More blurbs from musicians! How did my former WVU student, poet John Hoppenthaler, get Roseanne Cash to blurb his last collection, Night Wing Over Metropolitan Area? I keep forgetting to ask.
Thanks for posting these thoughts. As someone who gets asked to write blurbs all the time, I don't disagree that they can help books, and I certainly love to receive them for my books. But an ethical issue arises here for me. Sometimes I will get a request for a book or from a publisher I want to support, and I am fully aware that I don't have enough time to read the whole book during the requested time window. As a result, I might agree to write the blurb but say upfront I will likely only be able to read the introduction or the first chapter. Nobody ever turns me down when I say this. This makes me uncomfortable--not sure why. Should I just say no when I can't read the whole thing, or is there a case to be made for saying yes and doing a partial read? Curious to hear your perspective.
Fascinating! I don't think I've ever had a response like yours from a prospective blurber. At the far end of the spectrum, I had (years and many jobs ago) the handlers for a famous politician ask me to write his blurb myself, without (as far as I can tell) the politician reading the manuscript at all. But far more often I get blurbers who—at least based on the time they take and the quality of what they submit—seem to be reading pretty thoroughly, or at least faking things well. You deserve points for candor!
At one level I think general awareness of the practices around blurbs means book-buyers will realize not every blurb indicates the blurber's deep engagement with a book. So I don't know that it's bad to blurb on the basis of a partial read. At another level I'd love to see a world where people didn't get hit up for so many blurbs and the whole system felt more manageable. Maybe blurbers could prioritize requests from publishers that include fewer blurbs per book and consistently take care to actually put them on the book (instead of just posting to the online retailers)? Would be interested to hear thoughts from others . . .
More blurbs from musicians! How did my former WVU student, poet John Hoppenthaler, get Roseanne Cash to blurb his last collection, Night Wing Over Metropolitan Area? I keep forgetting to ask.
Thanks for posting these thoughts. As someone who gets asked to write blurbs all the time, I don't disagree that they can help books, and I certainly love to receive them for my books. But an ethical issue arises here for me. Sometimes I will get a request for a book or from a publisher I want to support, and I am fully aware that I don't have enough time to read the whole book during the requested time window. As a result, I might agree to write the blurb but say upfront I will likely only be able to read the introduction or the first chapter. Nobody ever turns me down when I say this. This makes me uncomfortable--not sure why. Should I just say no when I can't read the whole thing, or is there a case to be made for saying yes and doing a partial read? Curious to hear your perspective.
Fascinating! I don't think I've ever had a response like yours from a prospective blurber. At the far end of the spectrum, I had (years and many jobs ago) the handlers for a famous politician ask me to write his blurb myself, without (as far as I can tell) the politician reading the manuscript at all. But far more often I get blurbers who—at least based on the time they take and the quality of what they submit—seem to be reading pretty thoroughly, or at least faking things well. You deserve points for candor!
At one level I think general awareness of the practices around blurbs means book-buyers will realize not every blurb indicates the blurber's deep engagement with a book. So I don't know that it's bad to blurb on the basis of a partial read. At another level I'd love to see a world where people didn't get hit up for so many blurbs and the whole system felt more manageable. Maybe blurbers could prioritize requests from publishers that include fewer blurbs per book and consistently take care to actually put them on the book (instead of just posting to the online retailers)? Would be interested to hear thoughts from others . . .