From the Backlist - What's in a Blurb

 

A desperate prince… a castle full of lies… and an ancient shapeshifter trapped in the form of a human girl. Mistwood by Leah Cypress

Hello to all Sup readers! Today, from the Backlist, we are looking at the topic of BLURBS. Though the contest is long over from this April 28, 2011 post by Leah Cypess, the question remains. Do book blurbs make a difference?

NOTE - For those interested in the history of book blurbs:

In 1907the writer and illustrator Gelett Burgess decided to satirise the practice of putting women on the cover of books, whether they were about women or not. He put a sickly sweet fictional girl named Miss Belinda Blurb his new release, “Are you Bromide?” to incite sales. His plan worked, or back-fired (not sure which) when Bromide sold so well that the term Book Blurb was popularized and all future books included one on the back cover. 

Miss Belinda Book Blurb (1907) from Buried Under Books

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What's In A Blurb 

by Leah Cypess

. . . Blurbs make an author feel good (trust me), but the constant question in publishing is: Do they actually have any effect on the reader? What I’ve heard from some people is that the answer is age dependent – in adult publishing, the consensus is that blurbs do affect readers; in YA, probably not to a great extent; and in mid-grade, probably not at all. 

Of course, as with most information in publishing, this is based on a strenuous and scientific review of five pieces of anecdotal evidence. So, I’m curious: do blurbs affect your buying decisions? Will they make you look at a book more closely? Do you even notice them?

Let us know what you think in the comments . . . Read the whole post and fascinating comments ..

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What is your take on Blurbs? Read them? Love them? Distrust them?

Let us know!