On the blurb trail …

• Posted in About Books

Agent Kristin Nelson has been blogging about cover blurbs this week. She’s got some really interesting insights. Check her out at Pub Rants.

I’m on the prowl for cover blurbs myself right now. Well, my editor and agent are on the prowl. They’ve sent Karma Girl out to some folks, and we’re waiting to hear back. For those of you who don’t know, there’s a lot of waiting in the publishing world. Empires can rise and fall in the time that it takes for someone to write a book and see it in print. Seriously. 

We’ve gotten one really great response so far from a paranormal romance author. More details to come. Rest assured that this author is definitely going to get a box of Godiva or something nice from me in the mail. 😉 So will anyone else who is gracious enough to give me a blurb. Are you listening, best-selling authors? Free chocolate! And all you have to do is read my book. 🙂

Supposedly, a good cover blurb can entice a reader to buy a book, especially if it’s by a newbie debut author like me. Personally, I’ve never paid that much attention to cover blurbs. I usually just give them a cursory glance. If it’s somebody I’ve read and liked, then I might be a smidge more inclined to buy a book. But just a smidge. The cover itself and the description of the book carry more weight with me than anything else.

But now that I need one, I find myself staring at every cover blurb I see, sounding out each phrase, parsing the words to find hidden meanings, examing each syllable for secret subtexts. I even check out the punctuation marks. Exlcamation points, good. Periods, not so good.

In short, I’ve become obsessed with simple phrases and sentences.

What about you? Do you pay any attention to cover blurbs? Whose blurb would make you pick up a new author’s book? Inquiring minds want to know …

4 Responses to “On the blurb trail …”

  1. Brian says:

    The best blurbs I have ever seen appeared on the cover of issue #2 and #6 of the comic book Freshmen.

    “If I ever were to read a comic book, it might be this one.” — Sarah Michelle Gellar

    “Superpowered teens, angst, action, and comedy … I don’t get it.” — Joss Whedon

  2. Jennifer Estep says:

    Those are really funny! Of course, those guys know nothing at all about superpowered teens or angst. 😉

    “Buffy” was one of my favorite shows … up through Season 6. The last season with all the new slayers was a complete waste and a terrible way to end things. At least, in my humble opinion.

  3. Brian says:

    You may not have disrespected Field of Dreams, but we are having a Robin and Ted fight over your comments about Season Seven of Buffy being a complete waste. Any chance to see the continuing story of characters I love is never a waste. I can’t imagine not having season seven. Think about it — Not having Spike become a champion, not seeing Faith’s return to Sunnydale, not seeing our dear little Willow start her recovery from losing Tara and dealing with her actions at the end of season six, and not seeing the Slayer finally face off against the biggest of the big bads that had its ground work layed from the beginning. Look – Just a few Andrew scenes makes the whole season invaluable.

    Most shows I care about have moments or even story lines I have a hard time dealing with, but I would never call them a complete waste.

  4. Jennifer Estep says:

    I was really looking forward to Season 7, especially since the last scene in Season 6 was Spike getting his soul back. I always thought that Spike was better than Angel for this reason — he tried to be a good guy and be good to Buffy even when he didn’t have a soul. Angel was just a psychotic asshole without his.

    But I digress. Season 6 was a lot grittier and more grown-up than the other seasons … the Buffy-Spike relationship, Willow going off the deep end, the Xander and Anya conflict. That was all good. But in Season 7, they just sort of forgot about all those things. Buffy gets a job. The principal comes on board. A million people live in her not-so-big house. There was just so much they could have done with it … but they chose to focus on the newbie slayers whom I could have cared less about. One or two would have been alright, but they had like a dozen of them on there.

    After all the chills and thrills of the earlier seasons, I found the last one to be a major letdown. I enjoyed some of the episodes, but it mostly felt like filler to me. Sort of like the last season of Xena. By that point, the producers were really playing up the Xena-Gaby relationship and had forgotten the campy fun of the earlier seasons.

    I actually have a friend who’s even harsher about Buffy than I am. As far as he’s concerned, Buffy ended with Season 5 — and her dying. He absolutely hates Seasons 6 and 7, except for the musical episode. One of the best episodes ever.

    How I Met Your Mother is definitely the best comedy on TV right now. I love Barney!

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