Comments on: Blurb Etiquette

By: A word about Blurbs « Count down to a million words

A word about Blurbs « Count down to a million words — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:34:20 +0000

[...] 22, February,2008 Justine Larbalestier, a sterling, award winning, Australian YA fantasy author (another author I haven’t read but who’s blog I follow) posted a guide to blurb etiquette on her blog. http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/?p=1020 [...]

By: On blurbing at Tobias Buckell Online

On blurbing at Tobias Buckell Online — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:40:57 +0000

[...] Scalzi and Justine Larbalestier talk about [...]

By: limeywesty

limeywesty — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:14:41 +0000

I don’t like spoiler blurbs. They are… spoilers. And they completely spoil the story. That’s probably why they’re called spoilers, but you’re a lot brighter than me and probably realised that ages ago.

I don’t read blurbs anymore, and since I’ve stopped, I’ve began to enjoy the whole book a lot more. Not just the section in the second half that hasn’t been ruined by the blurb!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:24:52 +0000

Ping back – MJ – Ping back.

By: maureen johnson

maureen johnson — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:24:29 +0000

how did someone quote me, as me? someone is being sneaky, because I didn’t do that!

By: Writer in Residence, insideadog.com.au

Writer in Residence, insideadog.com.au — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:45:09 +0000

[...] I really wish some of this stuff was out there when I was a tiny mj. Some of the advice is just so good. Concepts are demystified. Procedures explained. You can get a really good look at how books are [...]

By: lizza

lizza — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:02:10 +0000

I love it…”Google knows when you lie”
Great blurb..applicable to so many areas of life.

By: sara z

sara z — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:18:03 +0000

p.s. Just saw Bill’s comment, and yeah, that’s like the 19th century version of what I’m saying.

By: sara z

sara z — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:35:56 +0000

Another little tip: if an author happens to mention on her blog something positive about your book, it doesn’t mean that you should immediately go update your web site to include, “I read it on the plane on my way home from vacation and ejoyed every second of it.” – Suzy Blogger, Pulitzer Winning Author of CUPCAKES SHOULD BE FROSTED. It feels really weird to see your name with a “blurb” that you never meant to be a blurb, just a passing mention. I don’t think it’s cool.

By: Bill Clark

Bill Clark — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:33:51 +0000

An historical note of interest: Walt Whitman sent a copy of the first edition of “Leaves of Grass” to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote a letter back saying, “I greet you at the dawn of a great career….” Whitman promptly put out a second edition using Emerson’s quote, sans permission of course. Needless to say, the nose of the Sage of Concord was considerably out of joint, and history records no further correspondence between them….

By: maureen johnson

maureen johnson — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:23:36 +0000

justine should be in charge of everything. but I always say this.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:05:15 +0000

Great post! Thanks for going through all this — I feel like you touched on a lot of things that aren’t always talked about.

By: Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:48:53 +0000

Love the title of the new book and can’t wait to read it! As for blurbs, thanks for this. It’s such an awkward business, trying to get “famous” people to read your book. The thought of bugging other writers makes me want to curl up in fetal position. Yet, I really pay attention to blurbs when I am book shopping, so I think they’re really important marketing.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:45:03 +0000

Scalzi's got some pretty good blurb policies that make sense, too. "All blurb requests must come through editors/publishers, not authors. This is to avoid me having to tell an author I don’t like their work enough to blurb it. That’s awkward. "

By: liliya

liliya — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:46:18 +0000

There a whole discussion on the rights and wrongs of blurbs here. scroll down (about half way) for the comments on Jonathan Franzen's blurbs - made me laugh

By: e. Lockhart

e. Lockhart — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:56:50 +0000

I love that LB blurb! I can’t wait to read How to Ditch Your Fairy.

By: Green Tee Readings » links for 2008-02-08

Green Tee Readings » links for 2008-02-08 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:31:54 +0000

[...] Justine Larbalestier » Blurb Etiquette Blurb! Blurb blurb blurb; blurb. (tags: blurb etiquette writing howto) [...]

By: rebecca

rebecca — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:32:02 +0000

“and I’d imagine that last remark is apropros for more than just blurbage.”

ditto times a thousand. it’s pure dumbassery to do stuff like that.

By: aden

aden — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:24:57 +0000

All solid advice, and I’d imagine that last remark is apropros for more than just blurbage. Even though information density keeps skyrocketing there’s always someone keeping track of these things.

(“Blurb” showed up so often that it started to look funny, so I looked up its etymology. Coined in 1907, it was originally meant as mockery of book cover praise. Oh well. The more you know…)

By: N C

N C — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 05:35:23 +0000

Thanks for writing that. I used to wonder about blurbs! And I just wanted to say that it was partly your blurb that convinced me to read City of Bones. And your blurb did not lead me astray. City of Bones was great!