Wilder is brilliant. She offers examples of stunning blurbs – generally, these show, not tell, and are pithy, presenting a ‘tell me MORE’ sum-up without spoilers or dry and overloaded detail about plot or character, And she gives samples of the pits of blurb – for example, the cliché ridden oversell, the overweighty comparison of an utterly drab novel to something else, stratospheric ‘if you liked THAT you will love THIS, based purely on some similarity in setting of place, time, or general subject matter Waugh thinks blurbing doesn't fool anybody. But Matt Thorne, whose novel Tourist was blurbed by Julie Burchill ("As sad as a Sunday and as sexy as a scar"), is in favour of the practice. "I'm always happy to give blurbs," he says. To Thorne, blurbing is about being a helpful part of the literary community. He thinks it's much less corrupt than people might think and can be useful. "There are certain authors I'd pay attention to," he says. "For instance, Bret Easton Ellis. I'd read anything that Ellis blurbed. Not necessarily because I like him as a writer. But he's got a good eye." I couldn’t resist Louise Willder’s Blurb Your Enthusiasm when it popped up on NetGalley many months ahead of publication. That wordplay, of course, only added to the attraction. Willder’s book is all about those 100 or so words, so important in persuading us whether to read a book or not. She should know, she’s been writing them for twenty-five years. I loved the chapter on the classics, the opening quote from Alan Bennett is all too true and highlights Wilders previous point about how a opening line can make or break a novel. Being a big whodunit fan I really found the section on writing blurbs for these books very interesting and it does explain why that sometimes the blurb is better than the actual book. The section of woman’s literature was my favourite I have had many of the same thoughts as the author, and I particularly loved the discussion and quotes from Marian Keyes.

Blurb Your Enthusiasm: A Cracking Compendium of Book Blurbs Blurb Your Enthusiasm: A Cracking Compendium of Book Blurbs

I think Rebecca Solnit nails it when she says ‘a book without women is often said to be about humanity, but a book with women in the foreground is a woman’s book. I really liked this book, what would have been great was a reading list of the books mentioned at the end along with the bibliography , that would have taken it to five stars.

You wouldn't think you could get a whole book from just talking about blurbs, but actually they make for really interesting discussion. I enjoyed this, though I am not usually a big non-fiction fan. Being about books though helped with that & I enjoyed all the interesting facts and snippets of blurbs and author thoughts about blurbs, publishing insights and funny examples. A reply as true as Steele, to a Rusty, Rayling, Ridiculous, Lying, Libell; which was lately written by an impudent unsoder’d Ironmonger and called by the name of An Answer to a foolish Pamphlet Entssuled. A Swarme of Sectaries and Schismatiques. The Divill is hard bound and did hardly straine; to shit a Libeller a knave in graine. I had never thought about how the blurb is actually a really well thought paragraph, it is usually what makes you part with your cash -how is it set out, is it talking to you, what language is used, are you been asked a question -it is all so interesting and really makes you think about books are marketed Copywriter of hundreds of books, Wilder explores the less is more principle in writing, plus the history of publishing, gender politics in language, implications of typeface and design in different markets, how we read, cliche, punctuation, and so much more. For anyone who needs or wants to use words persuasively, this is the most enjoyable masterclass you’ll ever read.’

Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A–Z of Literary Persuasion by Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A–Z of Literary Persuasion by

This was such a delight! I literally laughed out loud during the chapter on literary fiction blurbs. "Does anything actually happen in this book?" The ultimate book for any bookish sort, whether that is a reader, writer or collector. Written by an experienced copywriter, this non-fiction book looks in depth at such marketing tools as titles, punctuation, book covers, opening lines, swearing and - blurbs. It literarily is an A to Z of literary persuasion. She gives some examples of terrible real-life blurbs which have genuinely been used e.g. for a recent edition of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "Mom's fishing for husbands - but the girls are hunting for love" and other blurbs which, in contrast, do their job perfectly: distilling the essence of the book into a few sentences while still leaving you thirsty for more. Writing briefly means every word must earn its place. Use fewer and make them better. Don’t make the reader do the hard work; be on their side. Never be boring. Ask, why should anybody care? There are more tips inside my book. (It’s an unputdownable tour de force.)thoughts on “Blurb Your Enthusiasm: The A-Z of Literary Persuasion by Louise Willder: ‘Words matter’” Gotcha, didn’t it? That line got me too. It’s from a blurb for The Plague, and the nameless copywriter deserves a plaque. Those five words conveyed all the ominous menace of the book and got there a lot faster than Camus, bless him. The author does a stellar job of taking us through the history of publishing and the development of the blurb, the authors who hate it, those who burn it, the hyperbolic nature of Americans and the French who have a habit of avoiding the commercial nature of it. Highlights include the changing blurbs to attract new audiences to classics such as Jane Austen and the reflection of society's norms and expectations when it comes sexism and sexist tropes in books and publishing, the derogatory comments about women writers and their areas of focus, where men write on what really matters, for everyone, whilst women write for women! Do not be surprised if after reading this, you find yourself venturing into reading a genre you normally avoid, and wanting to read a pile of other books that you had not anticipated, that is how good this is.

Blurb Your Enthusiasm: A Cracking Compendium of Book Bl… Blurb Your Enthusiasm: A Cracking Compendium of Book Bl…

Ugaz’s case is all too familiar in Peru, where powerful groups regularly use the courts to silence journalists by fabricating criminal allegations against them.’ The way this book is designed, bound, promoted, hyped... it's all on the cheap and on the nose, a "smooth" publishing job but as a book, no thanks. This isn't about blurbs ... well, alright it is. But it's about more than just that and amounts to nothing less than an impassioned love letter to the world of books in general. Author Louise Willder has worked in publishing for twenty years and knows a lot about books, what sells and what doesn't and this thoroughly enjoyable book is choc-full of interesting facts and choice titbits of knowledge about the world of books and how they are sold. I absolutely loved Blurb Your Enthusiasm. It was a recommendation and I wasn’t sure I’d be all that keen, but it’s fascinating, laugh-out-loud funny, very perceptive and completely compelling. The three mamaloshen terms were beshert (meaning “meant to be,” often as a descriptor of a loved one), tsuris (meaning “troubles”), and shanda (which is a good way to describe someone who gives tsuris to your beshert.)

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It’s also about quotes, titles, first lines, hooks, adverts, puns, swearing, plots, someone called Belinda and much more. It answers questions such as: I remember working with one author who always wanted to put question marks at the end of statements in his titles, e.g. britain: a democracy? when used this way it gives off the air of a student essay, or an anachronistic 1940s ‘whither germany?’ energy. the question mark: a useful ally? Constructing an effective blurb is a task that many independent authors can find daunting – and it is a task that the editors helping them may find a challenge, too – so this book may be a great resource to recommend for help, advice and inspiration. But to be an editor is to love books, to want to make them the best they can be, and to want to see the authors we work with succeed, and Blurb Your Enthusiasm is ideal for us: people who love books, who find them interesting, and who would happily spend hours thinking about how covers work. I enjoyed it, it contained lots of interesting facts and was fun to read, and I trusted the author’s judgement enough to add three of the books she praises to my TBR queue. Following the defeat of the Nazis in 1945, the idea took hold that Austria had been the first casualty of Hitler’s aggression when in 1938 it was incorporated into the Third Reich.’