Blurb Your Enthusiasm: A Cracking Compendium of Book Blurbs, Writing Tips, Literary Folklore and Publishing Secrets

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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. Truly delightful… charming and gracefully learned… Louise Willder, a copywriter with decades of experience, brings so much joy and, indeed, enthusiasm to her book about books that anyone who revels in reading will find real enchantment here. I couldn’t have had more fun.’ Then as now, hyperbole sold books. And speaking as a copywriter, Willder admits to creating her share. The blub is ‘my 100 words of little white lies’, she says. ‘There has to be some kind of sugar coating and, yes, lying.’

Blurb your enthusiasm | Books | The Guardian Blurb your enthusiasm | Books | The Guardian

We delve into the origins of the blurb, then move onto classic literature to modern classics to nonfiction and most genres in between. The only quibble I had when it came to genres was she seemed to squash science fiction and fantasy into one genre, then skipped between them, confusing me a bit. If you’re a writer, it’s all about finding your voice. If you’re a copywriter, it’s usually about expressing someone else’s. One is an art; one is a craft (or if it’s an art, it’s the art of imitation). You just have to listen. 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." 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." First, an English/American translation. In America a "blurb" is a quote or remark by an author or celebrity that appears on a book cover. Stephen King is famous for blurbing many books. In England, a "blurb" is the description of the book that appears on the cover. This book is about the English kind of blurbs.The dazzling, staggering, astonishing, unputdownable* story of the book blurb, filled with writing tips, literary folklore and publishing secrets I understand that the American Federal Trade Commission requires me to state that I received a free review copy from Oneworld Publications via NetGalley. However, my opinions are my own and are unbiased. Every cliché and hundred-times-told story or anecdote about books and publishing is repeated here. Never mind if some of those tales are untrue, because this is not a serious book, anyway. Nothing to see or learn here, just a few jokes, jokes, and jokes, it's like ten late-night monologues in a row. This total gem is an illuminating, dazzling, quirky, fascinating, erudite, thought-provoking, hilarious and totally essential celebration of the outside of books. Willder is my new style icon.’

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

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. 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 Oneworld has signed copywriter and Penguin Books blurb creator Louise Willder’s Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A-Z of Literary Persuasion. 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.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: MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window)