Apr 22, 2008

"ASK ME, UH-HO-HO, ASK ME"

I was just chatting with a fellow author and we have come to this conclusion: Man, book blurbs are a real bitch.

Issue #1: You don't want to insult someone and ask them about blurbing something that they'll think is beneath them.

Issue #2: What's the point of getting a blurb from someone that doesn't hold much clout with your potential readers?

Issue #3: When it comes to giving blurbs to writers, you don't want to be a douchebag and volunteer and set yourself up for a weird moment. See "Issue #2".

Issue #4: To avoid Issue #3, not volunteering to give a blurb can also create weirdness when a writer is in the Issue #1 zone.

It's a vicious cycle, really. So, let me just put this out there now: I will blurb anything, and I will both accept and find homes for all blurbs.

4 comments:

Eric Spitznagel said...

I feel like a Trekkie laughing at a Klingon joke, but I loved every line of this post. So fucking funny and true.

It's easy to forget that the rest of the world doesn't speak our language. I was talking with one of my relatives the other day, and I mentioned to her how I'd been getting a lot of blurbing requests, and I wasn't sure if I should blurb this person or that person, and who'd be insulted if they found out I was blurbing complete strangers. The relative in question listened to me with a forced smile and finally managed to mutter, "Well, you do what you want, but just promise me you'll be safe."

Which begs the question, can unprotected blurbing lead to hepatitis C?

TBWCYL, Inc. said...

I would love to know that answer to that because my wife said I can blurb any time I want as long as I don't rub it in her face. Yikes, that doesn't sound right.

Cat said...

Why not get your "peers" to write your blurbs and then your readers will be impressed that you were ahead of the curve when you both turn out to be vastly successful?

Chad said...

I always assumed blurb writing came attached with lots of potentially integrity subverting social awkwardness and so give blurbs virtually no weight in deciding on a book.