kateleopald Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 Just a point following on from a previous thread about book covers. Anyone else noticed jacket blurbs seem to be getting longer (a bit like those trailers you see in the cinema that show the whole film!). Personally I prefer something that gives me a taste of the book but not a whole mouthful!! Quote
Purple Poppy Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 Yep! Know what you mean. Or they simply give too much away, like naming the male romantic interest, when the reader might otherwise have been kept guessing for a while. Annoying...but maybe research would say that you need a certain amount of info to get folk hooked enough to buy the book? Pp Quote
Heather Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 I agree too for a good blurb is short just a couble of sentences to get you hooked Heather Quote
Bambi-eyes Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 I think it's good to get a general gist of the genre of the book but I like the blurb to be a little ambiguous ~ I hate reading a book that pretty much has the synopsis on the cover! Quote
Kell Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 It has to giev enough info to get you hooked into the characters and story, but not so much as major plot points are revealed... Quote
Karen1 Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 I have to admit I like a fairly decent blurb (length wise) as I like to get a general feeling as to what the book is about and if I'm going to like it. One thing that really annoys me is a misleading blurb. I can't think of any off the top of my head just but I've read books in the past to find that the blurb on the back was very misleading. Quote
Mia Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 I agree with Karen about liking to have enough blurb to tell me a bit about the book and whether it's my cup of tea. Better too much info than not enough, because I really hate those books (usually hardback) that have lots of quotes from various people/publications saying how great the book is, but have nothing about what it's about! I'm not going to buy the book if I don't have any info about it. This seems to be a more modern phenomenon. Quote
Oblomov Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 I am getting tired of thrillers with the cover blurb "as good as" or "better than" The Day of the Jackal, surely the most quoted title in recent times; but that blurb is still an incentive for me to consider the other book . Quote
Louiseog Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 More twists than the Da Vinci Code (groan) I agree with you all but my favourite blurb would say: The fantastic new bestseller from louiseog does not disappoint, once again she has proved that she defies being labelled and has written her next book for everyone again an international hit and Hollywood will gain from the film rights. Quote
Kylie Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 I also hate blurbs that contain too many quotes from other people (and when they have several pages of them at the beginning of the book!) My edition of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility has a quote by Helen Fielding on the front cover saying that Jane Austen is one of her favourite authors. I don't have anything against Helen Fielding but why are they using her to sell Jane Austen (one of the greatest authors of all time)?! There is no comparison! I glared at that quote every single time I saw it. And it doesn't exactly add anything to the book I think all of my Jane Austen's have similar pointless quotes on the front cover. I do like to have a bit of detail to a blurb but obviously not enough to give the plot away. I think some books toe the line a bit in that respect. Occasionally I'll go back and re-read a blurb after having read the book only to think 'What? How'd they get that blurb out of the story?' Sometimes you wonder if the person who wrote the blurb has actually read the book or they're just going on hearsay. Quote
Icecream Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 Mia, you are right. Loads of quotes and no info is pointless. You need to know something about the book, but obviously not too much. I wonder if there is something in the idea that everyone's tastes cannot be accounted for. Obviously you would know that from the synopsis, but what I mean is that different people may be hooked in different ways. I am not exactly sure if I always know what I am looking for when I read a blurb. It is however, very annoying when blurbs either mislead or do not give enough info and the book is completely different (either for better or worse) than you imagined. Quote
Roland Butter Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 More twists than the Da Vinci Code (groan) I agree with you all but my favourite blurb would say: The fantastic new bestseller from louiseog does not disappoint, once again she has proved that she defies being labelled and has written her next book for everyone again an international hit and Hollywood will gain from the film rights. Can't wait to read it, Louise. Get writing .... Quote
Kell Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 I do really hate it when a book is compared to another one in the blurb. When I read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger, there was a quote on the cover that basically said, "This is the new The Lovely Bones". I loved TTW, so I went on to read The Lovely Bones and thought it the biggest pile of poo ever - there was absolutely no way the two books could be compared, whether it be plot or characters or even atmosphere! If I had read TLB first and THEN picked up TTW and read that quote, I never would have read TTW as I would have been put right off! Quote
Oblomov Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 More twists than the Da Vinci Code (groan) I hated that grossly overrated original and so the blurb would put me right off. If I wanted more twists, I'll listen to Chubby Checker. Quote
kateleopald Posted January 31, 2008 Author Posted January 31, 2008 I really hate those blurbs that entice you in and then turn out to be not what the book's about at all. Maybe that's worth a constantly updated thread/blacklist of its own! Quote
Louiseog Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 Can't wait to read it, Louise. Get writing .... Hmmm no idea of plot, or characters or even ability to write! Quote
Roland Butter Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 You could write about a dedicated, selfless teacher who's so worn down by a blinkered, ungrateful management and the savagery of her feral pupils that eventually she cracks up and embarks on a murderous shopping spree ..... Does that help? Quote
Guest ii Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 "murderous shopping spree"? Exactly what would that include? Quote
Echo Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 I like a blurb that gives me a vague outline of the plot, and some teasers. I also hate it when it compares the book to another book, especially if I haven't read it. What good does that do me? My biggest pet peeve is when there's no information at all...just some quotes from various reviews, like "Non-stop action!" -Houston Chronicle......"The best thriller since such-and-such!" -Hickville Press. That really doesn't tell me anything! Quote
Roland Butter Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 "murderous shopping spree"? Exactly what would that include? I have no idea. It's Louise's book, not mine! I'd have thought if anyone knows, it would be you Quote
Guest ii Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Oh, okay. ... Wait, is that like a sale at Jimmy Choo's, where you're more than willing to kill the woman in front of you for a pair of shoes? Or a shopping spree that leaves you practically dead out of exhaustion? (I've had those.) Or one that leaves everyone else die out of envy? (I might have had a few purchases like that, too. Like my feather Dior sling-back stilettos. Oooh, I love those!) Louise, what's the "murderous shopping spree" about? And more importantly, do you need a shopping budy? I'm prectically a pro. At shopping, not murdering. I seriously need some food! Quote
Roland Butter Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 You see, Louise? It's beginning to take shape already. Quote
Louiseog Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 I am inspired, how well you all know me and I could do with several buddies especially a Southerner and a tri-lingual (?) shoe addict! Quote
Guest ii Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 So you're planning on taking Dear Roland with you, as he, being true to the spirit of the term Southern Gentleman, would carry the bags? Good thinking! Quote
Louiseog Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 So you're planning on taking Dear Roland with you, as he, being true to the spirit of the term Southern Gentleman, would carry the bags? Good thinking! We are working as a team already! Quote
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