What do you think of book blurbs?

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

Adrian wrote: "When you consider the standard carve up of book revenue (bookstore 40%, distributor 25%, publisher 25% and author 10%)"

This is why I like stores like BookDepository and what have you. I dunno if it's how it actually works, but it feels like a lot of the middleman is cut out so the author actually gets a decent cut. I can't imagine BookDepository makes too much on each sale, considering how cheap they are. I assume they get by on quantity.

[Adrian]

I don't know for sure but I think the people they cut out are the bookstore. This is actually bad for writers (the way I see it) as (certainly in Australia) it's forcing bookstores out of business. The fewer bookstores, the fewer books likely to be published (in hard copy by mainstream publishers). This is a really complicated subject that no-one really understands yet - the whole publishing industry is in major flux and the new paradigm is yet to really crystallise. Maybe it never will? In the meantime the traditional routes to publication are drying up but there are major opportunities for talented writers prepared to be more than just writers.

I'm clinging on to the traditional route by my fingertips, but I'm toying with trying something different with my next book.

[B the BookAddict]

Adrian wrote: "I don't know for sure but I think the people they cut out are the bookstore. This is actually bad for writers (the way I see it) as (certainly in Australia) it's forcing bookstores out of business...."

As a reader, I prefer books which have followed the 'traditional' routes i.e. via publishers.

[Stan]

Adrian wrote: "I don't know for sure but I think the people they cut out are the bookstore. This is actually bad for writers (the way I see it) as (certainly in Australia) it's forcing bookstores out of business...."

Consider how many traditional writers also have their books available for purchase as an ebook. Which version is likely to disappear?

[B the BookAddict]

Adrian wrote: "I don't know for sure but I think the people they cut out are the bookstore. This is actually bad for writers (the way I see it) as (certainly in Australia) it's forcing bookstores out of business...."

Adrian, hang on in there! We need good writers who have publishers behind them. Except for our own Vicki Tyley (on kindle), any other self-published novels I have read have been really ordinary. This is what publishers save us from; all those frustrated readers who think they are, in fact, writers. (just my opinion - as I prepare to duck from an onslaught of indignant readers)

[Adrian]

Thanks Bette, I have one of the very best agents on my side so will certainly continue to look at trad publishing first, but I may not have the choice, such is the difficulty of getting published these days. It was always hard but now it's almost impossible although the new online first platform established by some major publishers will probably open things up a tad.

After getting my first book published in 2010, I assumed it would be easy for subsequent books. Mr Cleansheets didn't set the world on fire with sales but it did quite well and had some great reviews in papers and magazines. Imagine then my surprise when my (much better) Straight Jacket got rejected three times before being accepted. SJ has had some fabulous reviews and has been optioned by a major OS film studio - more than optioned because the script is now in development - but my agent continues to tell me how difficult the business is and how hard it will be to get the next book up without much better sales than I've had so far.

But we were talking about blurbs...

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Bette BookAddict wrote: "Adrian wrote: "I don't know for sure but I think the people they cut out are the bookstore. This is actually bad for writers (the way I see it) as (certainly in Australia) it's forcing bookstores o..."

There are a lot of really GOOD books that are self published Bette:) I know there are some bad ones too but the self pub'd need all the encouragement they can get in my opinion:)

[B the BookAddict]

Brenda wrote: "Bette BookAddict wrote: "Adrian wrote: "I don't know for sure but I think the people they cut out are the bookstore. This is actually bad for writers (the way I see it) as (certainly in Australia) ..."

I may well have only stumbled on the ordinary ones:)

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

Contest by the brilliant Matthew Reilly was self-published. Went off down the printers and got 2000 copies done out of his own pocket, because no publisher would touch him. Then he wrote Ice Station and exploded.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Liam wrote: "Contest by the brilliant Matthew Reilly was self-published. Went off down the printers and got 2000 copies done out of his own pocket, because no publisher would touch ..."

Wow that's interesting Liam! I had no idea, but it just goes to show that all writers have to start somewhere:)

[Kelly]

The title or author usually attract me. I might read the blurb after or a bit of the book (like the prologue).

[sam_i_be]

It takes me a looong time to decide if I want to buy a book, usually. I look at the cover and blurb first. If I don't like the sound of the blurb, or the cover looks like something I wouldn't enjoy, I put the book back.

If I like the cover and the premise, I read a bit of the first chapter.

If I like that, then I check Goodreads, but I don't really go by ratings. I look at my friends' ratings, and read the first couple of reviews that pop up. I also check other review sites that I like, such as Book Smugglers or School Library Journal.

If it sounds good, I then have to check for age appropriateness--I am a youngish teenager, and don't want to read anything that may be inappropriate. One site I like to check is Common Sense Media, which gives a good summing up of elements that may be inappropriate. Sometimes, if I can't find a summing up of inappropriate elements, I email the author and ask them!

If a book passes all these tests, I know it is probably right for me!

[Sally906]

Samantha wrote: "It takes me a looong time to decide if I want to buy a book, usually. I look at the cover and blurb first. If I don't like the sound of the blurb, or the cover looks like something I wouldn't enjoy..."

Never heard of Book Smugglers - imagining sailing ships and secret coves with boxes of books being handed from ship to shore by pirates

[sam_i_be]

That's always what I think of too :)

[John]

Yes that is pretty well what I do. I suspect blurbs are often tossed together by a marketing team, and it is up to the author to write them (as directed in word count by the publisher)

[Leonie]

John wrote: "Yes that is pretty well what I do. I suspect blurbs are often tossed together by a marketing team, and it is up to the author to write them (as directed in word count by the publisher)"

You're correct about the word count bit. I think I wrote six blurbs for my publisher for my latest, including a tagline. They all had different word counts and emphases. As Adrian has said earlier in this thread (which I can't believe I've never read before today) - it's really tricky to write a good blurb.

You have to entice without giving the plot away. And sometimes you only have 150 characters (not even words) to do it all in. Thank heavens for publishers who tweak the blurbs! Blurb writing is definitely not my strong point :)