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Covered with mosquito bites
but I've pulled out five huge Hefty bags of weeds from two of the gardens. Go me.
Thinking about the blurb I've promised to write. Thinking about blurbs in general. What about a blurb makes a book attractive to the targeted market? The identity of the author who is saying "it's good"? The only truism I can think of is that I've noticed that a real turn off for me when I read is a blurb is when the author says, "The best thing since Tolkien." (Somebody did this on the Pullman trilogy, btw.) First of all, just accept it: nobody's as good as Tolkien. And if they are good in their own way, they're going to be good in an entirely different way, and the comparison just seems nonsensical. When I read that on a book, it strikes me that the blurber is just lazy.
I remember reading in a review of the LOTR:FOTR movie and being very struck by a critic remarking that Tolkien to the field of fantasy is like Mount Fuji is to the craft of Japanese landscape painting: it's always there. You're either seeing something on the mountain slopes, or the mountain is there in the distance, or you don't see it at all because you're standing on it.
I think it's a combination of the identity of the person writing the blurb and what they say about it. I know that some writers "dilute" their value as a blurber by blurbing so many books, saying on all them "it's great!" until you just can't believe them any more. (I think that kind of happened with Steven King, although I'm not sure--I don't read any horror and so am not familiar with marketing in that field).
For those so inclined, send in the blurb on a wonderful book you found, where the blurb made you pick it up. What was it about the blurb that snagged your attention?
Cheers,
Peg
Thinking about the blurb I've promised to write. Thinking about blurbs in general. What about a blurb makes a book attractive to the targeted market? The identity of the author who is saying "it's good"? The only truism I can think of is that I've noticed that a real turn off for me when I read is a blurb is when the author says, "The best thing since Tolkien." (Somebody did this on the Pullman trilogy, btw.) First of all, just accept it: nobody's as good as Tolkien. And if they are good in their own way, they're going to be good in an entirely different way, and the comparison just seems nonsensical. When I read that on a book, it strikes me that the blurber is just lazy.
I remember reading in a review of the LOTR:FOTR movie and being very struck by a critic remarking that Tolkien to the field of fantasy is like Mount Fuji is to the craft of Japanese landscape painting: it's always there. You're either seeing something on the mountain slopes, or the mountain is there in the distance, or you don't see it at all because you're standing on it.
I think it's a combination of the identity of the person writing the blurb and what they say about it. I know that some writers "dilute" their value as a blurber by blurbing so many books, saying on all them "it's great!" until you just can't believe them any more. (I think that kind of happened with Steven King, although I'm not sure--I don't read any horror and so am not familiar with marketing in that field).
For those so inclined, send in the blurb on a wonderful book you found, where the blurb made you pick it up. What was it about the blurb that snagged your attention?
Cheers,
Peg
no subject
To be honest, I don't rely that much on those blurbs written by *other* authors, although if it's an author whose own work I've enjoyed, it catches my attention and I might also have a better sense of what *sort* of book it is (hoping that they would read and write in similar genres). I still usually rely mostly on reading the main "official" summary (what do you call that?) and flip through the book and read a few lines of actual text.
Hmmm... could you quote a favorite line? What would make *you* pick up this book you're trying to promote? If you were just telling a friend about it, in [however many] words or less, what would be the most important things you'd want to convey, to get them to read it? That you couldn't put it down? That the characters were engaging/real/delightful/fanciful/etc? The plot was original? Comforting? Suspenseful? Did the book make you think or cry or laugh?
I feel ridiculous saying these things to you, as I'm sure you've thought of them yourself. But I guess ... that's probably the approach I would take. I'd try to think of ways to promote the book to my friends if they gave me only a limited amount of space to do it, and pick out the things I felt were the most appealing and important to me personally (not 'commercially').