Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Forget The Book, Have You Read This Irresistible Story On Blurbs?

September 27, 2015 NPR - Colin Dwyer


Why are blurbs still around — and still, at least among publishers, so popular?i

Why are blurbs still around — and still, at least among publishers, so popular?
Annette Elizabeth Allen/NPR

Whatever the old adage might warn, there is a bit of merit to judging a book by its cover — if only in one respect. Consider the blurb, one of the most pervasive, longest-running — and, at times, controversial — tools in the publishing industry.

For such a curious word, the term "blurb" has amassed a number of meanings in the decades since it worked its way into our vocabulary, but lately it has referred to just one thing: a bylined endorsement from a fellow writer — or celebrity — that sings the praises of a book's author right on the cover of their book.

They're claims couched in quote marks, homes for words you might never hear otherwise — like compelling, or luminous, or unputdownable. Heck, at least three books have reportedly inspired celebrated memoirist Frank McCourt to say "you'll claw yourself with pleasure."
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