It’s also about quotes, titles, first lines, hooks, adverts, puns, swearing, plots, someone called Belinda and much more. It answers questions such as: Similarly, Wilder is impatient with a new Kurt Vonnegut blurb that “gives little clue as to what the book is about,” when anyone who has read Vonnegut knows that that’s the least interesting thing about his novels (and, arguably, most novels) anyway. The fact that the blurb captures the voice and spirit of Vonnegut is far more important — to readers anyway, if not to unit-floggers.

Blurb Your Enthusiasm: A Cracking Compendium of Book Bl…

There are sections on all sorts of things, including various genres, what makes a good book within them and what makes a good blurb in each case. Willder is often enthusiastic, sometimes withering but always thoughtful and enjoyable to read. There are also some wider reflections on books and publishing, including an excellent section on sexism and how it affects perceptions and the presentation of a book. It’s witty and punchy, making a not-at-all-funny subject very readable. (And boy, did it make me think!)

Table of Contents

This is a book lovers book, it is a love letter to all things book. I loved it. Being super bookish it was a book made for me and my follow bookworms.

Blurb Your Enthusiasm | Oneworld

it can be easy to forget that a potential reader hasn’t read it: they don’t know anything about it. You can’t sell them the experience of the book – you have to sell them the expectation of reading it; the idea of it. And that’s when a copywriter can be an author’s best friend. 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. one of the first tactile books for children was pat the bunny , 1940, which featured different textures inside, and was advertised with the great line ‘for whom the bell tolls was magnificent – but it hasn’t any bunny in it.’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.

Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A-Z of Literary Persuasion Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A-Z of Literary Persuasion

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. It is the history of a revolution that went wrong – and of the excellent excuses that were forthcoming at every step for each perversion of the original doctrine. They’re just a few words on books. But what are blurbs really doing (other than trying to twist your arm)? This book is all about those 100-or-so words that take seconds to read but can make a world of difference – and what they tell us about literary history, the art of writing, authors from George Orwell to Zadie Smith, genres from children’s fiction to bonkbusters, cover design, the dark arts of persuasion and even who we are as readers. We love the words in books – but what about the words on them? How do they work their magic? Penguin Books blurb wizard Louise Willder joyfully divulges what those 100-or-so words can tell us about literary history, the craft of writing, authors from George Orwell to Zadie Smith, genres from children’s fiction to bonkbusters, cover design, the dark arts of persuasion and even why we read. She also answers burning questions such as:No, I'd say something stronger. It's nauseating and demeaning. I don't believe for a second that people don't know what's going on." 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. 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."

Louise Willder | Oneworld

there’s a bit in the chapter titled “ventriloquism” that would be good for teaching the analysis of syntax but it’s too long to write out herespecificity is key. vague waffle, in fact most description – whether of a character or the book itself – should be avoided. 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.