May 13th, 2019

How blurbs work: blurbee perspective

Blurbs a weird little ecosystem that exist only in the book world. Movie posters or art exhibitions or similar will often put flattering lines from published reviews on their posters, but the filmmaker won’t go and ask another filmmaker to say something nice for the express purpose of the poster. Some authors opt out of the ecosystem entirely–don’t accept blurbs on their own work and don’t write’em for others, which seems fair. Others don’t write them but do accept them, which seems a little hinky.

But blurbs, because they are this unofficial, super-cas thing, are very hard to figure out if you are just-the-facts sort of person or hate owing people favours or are just uncomfortable with over-the-top praise, which they are by their nature. Even the word blurb just doesn’t sound very professional, and the system for getting them sourced and put on book covers is just not very formalized either. I don’t know everything about it, but here is everything I do know, which is a hell of a lot more than I did when I started both receiving and giving them.

NOTE: I don’t know why this post is so long. I tried to edit it shorter but I can’t seem to do it. This is really not a hugely important or weighty topic–what’s with all. these. words???

There is no standard person across publishing houses who is responsible for blurbs. I’ve seen editors, marketing, and publicity people handle these, as well as publishers and quite often the authors themselves. Agents are also sometimes involved. The key as an author is to assume neither that you aren’t responsible for getting blurbs for your book nor that you are. It would be terrible if you really wanted some but thought someone else would get the ball rolling and no one did; it would also be bad if you started soliciting blurbs only to find out that someone in-house had a plan for this that you were screwing up. That’s not to say that if someone with a recognizable name says something lovely about your work you shouldn’t immediately ask to get that in writing to use as a blurb, but then you should check with your editor or publicist (whoever your contact is at that stage) about how you should be handling potential blurbs. Even if publishing people want to steer the ship, they will almost certainly be open to your input and you can tell them who you think would be good and/or who has already indicated interest.

You can dream big, but carefully, about whom to approach for blurbs. Whether you as the author are doing the asking, or you are just submitting a list of names to someone else who is, there is no harm in shooting for the stars a little bit. It’s fine to spitball some big names for your list as long as you approach them respectfully and have well-thought-out reasons that would actually like your book. Also make sure whoever you ask has a readership that would like your book too. That’s a big part of what blurbs are for–a reader sees the name of a writer they like on the cover a book by a writer they don’t know, so they pick that one up too. That won’t work if you write, say, historical romance and you solicit blurbs from someone who writes exclusively horror. Not that that writer–or even their readers–might not be open-minded enough to enjoy your work, it’s just that a blurb is a certain type of signal: this is like that.

But in terms of big-name authors, sure, when approached through the appropriate channels, with a fair idea that they are asked all the time and will likely say no, sure, why not. They might say yes. But mainly you want to approach more normal people. Brainstorm a list that includes writers you admire in your own community, including maybe a few you have met as teachers or mentors or colleagues. Your editor or publicist or agent may have worked with other writers and know their work to be similar enough to be a good match, and also have an idea of what their schedule will allow.

How to ask: earlier than you think. If your publisher is handling the blurb, this is where you step out–they’re going to do what they’re going to do. If you as the author are responsible for making contact with potential blurbers, do it as early as possible. What you should provide:

• the reason you thought they might like your book (they have done similar work, you admire them for their work on x, they once said something nice about your writing before)
• all the marketing material that exists at this point (the cover and cover copy, an ad if one is being done, etc.) If none of this exists, you’ll have to describe the book yourself–be clear about the subject, structure, genre (don’t be coy about this–say what shelf in the store your publisher wants it to go on) and themes. Also mention page count.
• the timeline for the blurb: when you can provide the book, and when you’d need their response back

Needless to say, this should all be going to whatever official “contact” email address this author has. If you can’t find one but you can find a professional/”author” social media account, it is ok to send a tiny (a couple line) version of this message asking for an email address–please don’t try to jam a bunch of content into a Twitter DM, though.

Timelines: whee! If you as the author are actually coordinating the handing off of the pages to the potential blurbees, I cannot stress this enough: give them lots of time. More than you would think–as much as humanly possible. No, it doesn’t take that long to read a book and write a couple sentences about it, but the other person probably has other stuff going on, and didn’t slot this in until just this conversation right now.

You’re probably balancing this need for time with a need for quality–you want to wait long enough so that the book is in the best possible shape, without making the actual reading/think/blurb uncomfortably squeezed. So yeah, send the best possible version of the book you can well still balancing the most time you can give. Tough, but you have to try!

And what do I actually send? Publishers that have the time and money to do so send ARCs–advance reading copies–which are copyedited and typeset but not proofread, but are printed and bound. They have covers and often look basically like books, though they can also be more cheaply bound in cerlox (plastic spiral spine). If that is not an option for you, a stack of printed typeset or even manuscript pages (with the copyedit incorporated, I’m really hoping) is also fine, though more awkward for the person on the other end.

If you have not been given a budget for printing and mailing, you can ask blurbers if they are willing to read a digital copy. Many people read mainly on their devices these days and would be happy to. However, do be upfront about this–ie., your initial request should be about “consider reading a digital copy of my new novel” or some such. For people who get stressed out by the idea of adding another screen to their day (eg., me) it is pointless to get into whether I’d like to read this book or the logistics of scheduling time for it if I can’t even get a copy that suits my life. Also, do keep in mind that if your publisher has given you a $0 budget for obtaining blurbs, then maybe blurbs aren’t a very high priority in this market and it shouldn’t be a source of stress/expense for the author either.

What if I hear no? If you ask someone to consider blurbing your book and they say any version of a polite “no thank you” you should just say “thanks for letting me know” and move on. Resist the urge not to respond, because most of us in the book mines agonize over every no and are maybe hoping there will be a chance in the future to say yes to you and make this up–you want to fan that flame! Also, it is unpleasant to say no–thank them for replying because replying really is a kindness. If anyone is polite, even if it isn’t the answer you wanted, build the relationship and be polite in return. “No”s later in the process will hurt more, of course, but unless someone is rude about it, just thank them for their consideration and move on. If anyone seems particularly dejected at being unable to say yes, perhaps due to time constraints, try inviting them to the launch–you never know!

What if I hear yes? Be delighted! Now read the blurb and make sure there isn’t a weird typo or confusing sentence in there you need to ask about. Ask if you need to, then go back to being delighted again. Thank the blurber profusely, invite them to the launch, pass the blurb to your publisher, and that’s it.

When the book comes out, the classiest thing you can do is gift your blurbers a copy of the finished book. This is less important if ARCs that are basically books anyway were used for blurbs, but it is still a nice thing to do and shows that you are really mindful that you’ve been a good turn. If your blurber comes to the launch, you can make a point of giving it there, or send it via mail. If your publisher was the one arranging the blurbs and you’re not directly in touch, ask for them to send it on. You probably don’t want to inscribe these, though of course sign them, as they’re going to folks who have already read the book and they may want to give away these copies. Instead, tuck in a genuine thank you note.

And–this completes the circle. Blurbs are never paid back in any way other than the above. Rather, they are paid forward: what you do is wait hoping that sometime after your book comes out, someone will ask YOU to write a blurb for THEIR book, and you’ll be able to be generous and thoughtful the way others were with you, thus repaying your debt to the universe. I went on to write a post from the blurber perspective next, so hopefully now I’ve got it completely covered!