My pet peeve is when the blurb isn't even for that book, instead it's for another book the author has written. Like OK, so they wrote a good book before but what about this one?!?!
It’s so weird haha I love the Powder Mage series and the second trilogy has quotes on the cover about the first trilogy! That’s not helpful to me at all!
My copy of Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune only has blurbs for The House In The Cerulean Sea, where my copy of In The Lives of Puppets does have blurbs for Under The Whispering door
Yeah! That feels like when a movie trailer brags about being from "The Producer of" whatever movie. That's almost always a reg flag that this movie will suck.
Oop! I did not spot this comment when I made my comment. The blurb is Neil Gaiman on "Once Upon a Tome", to wit: "Unfortunately I have mislaid the book in question."
the best part is that this blurb was actually what he told the author while asking for another copy so he could do a proper blurb - the author said "no, this is it, don't change a word."
I don't think I've ever considered the blurbs when deciding on books. For the most part I completely ignore them. Most of them to me feel like simply a checklist of possitive description words. 🤷♀️
Another thing that has been bothering (and I've been seeing more and more of it) is when the back cover is a bunch of quotes/reviews and NOTHING about the book! Even if the blurbs are great, I need SOME info about what happens in the book 😝
So true. I even made a comment about that myself as well. It annoys me so much bc I read the back of the book to know what it’s about. Idc if it had good reviews if I don’t know what it’s abt then I can’t know if I might like it or not
I'm pretty sure that publications like "usa today" and the likes have a set of dice with words written on them. When they get a request for a quote, they roll the dice and that's the blurb.
I always assumed that blurbs from journals and newspapers were quotes from full reviews. Now I have to wonder, even though I usually ignore the blurbs.
That My Dark Vanessa Blurb.... If I picked up a book because it was called "the hottest book of the summer" I would go into ut expecting either a light hearted adventure or an easy romance like, light beach reading.
I have read a book, in which a librarian joins a book club about "classical erotica" (literary books with some spice in them). I stopped reading when the librarian chose Atwood’s "The Handmaid’s Tale" for the club wondering if her next choice will be "Lolita".…
@Spriggana A doubly weird choice, as HMT is not only definitely not erotica, but it's also not "classical" in the sense I would have assumed was meant (early 20th C at the _very_ latest, and older would be better).
It seems they addressed this. My paperback has a blurb on the front of "Timely, riveting...heartbreaking" and the back says things like "exceedingly complex" and "a lightning rod."
I think the Neverwhere blurb makes a bit more sense in the context that the Neverwhere TV show came out before the book. I think Neil mentions there being things he wanted to expand upon and that certain things that he wanted to do were changed in the show. So the book was the way he intended the story to go.
I've seen the English translation paperback version of a Korean bestseller that went and spoiled the big plot twist of the novel in the blurb right on the front cover, beneath the title of the novel. Why would I buy a mystery novel that has the twist on the cover?! Thanks for saving my time and money, but good lord. Actually felt bad for the author at that point.
Sometimes a book is so filled up with blurbs that there is no place for a summary and I hate that. Cool that other people liked it but I still want to know what it's about
I'm a publishing professional, and part of my job is requesting endorsements. For books published with established publishers, at this point typically the publisher is requesting endorsements on behalf of the author. Let me know if i can answer any questions! I work at a large publisher so cannot speak to indie or self-publishing spaces. Also, different publishers do have slightly different practices around blurbs. As you note, there are generally two large categories of endorsement: quotes from reviews (Kirkus, NYT Book Review, journal reviews, etc) and quotes from people (usually larger authors and celebrities). We do not pay endorsers and this practice is generally looked down upon in publishing (for large publishers to do so). We usually offer blurbers a gratis copy of the book they're blurbing if they do provide a blurb. Believe it or not, they do seem to read the books before providing any endorsement language. I will say publishers generally value endorsements less than they used to. Data shows that they usually do not drive sales. The exception to that is obviously huge names, or reviews that make accurate comparisons to other books. That's why you see these endorsements that are substance-less, unhelpful, or seemingly random from big names. Those are the ones that tend to drive the most sales! However, for lower profile books some publishers are no longer having publishing professionals request endorsements on behalf of authors. In those cases, usually there aren't endorsements requirements, but the author is allowed to request endorsements if they'd like them. In academic publishing, I believe that's now just the standard practice. Definitely less common in trade publishing, but it's probably the way the industry is going since they are looking to cut costs at every turn. An aside: Lin Manuel Miranda endorsement on the back of the tenth anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind has always made laugh. It's about how no one writes about poverty like Patrick Rothfuss, and about how well he portrays that experience. Which is true! He really, really does write so well about that human experience. But I don't think The Name of the Wind is even a really good book ABOUT poverty. Like, Kvothe just smarts his way out of poverty on and off throughout the book. The experience of poverty is a part of the book, but it's not really the point of the book. It just seemed like such a random quote they used because it was Miranda.
My husband is not a big name (or an author at all). Just active in a particular community and I don't know if the blurb will make it on the book. But he was an early reader of a book (to give feedback to the author in final review/etc). And as part of that feedback had a comment about how much he enjoyed it. The author asked his permission and has several times used that quote when promoting the book since.
@@sarahschreffler5407 That's wonderful! I wasn't negating the value of reviewer feedback or trying to put down endorsers. I was recounting the messaging I've received from my publisher that is prevalent in the industry right now about which sorts of endorsements are the likeliest to drive sales, and how publishers seem to be directing resources around seeking endorsements at the current industry moment we're in. We also occasionally request permission from early reviewers to use their language in marketing material or as an endorsement. "Big names" can also be relative. It isn't always a hugely famous person, but a big name in a particular community or audience.
I never look at endorsements! I have absolutely no faith that the people writing these endorsements have actually sat down and read the whole book. They are utter nonsense and not reliable for anything.
That is fair. I usually don’t assume that they have actually read the book. They might know that some ppl have enjoyed or enough ppl buy it to where they see this as a good money making opportunity
“Younger writers are always looking for "blurbs," one of the few words that sounds exactly as awful as the crime it's describing.” ― Brian K. Vaughan, Saga, Volume 3
I worked in publishing. Usually, you will ask one of your big-name authors to read an ARC of another of your authors (who is writing for the same or a similar audience) and give you a couple lines of endorsement. You don't pay them for that; it's a courtesy.
(I'm an author) I can't remember where it came from, but an article detailed why blurbs are the way that they are - they're not actually for readers, but for booksellers and they look at the AUTHOR who blurbed it to know where to put it on shelves. I didn't even know that, so I started to be more intentional about who I asked for blurbs
The only author blurb I've ever actually appreciated is Neil Gaiman's blurb of Black Leopard Red Wolf. It's extensive, informative, actually accurate and was more than one adjective
I actively dislike cover blurbs because honestly, when I'm looking at the cover of the book, I'm probably enjoying the art that went into making that cover. And while publishers are usually pretty reasonable about placing the title and author's name in a reasonable part of that picture, it feels like the cover designers just...print that out, pin it to a dart board, tie their blurbs onto darts, and then just play darts and let providence decide where the blurbs go. If they had any consistency with being descriptive enough to convey meaning while still being short enough to be usable on a cover...sure, that's fine. Especially if you've decided to put it in the text box on the back where the cover artist has provided a space for it. Even better is when they put the descriptive teaser on the back, and save the endorsements for one of those usually-blank pages just inside one of the covers.
@@maem7462 after watching this video, I just got hit with visions of having to write short paragraphs of how well the blurbs of Roald Dahl books were descriptive and yet still vague.
The best endorsement I have read from an author (and the only one I can remember) is for 'More than this' by Patrick Ness - John Green simply wrote "JUST READ IT" - and I am glad I did!
I'm French and the worst blurbs I saw on a book was by an other (famous here) author saying "I hope you will like this book as much as I did". I was like "Wow. That really doesn't help me AT ALL" 😂 I mean it wasn't even "You will love it", it was "maybe you will like it". Well, thanks for the recommendation I guess 😅
I feel like I saw that same blurb (or one very similar) and it left me wondering whether it was meant as a compliment or a criticism. I don't remember the book, but I think GRR Martin wrote the blurb.
Great video! I strongly agree with most of your points. I will say, however, that personally when an author I like likes a book, I think that has some small effect on the likelihood that I will consider reading it, but I don't care one whit about Publishers Weekly or USA today. I also get annoyed when "reputable" magazines/newspapers give books blurbs seemingly for no reason besides that the book in question is popular. As an example of this I suggest you go look at some of the Wheel of Time blurbs of this type (you can also compare them to WOT blurbs from actual authors, which is kind of funny). I'm not saying that Wheel of Time is horrible or anything, but some off those blurbs apply better to... basically any other fantasy book...
Pretty sure the Neverwhere blurb is related to the fact it was a tv miniseries devied between Gaiman and Lenny Henry and was then later released as a novel. So it's more, "the show had to cut things out but now you can read the full story as a book."
As understand it Kirkus reviews are the once librarians take note of the most. A librarian that runs the mystery book club told us during the last meeting about reading a review from them for the a James Patterson book which noted that at least it didn't have any grammar of punctuation mistakes this time.
Blurb requests can borderline drown authors, so sometimes the blurbs might be rushed or faked because they simply don’t have time to read them all but still want to help an author (or to look like they did for networking reasons.) An effective and probably real blurb (or just a good blurb) actually talks about the qualities of the book in a way that actually tells prospective readers something about the story - fast-paced, twisty, evocative, deeply romantic etc. The bad, potentially fake blurbs are just generic. “Astounding.” “Sensational.”
Brilliantly presented. Whilst watching I came to the realisation that I've been completely writing off these blurbs for years. They're so often complete nonsense but it took your focus to make me realise it's a big problem and how subconsciously I'd written them off. I pay far more attention to other readers' reviews on Audible and Amazon when deciding whether to purchase. Way more trustworthy and inciteful. Thx Merph. Keep up the great work.
My copy of The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War #2) by John Scalzi literally says "If Stephen King were to try his hand at science fiction, he'd be lucky to be half as entertaining as John Scalzi." So. Many. Issues. Stephen King had written multiple scifi books by this point just to start critiquing that stupid quote!
I don’t mind the book blurbs most the time. I hardly ever read them. I’ll read the description on the back of the book if that is an option. What makes me not want to buy or a read a book is if there is only a publishers blurb and no other blurb that tells me what the story is about. If I can’t find what the story is about idk if I’ll be interested or not
I have never really given attention to a blurb. More than that, I always feel a slight annoyance if books have blurbs on the backside of the book, instead of a short summary. 90% of the time the comments don't say anything and could have been on any other book (e.g. blurbs like "Fascinating read!"). A friend of mine managed some tasks to help publish a book from her boss. The book was not in the fantasy genre, but more a mix of a biography of the boss/how he build the company and self-improvement. She told me that the suggestions for the blurb they requested came in so fast, she is convinced, that they didn't read the book at all or only snippets of it to get a sense of the content. Not saying this is true for every book blurb (!), some actually tell you the vibe of the book. But, to me, it explains why a lot of the blurbs are so "meaningless" and could be copy-pasted on any book.
Love you making a video on this, I raged about this so often! Another thing I dont like os having the same blurbs about the first book as of a series on every book (Malazan for example).
So much advertising, promotion, and packaging makes a lot more sense to me when I remember that it's designed to appeal to the emotions rather than to the rational mind.
You're definitely not alone. I will point out a good blurb in my review if it really encapsulates the book well, because I've run across some that say it much better than I could have.
I firmly believe that all blurbs should be relegated to the back of the book! Additionally, the blurbs presented ought to be at least a sentence or two, regardless of who is “quoted”. If the blurb-author can’t be bothered to say at least a sentence that is clearly germane to the specific book at hand, then a vague word or two is unhelpful and gives me little faith in the sincerity of endorsement. Finally, avoid direct comparisons to other authors unless absolutely necessary. If the blurb can get the point across with comparisons, do so.
So weird, haven't watched yet but the last few days my mind has been on the topic of getting a blurb for the back of my book... mostly about me not knowing how to go about it 😅.
This is a really fascinating conversation. I don't read much genre fiction so I very often encounter books out in the wild of the second hand bookstore with no real clue why I should take note of them. For example, I bought "More Than This" by Patrick Ness as the front cover had John Green, an opinion I respect, say "Just read it." Green has a longer blurb too on the back that conveys that he really genuinely liked it. Now, I don't expect it to be anything like a John Green book, and I really don't want that. But I know Green and I look at the world in a similar way, and so if it moved him, it could resonate for me (that said, I haven't read it yet haha). More recently I picked up The Cactus League by Emily Nemens because Chris Bachelder, who I love, praised it in an insightful blurb that mentioned how it addresses the "complex ecosystem of professional sport." I even think there's a place for the one-word little information blurbs. Say Nothing sees The Economist call it "Masterly...A searing reflection of the Troubles and their aftermath." That's not much, but it's still kind of nice to see it cosigned by a less literary minded publication. It highlights the scope. Great video.
I actually hated when this became a thing because I prefer the summary (still do) but if it's a good helpful blurb, I'll take it. I love the ones on the series that I'm finishing currently. The Illuminae series. I recently finished the second book that i never had time to read before and the blurbs on it and the last book are good.
I really liked the setup of this video. I think that having the host in sharp focus and the background in soft focus is quite calming for me. I actually thought that the background was a green screen until you grabbed a book off of the shelf. As per your other videos this one is entertaining if not so informative as your others. "This video is in colour!!" - John Specht
So glad you are shouting about this. My best friend and I had a rant on it awhile back because theres no longer summaries on the back of the books!!! Also I think @alyssamastic has a video on on this and the costs and such. Shes a fantastic resource.
I read the blurb for And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, and was inadvertently spoiled, Not by the blurb itself, but by who wrote the blurb, and her book and Blackman’s being about the same topic.
I don't mind reading the blurbs before reading a book because I may be the factor that makes me want to read it. Reading them after is a treat because I'm definitely talking to the book (myself) agreeing with the blurbs or disagreeing with them.
I rarely look at quotes on covers and the first inner pages (especially if I haven't read the book yet). They're not going to change my mind or convince me to read or not read a book. I just need an accurate but not overly detailed synopsis. I also find they just clutter covers. Sometimes I'll get older editions on purpose because they're likely to be just the cover art, title, and author. I hate all that extra stuff on covers!
I don't like blurbs because they take space away from the cover art and binding. In order to choose a book I usually read a few random paragraphs in the book and see if I am curious about learning more.
I don't think I've ever decided to read a book because of a blurb. I mostly avoid reading them, but I've also been primarily reading ebooks and I ignore entire descriptions after I've decided to read something. Very fun for those books that take months and months to come in so I've 100% forgotten why the book was on the list in the first place.
My all time favorite blurb is one from Robert Jordan on the back of Game of Thrones. (It was on the first printing tho I'm not sure if its there on the newer editions...?) I only picked up the series because of that blurb. I often wonder how many people were in a similar boat? How much of ASoIaF's success can be attributed to people like me who only read it because they were massive WoT fans?
As someone who works in academic book publicity and occasionally selects pull quotes (or blurbs) for books it’s fun to see some truly bad ones 😂 But fiction publicity generally is a minefield to me, much prefer working in non-fiction.
I’m so glad you mentioned one of my favorite awkward blurbs on Ship of Magic, “addictive as morphine” - okay? I have nothing to compare that experience to, but yes, you will probably want to read more after this book 😂
The first hit on Google answering the question "How addictive is morphine?" tells us "Morphine is extremely addictive, and studies have shown it to be just as addictive as heroin."
Ok, here's what I got searching 'how addictive is heroin.' Heroin is a highly addictive and rapidly acting opiate (a drug that is derived from opium). Specifically, heroin is produced from morphine, which is a principal component of opium.
One of my favourite blurbs was for Seafire: another YA author said "I have such a crush on this book!" I don't know what that means but it makes me smile 🙃
There was a point in time when I was hardline no spoilers. I've eased up on my expectations these days. To illustrate why I appreciate concise and economic blurbs, I have considered writing my own deep packet inspection for my home routers to remove HTTP content two to three paragraphs within the occurrence of blacklisted words e.g. Anything mentioning the title of another SOIAF book would be censored from my computer. Once the blurb is out there, there is some chance I might read it. If I were to read that Lovecraftian type story you mentioned, I would prefer to experience the story how I experience it rather than wonder if the blurb influenced my perception of the book. I do have the ability to not look at the back of a book before I read it. But, as another example, when MLB TV was first released, the Jays games were blacked out for broadcasting rights. I'm good with that. It is excellent to see people at the ball parks enjoying the games. However, the extent to which I had to avoid the news in order to enjoy watching the game the next day was far too complicated. There is definitely a point at which information about media content is so saturated within the public sphere that I have to consider becoming a hermit to enjoy cultural content. Bookborn has some excellent videos where she handles spoiler content well using video sections and timed warnings within her content that helps in this regard. I am now considering what I put in my comments as well, which does impact the speed at which I communicate. I've seen Discord servers with a spoiler feature that allows content to be marked as a spoiler before being posted. This sort of feature needs to be implemented per platform, so any spoilers can be hidden without user intervention. I'm better about spoilers these days though, so I'll make it to the next video even if the pull request for that fix isn't done by then.
I borrowed two different books (the chain and hidden pictures) one time and they both were blurb by stephen king with the word "propulsive" in it. I had never even heard the word before.
I think for the Neverwhere blurb there is some context which explains what is said cause there is also a show which had come before the book and they are probably trying to draw in people who watched it maybe? also i think they are trying to compare the both and be like this book is able to express what he had intended in a better way or something...
A blurb in the UK is the short description on the back (or inside cover), we call these reviews. Is this different in America? I spent this whole video in a constant state of confusion. 😅
I chuckle when I see GRRM's "[genre] the way if ought to be written" on Robin Hobb books and The Expanse books. Idk if it's on any other books but I'd love to find more.
I prefer to listen to you give reasons why you loved a book or not plus another person I respect as a book tuber and I also will watch maybe someone outside my comfortable zone just to get a different view point ! Authors will or publishers will send yous books hoping for a good review and I benefit from you doing the work or reading etc. Thank you , Kindly. Craig
Nah, I'm pretty much the same as you! I don't put much stock in blurbs as far as informing whether or not I should read a book, but I do often enough make a bit of a fun game out of judging whether I think the blurb did anything good for the book or not after reading it.😂😂😂🤭💖💖😁
I've found that the only time I read blurbs is after I finish a book that I absolutely loved. I think it's mostly because I want more of that story and reading the blurbs (in the first pages inside the book, not on the cover) makes me forget, for just a moment, that I'm done with the book.
I usually really don't care about blurbs and mostly agree with what you said. However, I can't not mention a blurb, more like just a sticker, actually, probably changed my life when it said "from the Douglas Adams of fantasy" and got me to buy my first Discworld book. Can't imagine my life without pratchett.
I always wonder about 'A New York Times Bestseller' blurb: Who decides this? Which books get them? Because in my own experience, it's far from a 'quality label' :p
I mostly read history. I don't usually read blurbs but occasionally I notice them. If the blurb is written by an author whose book I've enjoyed, then that might be interesting to some extent, but that will not usually be the deciding factor in picking it up.
I love how my copy of The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet has the summary ending with telling that people have their secrets and the stakes are real and then the blurb right below it reads "Great fun!". Such a weird contrast.
There's some people I kind of "blindly" trust when it comes to recommendations (more about movies/series because I barely started reading again and I haven't found a person I can do that with books). And I hate having expectations aside from quality from reviews. While I don't read the blurbs on books I can see the appeal from other authors, not so much for publications unless there's a specific name. Right now I'm into New Weird style stuff (since I've been obsessing with Remedy games and that universe is heavily inspired by House of Leaves) so the less I know the better and I just go based on scores or vague recommendations. Sometimes it pays off (like it did with The Backbone of the World), sometimes it doesn't (like There Is No Antimemetics Division) for me. Same reason I don't watch trailers or like to know more than a premise for something. It's funny, I have been watching you for years on and off and I actually don't really know if you and I have common tastes haha because I've read at most 10 of the books I've seen you review. Quite a few are classics and I've only read 2 books based on your recommendation (And Every Morning by Backman was such a lovely experience and I didn't like Night of the Mannequins that much).
I'm gussing with the Neverwhere one that in the larger context they were talking about how it was a mini series first and the the book was written but unless you know that that quote is usless.
My pet peeve is when the blurb isn't even for that book, instead it's for another book the author has written. Like OK, so they wrote a good book before but what about this one?!?!
YES-Ssaaaammmeee!!!!!
It’s so weird haha I love the Powder Mage series and the second trilogy has quotes on the cover about the first trilogy! That’s not helpful to me at all!
The Dresden files books use the same blurbs on like every book.
My copy of Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune only has blurbs for The House In The Cerulean Sea, where my copy of In The Lives of Puppets does have blurbs for Under The Whispering door
Yeah! That feels like when a movie trailer brags about being from "The Producer of" whatever movie. That's almost always a reg flag that this movie will suck.
Ive seen a blurb by Neil Gaiman floating around that was him apologizing for misplacing the book and never reading it
Oop! I did not spot this comment when I made my comment. The blurb is Neil Gaiman on "Once Upon a Tome", to wit: "Unfortunately I have mislaid the book in question."
He’s being honest at least. It could get ppl intrigued to read it to see if it was a blessing or a curse the the misplaced it
Oh, that's awesome
I wanted to comment this :) the best blurb I’ve ever come across
the best part is that this blurb was actually what he told the author while asking for another copy so he could do a proper blurb - the author said "no, this is it, don't change a word."
My beef with those is - why ruin the cover of a book with them dammit
I don't think I've ever considered the blurbs when deciding on books. For the most part I completely ignore them. Most of them to me feel like simply a checklist of possitive description words. 🤷♀️
“A check list of positive descriptive words” is SO true for many blurbs
"a check list of positive description words" sounds like a blurb in and of itself
@@merphynapierreviews My favorite blurbs are from Crossover volumes one and two where Donny Cates was making fun of his own book.
Another thing that has been bothering (and I've been seeing more and more of it) is when the back cover is a bunch of quotes/reviews and NOTHING about the book! Even if the blurbs are great, I need SOME info about what happens in the book 😝
So true. I even made a comment about that myself as well. It annoys me so much bc I read the back of the book to know what it’s about. Idc if it had good reviews if I don’t know what it’s abt then I can’t know if I might like it or not
Yes this, especially if the book is wrapped in plastic or something so you can't even open it to see the description inside
I see this a lot with well-known authors or classic books. Not helpful if I’ve not read anything by the author or if I’ve not read the classic!
"This book will leave you undulating with joy."
Oh lord
Jesus christ xD this curdled my nervous system a little
nice
I don't like that I can no longer read anything without being brought out of a story because the word undulating was used.
The crepuscular air undulated around the portcullis
"USA Today says fantastical. I'm so glad that this fantasy book is fantastical" hahah love that
I'm pretty sure that publications like "usa today" and the likes have a set of dice with words written on them. When they get a request for a quote, they roll the dice and that's the blurb.
I always assumed that blurbs from journals and newspapers were quotes from full reviews. Now I have to wonder, even though I usually ignore the blurbs.
@@mikouf9691 They often are. I always like when books have longer parts of the reviews on the first page.
That My Dark Vanessa Blurb.... If I picked up a book because it was called "the hottest book of the summer" I would go into ut expecting either a light hearted adventure or an easy romance like, light beach reading.
I'm sure they meant that was a book that sold like hotcakes. But ..yyeeaahhh, not the best choice , in this context.
I have read a book, in which a librarian joins a book club about "classical erotica" (literary books with some spice in them). I stopped reading when the librarian chose Atwood’s "The Handmaid’s Tale" for the club wondering if her next choice will be "Lolita".…
@@Spriggana That's.... not .. _erotic_ literature. ...WtF 👀
Just because the content is explicit, that doesn't automatically make it erotica. SMH.
@Spriggana A doubly weird choice, as HMT is not only definitely not erotica, but it's also not "classical" in the sense I would have assumed was meant (early 20th C at the _very_ latest, and older would be better).
It seems they addressed this. My paperback has a blurb on the front of "Timely, riveting...heartbreaking" and the back says things like "exceedingly complex" and "a lightning rod."
I think the Neverwhere blurb makes a bit more sense in the context that the Neverwhere TV show came out before the book. I think Neil mentions there being things he wanted to expand upon and that certain things that he wanted to do were changed in the show. So the book was the way he intended the story to go.
Yeah, that would definitely make sense as a selling-point, then!
I've seen the English translation paperback version of a Korean bestseller that went and spoiled the big plot twist of the novel in the blurb right on the front cover, beneath the title of the novel. Why would I buy a mystery novel that has the twist on the cover?! Thanks for saving my time and money, but good lord. Actually felt bad for the author at that point.
Sometimes a book is so filled up with blurbs that there is no place for a summary and I hate that. Cool that other people liked it but I still want to know what it's about
I'm a publishing professional, and part of my job is requesting endorsements. For books published with established publishers, at this point typically the publisher is requesting endorsements on behalf of the author. Let me know if i can answer any questions! I work at a large publisher so cannot speak to indie or self-publishing spaces. Also, different publishers do have slightly different practices around blurbs. As you note, there are generally two large categories of endorsement: quotes from reviews (Kirkus, NYT Book Review, journal reviews, etc) and quotes from people (usually larger authors and celebrities). We do not pay endorsers and this practice is generally looked down upon in publishing (for large publishers to do so). We usually offer blurbers a gratis copy of the book they're blurbing if they do provide a blurb. Believe it or not, they do seem to read the books before providing any endorsement language.
I will say publishers generally value endorsements less than they used to. Data shows that they usually do not drive sales. The exception to that is obviously huge names, or reviews that make accurate comparisons to other books. That's why you see these endorsements that are substance-less, unhelpful, or seemingly random from big names. Those are the ones that tend to drive the most sales! However, for lower profile books some publishers are no longer having publishing professionals request endorsements on behalf of authors. In those cases, usually there aren't endorsements requirements, but the author is allowed to request endorsements if they'd like them. In academic publishing, I believe that's now just the standard practice. Definitely less common in trade publishing, but it's probably the way the industry is going since they are looking to cut costs at every turn.
An aside: Lin Manuel Miranda endorsement on the back of the tenth anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind has always made laugh. It's about how no one writes about poverty like Patrick Rothfuss, and about how well he portrays that experience. Which is true! He really, really does write so well about that human experience. But I don't think The Name of the Wind is even a really good book ABOUT poverty. Like, Kvothe just smarts his way out of poverty on and off throughout the book. The experience of poverty is a part of the book, but it's not really the point of the book. It just seemed like such a random quote they used because it was Miranda.
My husband is not a big name (or an author at all). Just active in a particular community and I don't know if the blurb will make it on the book. But he was an early reader of a book (to give feedback to the author in final review/etc). And as part of that feedback had a comment about how much he enjoyed it. The author asked his permission and has several times used that quote when promoting the book since.
@@sarahschreffler5407 That's wonderful! I wasn't negating the value of reviewer feedback or trying to put down endorsers. I was recounting the messaging I've received from my publisher that is prevalent in the industry right now about which sorts of endorsements are the likeliest to drive sales, and how publishers seem to be directing resources around seeking endorsements at the current industry moment we're in. We also occasionally request permission from early reviewers to use their language in marketing material or as an endorsement. "Big names" can also be relative. It isn't always a hugely famous person, but a big name in a particular community or audience.
“The most fun I’ve had all year!” -Murphy Napier on the book cover for Eye of Argon
I never look at endorsements! I have absolutely no faith that the people writing these endorsements have actually sat down and read the whole book. They are utter nonsense and not reliable for anything.
That is fair. I usually don’t assume that they have actually read the book. They might know that some ppl have enjoyed or enough ppl buy it to where they see this as a good money making opportunity
“Younger writers are always looking for "blurbs," one of the few words that sounds exactly as awful as the crime it's describing.”
― Brian K. Vaughan, Saga, Volume 3
I worked in publishing. Usually, you will ask one of your big-name authors to read an ARC of another of your authors (who is writing for the same or a similar audience) and give you a couple lines of endorsement. You don't pay them for that; it's a courtesy.
I think the Neverwhere blurb is referring to the fact that Gaiman first wrote it as a TV series and then later adapted it into a book. Great video! :)
(I'm an author) I can't remember where it came from, but an article detailed why blurbs are the way that they are - they're not actually for readers, but for booksellers and they look at the AUTHOR who blurbed it to know where to put it on shelves. I didn't even know that, so I started to be more intentional about who I asked for blurbs
I’ve seen books that have 2 or 3 pages of blurbs at the beginning.
-Another satisfying video from a renowned booktuber. 10 out of 10.
The only author blurb I've ever actually appreciated is Neil Gaiman's blurb of Black Leopard Red Wolf. It's extensive, informative, actually accurate and was more than one adjective
Blurbs and covers are pretty superficial. In the end the best way is to try the ebook sample. A friend used to call it "speed dating".
I actively dislike cover blurbs because honestly, when I'm looking at the cover of the book, I'm probably enjoying the art that went into making that cover. And while publishers are usually pretty reasonable about placing the title and author's name in a reasonable part of that picture, it feels like the cover designers just...print that out, pin it to a dart board, tie their blurbs onto darts, and then just play darts and let providence decide where the blurbs go.
If they had any consistency with being descriptive enough to convey meaning while still being short enough to be usable on a cover...sure, that's fine. Especially if you've decided to put it in the text box on the back where the cover artist has provided a space for it. Even better is when they put the descriptive teaser on the back, and save the endorsements for one of those usually-blank pages just inside one of the covers.
Omg, i remember the amount of short essays i had to write on book blurbs n ESL. A shortened description of a shortend description. AHHHH!
I think I vaguely remember doing that at my school as well. I completely forgot until now so it likely wasn’t very often
@@maem7462 after watching this video, I just got hit with visions of having to write short paragraphs of how well the blurbs of Roald Dahl books were descriptive and yet still vague.
@@keravnos2231 I would love to see a book with “Descriptive, but vague” on the cover blurb 😂
@@covergirlbooks now imagine having to explain what on earth the blurb was trying to get across, for homework 😵💫
@@keravnos2231 in a second language? Would be seriously impressive. You have my respect!
FANTASY AS IT OUGHT TO BE WRITTEN
....umm, George? This is a science-fiction book...
SCI-FI AS IT OUGHT TO BE WRITTEN
I hate it when you have ... in a blurb, when they have cut stuff. It is always concerning.
This book was really ... good
Haha!
"That book was really terrible and I barely even read it but I was eating Cheez its so that was good"
@@brooklynkelsey703 I'm dead
The best endorsement I have read from an author (and the only one I can remember) is for 'More than this' by Patrick Ness - John Green simply wrote "JUST READ IT" - and I am glad I did!
I'm French and the worst blurbs I saw on a book was by an other (famous here) author saying "I hope you will like this book as much as I did". I was like "Wow. That really doesn't help me AT ALL" 😂 I mean it wasn't even "You will love it", it was "maybe you will like it". Well, thanks for the recommendation I guess 😅
I feel like I saw that same blurb (or one very similar) and it left me wondering whether it was meant as a compliment or a criticism. I don't remember the book, but I think GRR Martin wrote the blurb.
Great video! I strongly agree with most of your points. I will say, however, that personally when an author I like likes a book, I think that has some small effect on the likelihood that I will consider reading it, but I don't care one whit about Publishers Weekly or USA today.
I also get annoyed when "reputable" magazines/newspapers give books blurbs seemingly for no reason besides that the book in question is popular. As an example of this I suggest you go look at some of the Wheel of Time blurbs of this type (you can also compare them to WOT blurbs from actual authors, which is kind of funny). I'm not saying that Wheel of Time is horrible or anything, but some off those blurbs apply better to... basically any other fantasy book...
NGL Murphy I don't read book blurbs I just get my book suggestions from you because 9/10 times, I end up loving it lol 💙
Pretty sure the Neverwhere blurb is related to the fact it was a tv miniseries devied between Gaiman and Lenny Henry and was then later released as a novel. So it's more, "the show had to cut things out but now you can read the full story as a book."
As understand it Kirkus reviews are the once librarians take note of the most. A librarian that runs the mystery book club told us during the last meeting about reading a review from them for the a James Patterson book which noted that at least it didn't have any grammar of punctuation mistakes this time.
Blurb requests can borderline drown authors, so sometimes the blurbs might be rushed or faked because they simply don’t have time to read them all but still want to help an author (or to look like they did for networking reasons.) An effective and probably real blurb (or just a good blurb) actually talks about the qualities of the book in a way that actually tells prospective readers something about the story - fast-paced, twisty, evocative, deeply romantic etc. The bad, potentially fake blurbs are just generic. “Astounding.” “Sensational.”
I am so incredibly susceptible to these blurbs that I have a section on my book shelf called: "books with blurbs by Neil Gaiman" lol
“Magnificent video! Must watch!” -Some Dude-
All I can think of is the episode of Castle where he rattles something off and says "see, I don't even need to read the book to do a blurb" :D
Brilliantly presented. Whilst watching I came to the realisation that I've been completely writing off these blurbs for years. They're so often complete nonsense but it took your focus to make me realise it's a big problem and how subconsciously I'd written them off. I pay far more attention to other readers' reviews on Audible and Amazon when deciding whether to purchase. Way more trustworthy and inciteful. Thx Merph. Keep up the great work.
My copy of The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War #2) by John Scalzi literally says "If Stephen King were to try his hand at science fiction, he'd be lucky to be half as entertaining as John Scalzi." So. Many. Issues. Stephen King had written multiple scifi books by this point just to start critiquing that stupid quote!
I don’t mind the book blurbs most the time. I hardly ever read them. I’ll read the description on the back of the book if that is an option. What makes me not want to buy or a read a book is if there is only a publishers blurb and no other blurb that tells me what the story is about. If I can’t find what the story is about idk if I’ll be interested or not
I have never really given attention to a blurb. More than that, I always feel a slight annoyance if books have blurbs on the backside of the book, instead of a short summary.
90% of the time the comments don't say anything and could have been on any other book (e.g. blurbs like "Fascinating read!").
A friend of mine managed some tasks to help publish a book from her boss. The book was not in the fantasy genre, but more a mix of a biography of the boss/how he build the company and self-improvement.
She told me that the suggestions for the blurb they requested came in so fast, she is convinced, that they didn't read the book at all or only snippets of it to get a sense of the content.
Not saying this is true for every book blurb (!), some actually tell you the vibe of the book.
But, to me, it explains why a lot of the blurbs are so "meaningless" and could be copy-pasted on any book.
I couldn’t even guess which of my favorites have these quote blurbs on the cover if my life depended on it😂
Love you making a video on this, I raged about this so often! Another thing I dont like os having the same blurbs about the first book as of a series on every book (Malazan for example).
Merphy's most random video ever XD
Does "On par with Martin" mean the series will never be finished or all the characters you like will be killed?
The Never where one's funny, plus the positive blurbs portion actually made me want to read a few of the books mentioned! Great bookish video Merph!
New audiobook narration? Is that Hello Future Me’s next book?
I bet it is the next Game of Thrones if it’s genre 🤣
😂😂😂 "for fans of GoT, Hunger Games, and Winnie the Pooh"
(yes I'm narrating Tim's books!)
AND I missed this comment before asking what audiobook Merphy was narrating! I'm batting 1000, over here!
So much advertising, promotion, and packaging makes a lot more sense to me when I remember that it's designed to appeal to the emotions rather than to the rational mind.
You're definitely not alone. I will point out a good blurb in my review if it really encapsulates the book well, because I've run across some that say it much better than I could have.
I firmly believe that all blurbs should be relegated to the back of the book! Additionally, the blurbs presented ought to be at least a sentence or two, regardless of who is “quoted”. If the blurb-author can’t be bothered to say at least a sentence that is clearly germane to the specific book at hand, then a vague word or two is unhelpful and gives me little faith in the sincerity of endorsement. Finally, avoid direct comparisons to other authors unless absolutely necessary. If the blurb can get the point across with comparisons, do so.
So weird, haven't watched yet but the last few days my mind has been on the topic of getting a blurb for the back of my book... mostly about me not knowing how to go about it 😅.
Pausing 30 seconds in because I didn't know u did audiobook recordings, and now I'm on a hunt for a good fantasy read by you hahaha.
Merphy is the best book reviewer ❤❤❤
I do not read book blurbs but apparently I need to start 😄
"Be a good little consumer and buy it! Now, preferably!" -- Blurb Writer
Incredible! Truly an audiovisual experience!
This is the perfect example of why we can not judge a book by its cover. Even the blurbs can be misleading.
This is a really fascinating conversation. I don't read much genre fiction so I very often encounter books out in the wild of the second hand bookstore with no real clue why I should take note of them. For example, I bought "More Than This" by Patrick Ness as the front cover had John Green, an opinion I respect, say "Just read it." Green has a longer blurb too on the back that conveys that he really genuinely liked it. Now, I don't expect it to be anything like a John Green book, and I really don't want that. But I know Green and I look at the world in a similar way, and so if it moved him, it could resonate for me (that said, I haven't read it yet haha).
More recently I picked up The Cactus League by Emily Nemens because Chris Bachelder, who I love, praised it in an insightful blurb that mentioned how it addresses the "complex ecosystem of professional sport."
I even think there's a place for the one-word little information blurbs. Say Nothing sees The Economist call it "Masterly...A searing reflection of the Troubles and their aftermath." That's not much, but it's still kind of nice to see it cosigned by a less literary minded publication. It highlights the scope.
Great video.
I actually hated when this became a thing because I prefer the summary (still do) but if it's a good helpful blurb, I'll take it. I love the ones on the series that I'm finishing currently. The Illuminae series. I recently finished the second book that i never had time to read before and the blurbs on it and the last book are good.
OMG I had always had the SAME ideas but had never uttered them out loud. I feel SO seen ♥ Thanks, Merphy
I really liked the setup of this video. I think that having the host in sharp focus and the background in soft focus is quite calming for me. I actually thought that the background was a green screen until you grabbed a book off of the shelf. As per your other videos this one is entertaining if not so informative as your others. "This video is in colour!!" - John Specht
So glad you are shouting about this. My best friend and I had a rant on it awhile back because theres no longer summaries on the back of the books!!!
Also I think @alyssamastic has a video on on this and the costs and such. Shes a fantastic resource.
My favorite is always GRRM "_______ as it ought to be written". But why should it be written like this lol. I never read any of the blurbs
I read the blurb for And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, and was inadvertently spoiled, Not by the blurb itself, but by who wrote the blurb, and her book and Blackman’s being about the same topic.
Agree! As long as they're going to replace a synopsis with blurbs, at least have ones that explain some of what the book is about.
I don't mind reading the blurbs before reading a book because I may be the factor that makes me want to read it. Reading them after is a treat because I'm definitely talking to the book (myself) agreeing with the blurbs or disagreeing with them.
I rarely look at quotes on covers and the first inner pages (especially if I haven't read the book yet). They're not going to change my mind or convince me to read or not read a book. I just need an accurate but not overly detailed synopsis. I also find they just clutter covers. Sometimes I'll get older editions on purpose because they're likely to be just the cover art, title, and author. I hate all that extra stuff on covers!
I’ve never thought of this before but your spot on haha
I don't like blurbs because they take space away from the cover art and binding. In order to choose a book I usually read a few random paragraphs in the book and see if I am curious about learning more.
I don't think I've ever decided to read a book because of a blurb. I mostly avoid reading them, but I've also been primarily reading ebooks and I ignore entire descriptions after I've decided to read something. Very fun for those books that take months and months to come in so I've 100% forgotten why the book was on the list in the first place.
Had a quick flick through my bookshelf and Kings of the Wyld has fantastic blurbs; they actually make me want to read it more
My all time favorite blurb is one from Robert Jordan on the back of Game of Thrones. (It was on the first printing tho I'm not sure if its there on the newer editions...?) I only picked up the series because of that blurb. I often wonder how many people were in a similar boat? How much of ASoIaF's success can be attributed to people like me who only read it because they were massive WoT fans?
I don’t even find the good blurbs helpful because I never know if they’re good until after
As someone who works in academic book publicity and occasionally selects pull quotes (or blurbs) for books it’s fun to see some truly bad ones 😂 But fiction publicity generally is a minefield to me, much prefer working in non-fiction.
I’m so glad you mentioned one of my favorite awkward blurbs on Ship of Magic, “addictive as morphine” - okay? I have nothing to compare that experience to, but yes, you will probably want to read more after this book 😂
The first hit on Google answering the question "How addictive is morphine?" tells us "Morphine is extremely addictive, and studies have shown it to be just as addictive as heroin."
Ok, here's what I got searching 'how addictive is heroin.'
Heroin is a highly addictive and
rapidly acting opiate (a drug that is
derived from opium). Specifically,
heroin is produced from morphine,
which is a principal component of
opium.
I completely ignore blurbs, they're sadly usually not helpful. But I love your game of reading them after reading the book, might try that :D
One of my favourite blurbs was for Seafire: another YA author said "I have such a crush on this book!" I don't know what that means but it makes me smile 🙃
I always notice when the blurb is not from a major publication. Tends to mean the main critical reviews were poor.
There was a point in time when I was hardline no spoilers. I've eased up on my expectations these days. To illustrate why I appreciate concise and economic blurbs, I have considered writing my own deep packet inspection for my home routers to remove HTTP content two to three paragraphs within the occurrence of blacklisted words e.g. Anything mentioning the title of another SOIAF book would be censored from my computer. Once the blurb is out there, there is some chance I might read it. If I were to read that Lovecraftian type story you mentioned, I would prefer to experience the story how I experience it rather than wonder if the blurb influenced my perception of the book. I do have the ability to not look at the back of a book before I read it. But, as another example, when MLB TV was first released, the Jays games were blacked out for broadcasting rights. I'm good with that. It is excellent to see people at the ball parks enjoying the games. However, the extent to which I had to avoid the news in order to enjoy watching the game the next day was far too complicated. There is definitely a point at which information about media content is so saturated within the public sphere that I have to consider becoming a hermit to enjoy cultural content. Bookborn has some excellent videos where she handles spoiler content well using video sections and timed warnings within her content that helps in this regard. I am now considering what I put in my comments as well, which does impact the speed at which I communicate. I've seen Discord servers with a spoiler feature that allows content to be marked as a spoiler before being posted. This sort of feature needs to be implemented per platform, so any spoilers can be hidden without user intervention. I'm better about spoilers these days though, so I'll make it to the next video even if the pull request for that fix isn't done by then.
I borrowed two different books (the chain and hidden pictures) one time and they both were blurb by stephen king with the word "propulsive" in it. I had never even heard the word before.
I think for the Neverwhere blurb there is some context which explains what is said cause there is also a show which had come before the book and they are probably trying to draw in people who watched it maybe? also i think they are trying to compare the both and be like this book is able to express what he had intended in a better way or something...
A blurb in the UK is the short description on the back (or inside cover), we call these reviews. Is this different in America? I spent this whole video in a constant state of confusion. 😅
I might consider a book an author that I like recommends, but the description of the book is what matters to me.
kind of always thought they were paid for so I never cared for them
I chuckle when I see GRRM's "[genre] the way if ought to be written" on Robin Hobb books and The Expanse books. Idk if it's on any other books but I'd love to find more.
i have literally put down books back on the shelf of the bookshop when the blurbs are that unhelpful
I prefer to listen to you give reasons why you loved a book or not plus another person I respect as a book tuber and I also will watch maybe someone outside my comfortable zone just to get a different view point ! Authors will or publishers will send yous books hoping for a good review and I benefit from you doing the work or reading etc. Thank you , Kindly. Craig
Nah, I'm pretty much the same as you!
I don't put much stock in blurbs as far as informing whether or not I should read a book, but I do often enough make a bit of a fun game out of judging whether I think the blurb did anything good for the book or not after reading it.😂😂😂🤭💖💖😁
I usually don't take the blurbs to seriously. The only times I actually look for them in a book is to get confirmation on the genre.
I've found that the only time I read blurbs is after I finish a book that I absolutely loved. I think it's mostly because I want more of that story and reading the blurbs (in the first pages inside the book, not on the cover) makes me forget, for just a moment, that I'm done with the book.
I honestly can't remember when I last read a burb, and I read 80 or so fiction and 50 or so non-fiction books a year.
I usually really don't care about blurbs and mostly agree with what you said.
However, I can't not mention a blurb, more like just a sticker, actually, probably changed my life when it said "from the Douglas Adams of fantasy" and got me to buy my first Discworld book. Can't imagine my life without pratchett.
I always wonder about 'A New York Times Bestseller' blurb: Who decides this? Which books get them? Because in my own experience, it's far from a 'quality label' :p
Agree fully, i want to get key words to get vibes. IDK what these places are trying to do or tell me
I mostly read history. I don't usually read blurbs but occasionally I notice them. If the blurb is written by an author whose book I've enjoyed, then that might be interesting to some extent, but that will not usually be the deciding factor in picking it up.
Plus I enjoy from readers comments as other authors mentioned that are gems !
Delightfully entertaining video!
I love how my copy of The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet has the summary ending with telling that people have their secrets and the stakes are real and then the blurb right below it reads "Great fun!". Such a weird contrast.
There's some people I kind of "blindly" trust when it comes to recommendations (more about movies/series because I barely started reading again and I haven't found a person I can do that with books). And I hate having expectations aside from quality from reviews. While I don't read the blurbs on books I can see the appeal from other authors, not so much for publications unless there's a specific name. Right now I'm into New Weird style stuff (since I've been obsessing with Remedy games and that universe is heavily inspired by House of Leaves) so the less I know the better and I just go based on scores or vague recommendations. Sometimes it pays off (like it did with The Backbone of the World), sometimes it doesn't (like There Is No Antimemetics Division) for me. Same reason I don't watch trailers or like to know more than a premise for something.
It's funny, I have been watching you for years on and off and I actually don't really know if you and I have common tastes haha because I've read at most 10 of the books I've seen you review. Quite a few are classics and I've only read 2 books based on your recommendation (And Every Morning by Backman was such a lovely experience and I didn't like Night of the Mannequins that much).
I'm gussing with the Neverwhere one that in the larger context they were talking about how it was a mini series first and the the book was written but unless you know that that quote is usless.