Do blurbs matter when you buy a book?
Over at The Awl, six authors shared vastly different opinions about blurbs. They also offered some practical advice about getting blurbs for your own work–add your thoughts and advice in the comments.
Mystery novelist Stefanie Pintoff (pictured, via) defended blurbs: “I believe they can be very helpful to debut novels, for which of course there are no reviews in place. The best blurbs come from an author writing within the same genre, since they will take advantage of a shared audience. For example, for a thriller debut, a blurb from Michael Connelly or Lee Child is an instant attention-getter and lends an air of credibility to the book. Authors can be very busy, so connections matter (sharing an agent or editor for example).”
Novelist Kate Christensen shared her blurb memories: “Two close friends blurbed my first novel. I am forever in their debt, and I found the whole process a bit humiliating. No strangers were willing to blurb me on the strength of the book itself, and my editor asked many people, far and wide … My later books were beautifully blurbed by a several generous fellow writers I barely knew—people I now adore and feel indebted to, although I still barely know them.”