I drafted my thoughts on blurbs back in December. Then last week I saw Jami Attenberg also got in the blurb discussion game. You can read her take here via her Substack. Jami also mentions Rebecca Makkai’s detailed post (that I link to below) and it was in response to announcement that one of the Big 5 Publishers’ flagship imprint (Simon & Schuster) is no longer “requiring” blurbs. Since I already drafted my thoughts, I’m gonna stick with this post. If you find it helpful—great! At the least you get some varied opinions and background on the whole blurb thing.
First (or kinda second now), let me point to Rebecca Makkai’s really helpful “Blurb No More” post on Substack where she expounds on why she’s taking a hiatus from blurbing. She lists a brief history and Best Practices for authors, editors & publicists—which I cosign and also want to laud the section on “providing as much advance notice as possible.”
Let’s get philosophical for a moment, shall we?
Do you need blurbs? Depends on who you ask.
Do blurbs influence whether someone will read or buy your book? Also depends on the person.
Do people tend to freak out over blurbs? Absolutely. (Or in even more colloquial terms: hell yes.)
While some may have a hard line on what is and isn’t needed when it comes to publication, I will say that seeing 20 blurbs doesn’t necessarily sway me to buy a book and that in various cases I have not necessarily enjoyed books that received 3 pages of endorsements. More and more folx in the biz are noting how much word-of-mouth is precious to the longevity of a book. What so many things come down to in the arts is that much of it is subjective. Remember that.
While Rebecca does get into some nitty gritty as mentioned. I’m gonna use this post to note what I’ve done, which you can take or leave. Well, take or leave the rest of them, but maybe try to adhere to Bullet #1 at the very least? (There are 6 points total.)
Time: Time is precious, y’all! It only took me 15 years into adulthood to fully embrace: “I’d rather have time than money.” This means a few weeks is really not enough time for anyone to blurb anything. I mean, maybe a picture book, but let’s not make it a habit, friends. Last year, in a span of 2 months I was asked for several blurbs with a turnaround time of less than 2 months. While I initially felt 2 months was a good minimum, after seeing Rebecca’s post noting 6 months, I’m setting a new boundary that 4 months is going to have to be a new minimum for any requests to me as an author to blurb someone’s work. And anything less than this will lean into hard “no” territory. (My forties have become the embrace boundaries era.)
Choose your own minimum! There are people we’d bend over backwards for, perhaps literally if our spine or personal agility allowed it. But in general, it’s helpful to have a clear standard that you can provide within a quick reply to the person asking. Perhaps the requester will be able to adjust knowing you need more time.
Publishers (namely editors, agents, or publicists at a publisher) know when a book is going to publish (and more importantly, the To Printer date). And yes, crashes happen (see end of blog post for definition of a “crash schedule.”) But all in all, the higher chance of success is by providing as much time as possible. I had requested blurbs for Forgive Me Not a little over 3 months in advance, which still didn’t feel like enough time. When my pub date moved I contacted everyone immediately to say I could extend to 5 months if that helped. The majority of folx met the original 3+ month timing.
Provide people the best thing you have. You don’t have to wait to send the ARC to blurbers, especially if it cuts down the window for someone to read the book. If you need a blurb in October, then I’d reach out to someone in June, perhaps even earlier, especially for a book that is 80,000 words or more. For one thing, people may teach, have a book coming out (or one they’re actively working on), have kids in school, may be on sabbatical and not checking email regularly, etc. You never know what someone has on their plate. But if you do I’d suggest planning and providing a super clean manuscript and offering not just a PDF but a bound copy ASAP. (Your publisher can hopefully help cover costs on mailing a print copy or you can use it as a tax write-off if you have to pay for printing & shipping.)
Please do not assume how fast one can read based on your need rather than their own schedule. I turned down all but one request based on the fact of length. And one I had to read in my own time due to bandwidth. I care if you respect my time and the effort that goes into crafting praise along with juggling various responsibilities. As someone who has been in the seat of the asker, and will be again on my own and others’ behalf, the best way to set yourself up is to show respect with as much leeway as possible, provide everyone all the info upfront including deadline, link to PDF, and offer to send a printed or bound copy (or ARC) ASAP. This is basic courtesy. Me having to ask for a printed version, when my eye strain is bad—plus, it was confirmed I have astigmatism last month—just adds another reason why I may decline. Make it easy for someone to say “yes,” and please reduce back & forth. This is the same for any ask, be it to moderate/attend an event or do an interview, etc. All info upfront as succinctly as possible.
Gratitude: As with everything here, I’m not gonna say this is what everyone “should” do. We all have different methods. But here is what I did as thanks to the wonderful writers who took the time to provide me blurbs. (And I will do it again, if/when I’m so blessed to receive such support for my published work.)
Final copies: I made sure to mail everyone a hardcover from my author copies with a short thank you note.
Gift: I sent treats via mail or in-person. (Make sure to ask about allergies!) In the case where 2 were convo partners, I gave them gift bags (and bought them dinner) as thanks for not only that evening, but for being so generous in general.
Donations/Giveaways: I also purchased a few copies of the authors’ latest book to give away at a launch event and asked if there were any schools I could donate a copy to. Or I donated their book to schools that I also donated my book to.
My main reasoning for Bullet #2 is that most times you get a copy and that’s it. Which is totally fine! When I love a book, I gladly sing that love from the rooftops because I want everyone to know how much I love it! (See my end of year Fave lists over the past several years.) For me, because I deeply respect and really like each writer I sent an early copy to, it meant the world that they even took a moment to read my book let alone provide kind words for it. And I wanted them to know how much that meant to me. If you want to go above and beyond, do it. But at the least, I’d suggest letting someone know via a personal note how much you appreciated their time & words. Whether you asked the blurber directly or not, it’s your book, and it helps when the author acknowledges that time & consideration.
Blurb Tally: I do believe in overkill when it comes to most things, except water (stay hydrated y’all!). But it’s really every individual's choice as noted, and as I’ll continue to note. I didn’t love an instance when I, same as Rebecca, was asked for a blurb and steadily reminded about the deadline only to see the author had 12 people blurbing it. So there really wasn’t a need for my name as well, at least to me. Especially since it wasn’t going on any promotion. Now, I don’t need to see my name. Though… if you have 5 or more people blurbing, I have to wonder why you may need me to add to the mix? There is but so much room on the back cover. If you have 10 blurbs in for the hardcover edition, you probably don’t need mine.
Quick Note: Where do all those blurbs go? If not on the back cover of the physical book they may end up on early praise pages in the front matter as well as on the book page of the publisher’s (and/or author’s) website. But praise printed inside a book also depends on page count and timing, to name a couple factors. For hardcovers an abundance of blurbs may or may not go inside the book, but paperback reprints (pubbed a year or so after the hardcover in the U.S.) usually make space for the praise to be collated and put in the front since there’s less room on the actual cover due to the format.
Maybe this is controversial (welcome to my life), but maybe those of us receiving the ask should inquire how many people are already blurbing to gain a sense of urgency? No??? TOO CONTROVERSIAL, you say?
For every book I draft, I make a list of potential blurbers/convo partners because I want to be targeted, not random. I don’t connect people to my work simply because of their name—and maybe that’s an error on my part. But, I do want to reach out to folx I (a) may have a relationship with whose work fits the audience I’m writing for as well, (b) someone who may enjoy my work (or has), and (c) someone whose work I also admire in the same genre (realm of story). I considered this for Forgive Me Not and told each person why I was asking them to read it. They all had experience as educators, are people who wrote deeply about important topics for young audiences, and each had at least one book I felt mine was in conversation with that I referenced & enjoyed. And if none of them were able to blurb, I’d figure it out. Mainly, I wanted to be better about targeting rather than casting a wide net. Casting a wide net may serve some people well—again, do you. And in some cases it may serve the author very well. But please consider both parties. It’s not easy or a quick process to review books and it’s not easy to blurb them.
Don’t Assume: What’s wild is that, for some, the words “I’ll consider it” or “I’ll take a read” or “I’ll try to read” seem to translate to “Yes, I will give you a blurb.” This is not the case, friends! The only guarantee is a firm “yes” or the blurb itself arriving in your inbox. (Huzzah when that happens!) If someone says they will read or consider or take a look or try to find time or see what they can do, or any variation of this, that isn’t a concrete “Yes!” or “Absolutely!” or “You’ll receive it from me on XX.” If you receive any of the noted responses that is not a firm yes, I’d suggest replying with: “Thanks for agreeing to take an early look at my book. If you can provide a blurb by XX date that’d be deeply appreciated. Please let me know if there’s another format I can provide for ease of reading.”
Even though people I asked said they’d be happy to read my book, no one guaranteed me a blurb upfront. It wasn’t until I received it or updated folx on the date and they said they’d provide one that I knew. I did not assume even those who knew me would enjoy my book or deem to provide an endorsement. So please do not assume even when you have a relationship with someone. Timing matters. Approach matters. And it’ll be okay if someone may not totally jive with your work. Perhaps they may be able to be a convo partner, just not a blurber. Perhaps they can do social media championing, but not read it in a certain timeframe. Perhaps they can offer many other areas of support that may not appear on the book or book’s web page. Support looks different for everyone.
Don’t Take It Personal: Cue the Monica song! Just a quick note, that may sound repetitive at this point, but I feel a need to emphasize: If someone chooses not to blurb your book, please try not to take it personally. If someone does provide some (helpful or thoughtful) feedback on the book, consider if this is something that may be worth applying to your work or not.
If someone doesn’t like your book, they are probably not going to tell you out of kindness. And honestly, I don’t feel it’s my place to tell someone a book doesn’t jive with me. At the same time that’s often not the reason I decline blurb requests—timing is. If a book may be problematic, however, I may consider how to frame feedback or if I want to take time to say anything—especially if it’s through a publishing representative rather than the author.
You are not entitled to anything when it comes to blurbs. Not to anyone’s time or anyone’s good graces. If someone can’t do it who you feel “should” do it, perhaps re-examine why you feel this way. Perhaps someone said they would and did a takeback. That is a bummer, but if they can’t do the blurb perhaps you can circle back and check in if they may be able to help in another way.
Sometimes people are just awkward and ghost. As a very direct person and proud Aquarius, I cannot explain why. But it does happen, unfortunately. It may be due to anxiety, overwhelm, or guilt for taking too long to respond. All of which has nothing to do with you necessarily, especially if you’ve been cordial and respectful in your follow-up. You have a right to be in the feels if someone said “yes” then went quiet. And if the relationship is one you’d like to retain, it may be worth trying to broach the subject gently to check if maybe they had a lot going on they couldn’t verbalize. Something I learned in therapy is sometimes what occurs isn’t because of something you did. But if it is, there’s no harm in asking. If someone isn’t ready to broach that you can’t force it. Take what you need from this situation and try to move on.
People forget, so don’t be afraid to follow-up. A friend of mine totally forgot to give me a blurb because they were so busy with their own book pubbing. They asked me after my book was at the printer if they could provide one and told me they needed reminders in a specific method to remember things. This was helpful for me to know as I had used a method that wasn’t working for them (email). As someone who has had to rethink how to not fall behind on personal email account(s), it made sense to me. I also very much appreciated their candidness about enjoying my book, but simply juggling too much to think about one more thing. (So very, very relatable.)
Keeping Up Appearances: “But does it look … bad that I don’t have any blurbs?” If you happen to have a physical copy of the short story anthology I edited, Everyday People: The Color of Life, you’ll notice it has no blurbs. Not a one. And that is because my editor never told me I needed to get them, nor did he provide me a deadline or any reminders/inquiries about them. This was my first published book, mind you. I worked full-time mostly in academic publishing at this point. And guess what? We don’t always have blurbs on books in educational publishing! So when I did ask, it was too late. My editor told me he thought I was getting them this whole time. This was just one of several frustrations when it came to not great communication between author and publisher. As an FYI, I didn’t have an agent at the time so I was going solo on this one. And learned a lot.
Was I pissed? To get colloquial again, hell yes. Because I did know people I could have sent it to who were willing to provide a blurb–or at least consider it. I felt like I was letting the contributors down by not having blurbs. The reviews were positive and, even after my request, my editor didn’t even add those to the back cover. Another frustration. But, at the end of the day, there’s nothing I could do but ask if they could add it to a reprint—the book was a paperback original. (This did not happen either.) Did it ruin Everyday People? Not at all. Did it mean I didn’t have “connections”—I hate that word— or that no one wanted to blurb this title? Nope and nope. It meant I didn’t have blurbs for reasons no one but I cared about in the end. I’m sure blurbs may have helped in some ways. Before the book pubbed I had 12 requests from bookstores to appear, which was because of the talent inside this anthology. I think one reason the editor didn’t make a big deal was because he felt the content would sell itself—and honestly, it should. So I can understand why the S&S imprint is asserting that another task for authors & editors is not the best use of time when we all want to focus on making the best book possible. But again, it’s subjective and dependent. Everyday People continues to have a long life, especially in schools/areas of study and, yes, word-of-mouth. I’m quite proud of that.
If the blurbs help you feel better about your book because you can look at the praise when everything else may be going haywire, then that’s great! But if you don’t have blurbs, you didn’t fail and certainly shouldn’t feel embarrassed. I honestly don’t even think about that issue with Everyday People anymore. Mainly because the world is cracking like an egg and so am I some days. But really, because it was a moment, I learned from it, and I moved on, as does everyone else.
Well this was a lengthy post, wasn’t it? I hope the above, along with Rebecca’s thorough post and Jami’s thoughts, are helpful in terms of understanding the blurb process as blurber and requestor. Publishing is already stressful, so please do not freak out or stress over blurbs and how many you do or don’t have. I know receiving them or any type of praise from creatives you admire can be incredibly heartening as you prepare to share something personal and vulnerable in the world. Please don’t hesitate to ask people to engage with your work, simply respect the time it takes to do so. Write (and/or illustrate) the best book possible and continue to build the community that will reciprocate the love you share for this creative life.
Some Definitions
ARC: Advanced Reader Copy. Early book copies that may not be considered final and are sent out pre-publication for reviews & early buzz.
Big 5: In the United States, there are 5 major publishing bodies that make up a good portion of sales % in the marketplace. They are: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster.
Blurb: An endorsement of one’s work that usually goes on or inside a published book.
Bound Copy: Manuscript pages bound like a book without a cover (usually 8x11 page size in the U.S.).
Crash: Fast-tracking a project by consolidating due dates for deliverables. In book publishing a crash schedule can be less than 5 months to produce a book from the time the manuscript goes to production to the time it has to be in the warehouse.
Flagship Imprint: Main imprint (may or may not have the same name).
Front Matter: Initial pages before the content of the book officially begins that usually includes copyright page, title page(s), dedication, table of contents, epigram, previously published books, etc.