In what is shaping up to be a controversial decision (at least according to social media), Simon & Schuster’s new publisher, Sean Manning, has announced that the S&S flagship imprint will no longer require blurbs. Read the full article here.
What Sean Manning Said
In a nutshell, Mr. Manning believes that authors blurbing books is weird.
While there has never been a formal mandatory policy in the eight years I’ve been with the Simon & Schuster imprint, it has been tacitly expected that authors—with the help of their agents and editors—do everything in their power to obtain blurbs to use on their book cover and in promotional material. I have always found this so weird.
In no other artistic industry is this common. How often does a blurb from a filmmaker appear on another filmmaker’s movie poster? A blurb from a musician on another musician’s album cover? A blurb from a game designer on another designer’s game box? The argument has always been that this is what makes the book business so special: the collegiality of authors and their willingness to support one another. I disagree. I believe the insistence on blurbs has become incredibly damaging to what should be our industry’s ultimate goal: producing books of the highest possible quality.
Sean Manning says in PW article
What is a Blurb
Back in the not very distant past, when you picked up a book, the back cover, inside cover, and initial pages often showcased excerpts from industry publications that reviewed the book. The New York Times, sure, but many, many other newspapers, journals, and magazines used to review books. Some trade paperbacks would have multiple pages of these excerpts, and this served as a sort of proof of the book’s value to a potential reader. Marie Claire loved it! GQ thought it was awesome! The Nyack Review called it a must-read! But then magazines and newspapers began disappearing and the ones that were left reviewed fewer and fewer books.
Publishers, however, still needed to fill up the space on the back of the book with some kind of testimonial. So began the author blurb, which is basically a rave review from an author writing in the same genre as the book.
Not All Blurbs are Created Alike
A blurb from me is going to carry a lot less weight than a rave from Stephen King or Lee Child (alas), for obvious reasons. A reader who picks up a book in a bookstore, or who browses a book’s page online, might be swayed by a famous name touting the book’s glories. But many, many, many (most) blurbs are from authors who are probably not household names.
In my unscientific and completely anecdotal personal experience, most readers ignore blurbs by authors they don’t recognize and often believe the blurbs are by the author’s friends or have been bought by the publisher.
How To Get a Blurb?
First, I need to say that I am deeply, deeply grateful to everyone who has blurbed my books. Blurbing is not a quick process. The other author needs to read the book, or at least skim it, and then write a meaningful, enthusiastic short review. I have felt touched and extremely humbled by the authors who have agreed to do this for me.
Likewise, I’ve felt honored to be asked to write a blurb, and I always take these requests with the utmost seriousness.
But… is there a more agonizing hell than that of begging for blurbs? Of course, there are many more painful things. Root canals. Holiday traffic. But for authors who have scaled the Kilimanjaro of finding an agent, crossed the Sahara of going on submission, battled the Hydra of copy edits, there is suddenly the Great Dismal Swamp of asking for blurbs. Yes, the publisher will very likely reach out to other authors, but there is a strong pressure on authors to do this outreach themselves. If said author is with a smaller imprint, or an indie publisher, and the number of advanced reader copies available is miniscule, the blurb asking becomes even more of a numbers game.
This is why it’s important to become friends with other authors! And do this genuinely, not for the purpose of eventually asking for blurbing favors. The wonderful thing about the writing community is that you’re already among people who like so much of the same things you do. Finding likeminded souls should be easy. And STILL, even asking a friend, even a friend whose book you’ve blurbed, can be agonizing for some people (me).
What Are People Saying About S&S’s Decision?
Surprisingly, the discourse seems to be bifurcated, as almost everything else in our society. Some people (me) are over the moon at this. Now, as I’ve said, I don’t mind writing blurbs myself. I am honored whenever a fellow author asks. But it takes a nearly superhuman act of will on my part to do the asking.
Some people are uneasy about what will replace these blurbs. How to communicate to a potential reader that at least someone who knows what they’re doing liked the book? There are concerns that new authors might be particularly badly affected.
My biggest question about the decision lies in the fact that while Simon & Schuster will not solicit blurbs, they will happily print blurbs by top tier authors who had read the book and felt they absolutely had to share their enthusiasm. Which means that SOME books will get magnificent blurbs, while the rest will be blurbless, and therefore, more noticeably less worthy. This makes me uneasy because I can foresee authors continuing to ask for blurbs, but doing it on the DL, and then presenting them to their publishers, anyway.
The Future?
Hmm… I wish I knew! What are your all thoughts on this? I want to know! Really, leave a comment. I want to know.
Emilya Naymark
Her short stories appear in the Bouchercon 2023 Anthology, A Stranger Comes to Town: edited by Michael Koryta, Secrets in the Water, After Midnight: Tales from the Graveyard Shift, River River Journal, Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017, and 1+30: THE BEST OF MYSTORY.
When not writing, Emilya works as a visual artist and reads massive quantities of psychological thrillers, suspense, and crime fiction. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book because of a blurb, though when Stephen King says something is good, I’m inclined to believe him. I just had to ask three people for blurbs and I spaced my requests a week apart to give my nerves time to settle down. I guess my gut feeling is that anything that helps sell a book is good.
Yes to all of that. I guess we just wait and see how long this ‘no blurb’ thing lasts at S&S
Emilya, I’m with you in worrying that blurb-less books may appear less worthy. On the other hand, I hate asking for them and am sometimes overwhelmed with requests for them. And then, there’s that queasy feeling when I’m blurbing a book that I would prefer not to recommend.
Fran Lebowitz, in the movie Pretend It’s a City, has a hilarious bit about reading a book recommended by an author she loves and respects, only to learn he’s in it for the quid pro quo!
Blurbs are such a weird industry. On the one hand, it’s an honor to be asked. But it really seems most readers (and authors) don’t hold much stock in them. And yet, a book without blurbs seems like the kid in the lunchroom sitting by themselves in the corner.
I’ve never purchased a book because of a book blurb. And as a writer, the process of seeking blurbs can feel awkward, as everyone’s pointed out. Yet as a reader, I’d be a little sad to see those blurbs go. When I pull a new-to-me book from a library or bookstore shelf, the first thing I do is read a page or two of the story. The second thing I do is flip to the back cover to skim the blurbs. Both are part of the book browsing experience I love. Sure, I can go online and check reviews at the usual places, but it’s just not the same. So that leaves me smack in the middle of this debate, understanding both points of view and wondering what publishers would throw onto their back covers without in lieu of blurbs.
Right??? What are they going to do? It has to be all or nothing. Either everyone gets blurbs or nobody does. Otherwise it’s just weird. And uncomfortable.
Oh, the sheer torture of asking a fellow author for a blurb! Which is only equaled by an “asked” author explaining they’re meeting their own deadline and really, really WANT to read for you but just can’t right now… ugh.
And yet— a blurbless book sounds, well, naked! Will authors have to craft longer content blurbs? Add a bit of whimsy to the back cover? I recently used one perfect apple as a spacer on the back cover of DEATH IN THE ORCHARD because it fit the setting, along with the content blurb and a brief bio. That seemed like a compromise to asking for more, and then there was that apple…
Plus, the more books an author writes, the smaller the pool of people they are comfortable asking becomes, right?
Sure a book should stand on its own merit; and I wonder how many readers buy books based solely on blurbs? I don’t. And yet…
It’s a thorny question for sure.
I don’t think we can have blurbless books unless all books are blurbless. Otherwise it’s even worse!
Emilya, look other commenters, I’ve never bought a book because of a blurb. Sometimes they are so general that I don’t believe the blurber hasn’t read the book. In any case, I’m thankful my publisher doesn’t required them.
Emilya, I’ve never bought a book because of a blurb. Sometimes they are so general that I don’t believe the blurber hasn’t read the book. In any case, I’m thankful my publisher doesn’t required them.
Along with everyone else, I have never purchased a book based on a back cover blurb. But I have purchased after reading reviews.
I have to say how amazed I was that when Rowman & Littlefield insisted I reach out and get blurbs for Traveling Different, I was able to get a number of them from people I had never heard of before, much less had a relationship with. I scanned books involving autism, wrote to the authors, and discovered that 99% of them were happy to help. I’ve tried to pay that back. But with fiction, I did mostly go to people I have relationships with, and they were very kind to comply. Would I feel relieved if I didn’t have to do it again? Probably. I hate asking for favors and I know that asking someone for a blurb is a big ask. But I’m so grateful to those who have helped me blurb-wise along the way.
Yes, exactly. I feel the same
The publishers are doing research that shows readers don’t care about author endorsements when they are looking for a book to read except when it’s someone who’s a household name like Stephen King. But I agree that non-famous authors need a way to gather support and endorsement in the writing community. To me, it’s not all that persuasive to see a quote like this: “I couldn’t put it down until finishing!” — Netgalley Reader. That’s what seems to be replacing the author blurbs.