tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post4509469308975217475..comments2024-03-29T00:34:36.786-05:00Comments on Book Chase: Book Blurbs and Back-ScratchingSam http://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-27872546682834983332008-08-22T20:46:00.000-05:002008-08-22T20:46:00.000-05:00I think that's about right, JoAnn, and I think the...I think that's about right, JoAnn, and I think the term works. Some folks have so many blurbs on the shelves at the same time that they have devalued their own credibility.<BR/><BR/>...and the fun and games at Amazon can sometimes be amusing, especially when an author goes off the deep end and takes such offense at the reader comments that they organize a rabid attack on those posters. It is Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-43576051105538341012008-08-22T20:44:00.000-05:002008-08-22T20:44:00.000-05:00Good points, Peter, and I largely agree with them....Good points, Peter, and I largely agree with them. The NYT reviews don't always impress me because of their editorial/political bias, but they are generally interesting.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-77347440953840751192008-08-19T09:05:00.000-05:002008-08-19T09:05:00.000-05:00I think of "blurb whores" as those authors who wri...I think of "blurb whores" as those authors who write scads of blurbs and seem to lack any discrimination - they will praise anything, it seems.<BR/><BR/>I also find it appalling that many reviews (which are usually little more than blurbs) at Amazon are by friends and/or family of the author. After years of reading reviews there, these jump out at me and are so obvious. <BR/><BR/>JoAnn<BR/>JoAnnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09600670648603318536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-34079512362397681162008-08-17T22:33:00.000-05:002008-08-17T22:33:00.000-05:00Does anyone even care about those blurbs from othe...Does anyone even care about those blurbs from other authors?<BR/><BR/>Honestly, for me, I like two things:<BR/><BR/>1. I find the SOURCE of the book review quotes are very influential (NYTimes? WSJ? Good. Vogue? People? Bad.)<BR/><BR/>2. I read the DESCRIPTION of the contents. I can't stand, and rarely buy, those books that have a lengthy block of text about how great the book is and how Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-88765540927687321342008-08-17T21:38:00.000-05:002008-08-17T21:38:00.000-05:00John, that's why I give almost no credit to "later...John, that's why I give almost no credit to "lateral blurbs." Those are often shared between friends who would never give a negative blurb to a peer/friend, nor insult that friend by refusing to do one at all. They have become just "filler" on the book covers, IMO.<BR/><BR/>Upward or downward ones are more likely to have merit and be honest, I think. But it is difficult sometimes to recognize Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-74051507081103115182008-08-17T21:29:00.000-05:002008-08-17T21:29:00.000-05:00Well, there's honest and then there's "honest." Bl...Well, there's honest and then there's "honest." Blurbing your friends may not be intentionally misleading, but judgement is probably skewed anyway. When Debbie (my wife) comments that she likes a particular poem, or line from a poem, that I've written, it of course, makes me feel good, and I believe that she means it, but, she is my wife and isn't exactly an unbiased party. <BR/><BR/>An author (AJohn Mutfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08730205221787092204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-15578255731340084172008-08-17T19:37:00.000-05:002008-08-17T19:37:00.000-05:00That's a great point, Jen...and exactly why I don'...That's a great point, Jen...and exactly why I don't put a lot of faith in references when I'm hiring someone. In order to protect themselves from lawsuits, most people would not dare say anything negative regarding an ex-colleague or a friend of theirs.<BR/><BR/>I would like to think that the majority of blurbs are honest...but I would bet that a substantial percentage of them are written by Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-40117137059116307632008-08-17T19:35:00.000-05:002008-08-17T19:35:00.000-05:00Carrie, that has happened to me, too, especially w...Carrie, that has happened to me, too, especially with all these newly coined internet-related words. They seem to come and go, don't they, even before they are ever listed in a standard dictionary?Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-15417615660770617262008-08-17T19:33:00.000-05:002008-08-17T19:33:00.000-05:00Will, I love to see blurbs from "name authors" on ...Will, I love to see blurbs from "name authors" on the covers of books by authors I've never heard of...even if they share a publisher, because I always figure that they would not want to "taint" their own rep by giving misleading praise for a book. <BR/><BR/>And I completely understand the "blurbing up" thing, the honor involved for the lesser-known, etc. When I see those, I always figure that Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-30449182564769785782008-08-17T19:27:00.000-05:002008-08-17T19:27:00.000-05:00I was reading this article this morning, too, Sam....I was reading this article this morning, too, Sam. I couldn't help but think that something very similar happens in the "ordinary" person's life all the time - job references. Don't we ask the folks we know will say nice things about us? Especially our teachers/mentors? It does scare me, however, that there is someone out there SELLING blurbs. That's just not right. However, I try to have Jen Forbushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13325129568512353951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-33233986484750785932008-08-17T19:20:00.000-05:002008-08-17T19:20:00.000-05:00I don't think using friends or teachers is "cheati...I don't think using friends or teachers is "cheating"; my advisor was Sid Stebel, and when he called my novel "brilliant," well, you can bet I felt I had earned it.<BR/><BR/>I love that we live in a culture where established writers who have positive things to say about their not-so-established colleagues' work, or alternately, not-so-established writers who are honored, privileged, and humbled Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-54494589978352819712008-08-17T18:56:00.000-05:002008-08-17T18:56:00.000-05:00The one thought this post left me with, Sam? Is th...The one thought this post left me with, Sam? Is that blurb is an amusing word and is now devoid of all meaning to me. (Has that happened to you? Hear/say/read a word so often that it becomes meaningless noise?)<BR/><BR/>(In no way a commentary on your post, which was fascinating and illuminating. Cheating by using your friends as blurb writers.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com