them will definitely send me looking for it.
After that, I suppose, it's reviews. I can't say I'm much influenced by Richard and Judy style recommendations (would that be Oprah in the States?) because I've never found a professional critic whose views totally chime with mine, but I rely on reviews to tell me about content and subject matter. Something set in small town America, for instance, is a good bet where I'm concerned.
If I haven't anything else to go on and I'm wandering hopefully round a bookshop, a striking cover will probably make me pick it up but remembering my grandmother's warning that you can't tell a book by it's cover, that wouldn't make me buy it.
But then comes the blurb. I read it, and it has to grab me there and then. If it doesn't, the book goes back on the shelf and the author has just lost a new reader.
So it's important. It's like an advertisement for the product. But should it be short and intriguing? Long enough to be informative? Just a snippet from the book itself, maybe, from one of the most dramatic episodes?
I don't know what I think. Are there rules for what makes an effective blurb, and if there are, has anyone ever found out if they actually work?
5 comments:
The "Look Inside" feature on Amazon. Hands-down my #2 way of choosing books. #1 is the author - like you said, Aline, if it's an author I know and love, I'll read their grocery lists :)
Haven't heard of any rules. But, blurbs on the back of books are definitely important when I decide to buy a book.
My publisher had me write my own for Fatal Brushstroke. Hard to make it interesting without giving away too much.
Once I had a blurb suggested by a previous editor which made me wonder if she'd sent me the blurb for someone else's book! Even struggling with my own was better than that>
Blurbs are critical for me as a reader. All a good blurb needs is the setting, the mood, and a brief hint at characters and plot. Anything more is too much. I don't want a plot summary, I want to know if this is the type of book I enjoy.
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