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Unread 06-24-2021, 03:31 PM
Sarah-Jane Crowson's Avatar
Sarah-Jane Crowson Sarah-Jane Crowson is offline
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Default Advice please - how long should a blurb be?

I've been asked by a friend to write a blurb for their book of visual poetry.

This is exciting - it's the first time I've been asked to do anything like this and it's not going to be difficult to write interesting things about the book, but I'm not sure how long a piece of writing this should be.

I've looked at blurbs' length on various books, and they seem to vary wildly, so I'm assuming that I write more, rather than less, like a short, glowing review, and then editors pick out the nicest bits?

What would be the perfect blurb? I'm thinking between 400-500 words - or is this too long? Any/all advice welcome, including anything I should avoid writing.

thank-you,

Sarah-Jane
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Unread 06-24-2021, 03:58 PM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Hi Sarah-Jane,

That sounds exciting! I will throw in a small vote for the short end of the scale, on the argument that less is more. As often as not, I find long blurbs tedious and blowhard, but maybe that's just me. As with CVs. My eyes glaze over.

Also: Pardonnez-moi cette longue lettre, mais je n'ai pas eu le tempsde la faire courte. Pascal.

Cheers,
John
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Unread 06-24-2021, 04:25 PM
W T Clark W T Clark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Isbell View Post
Also: Pardonnez-moi cette longue lettre, mais je n'ai pas eu le tempsde la faire courte. Pascal.

Cheers,
John
John, I'm an uncivilised pagan, and I am sure Google would bastardise the meaning, could such a lingual mind as yours translate?

Sarah, are these visual poems in terms of "concrete" poetry, or like the poetry you yourself create?

I much prefer blurbs that are truthful, is the only thing I can contribute to this thread. Bring on the experts.

Last edited by W T Clark; 06-24-2021 at 04:28 PM.
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Unread 06-24-2021, 05:13 PM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Cameron: my bad! “Please excuse this long letter, but I didn’t have the time to make it short.” A fave quotation of mine.

John
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Unread 06-24-2021, 08:48 PM
Michael Cantor Michael Cantor is offline
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500 words is much too long - it's practically an essay. Assuming a standard 6" by 9" format, and that there's room on the back cover for the publisher's ID - and then you want to have 3 to 4 blurbs, and readers should be able to read them without a magnifying glass - you're looking at 100-125 words maximum. (If you're thinking of something other than the back cover, then it depends completely on where the blurb will appear, and that entity's normal standards.)

Interestingly and coincidentally, a po-buddy just asked me to blurb his new book, and that publisher has a 100 - 125 max limit.
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Unread 06-24-2021, 08:57 PM
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R. Nemo Hill R. Nemo Hill is offline
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One sentence.

Nemo
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Unread 06-25-2021, 11:02 AM
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Sarah-Jane Crowson Sarah-Jane Crowson is offline
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Thank you John, Cameron, Michael and Nemo,

Your sharing of expertise much, much appreciated. I will go short and then hopefully I'll be doing something helpful. Thank goodness I didn't send them 800 words!

John, I agree that going short is sometimes harder.

Cam -
Quote:
Sarah, are these visual poems in terms of "concrete" poetry, or like the poetry you yourself create?
More visual like me, I think, although the style isn't like mine at all. The poet (I don't know what the form is on here about sharing links in this way so if I'm in breach of protocol let me know) is Robert Frede Kenter. work maybe described as eclectic & urban punk with sadness (that isn't my blurb)

Quote:
I much prefer blurbs that are truthful
'I'm not as keen on the erasures' isn't going to be the blurb either. It also wouldn't be true as I do like the erasures.
thanks again,

Sarah-Jane

Last edited by Sarah-Jane Crowson; 06-25-2021 at 12:03 PM.
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Unread 06-25-2021, 01:38 PM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
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"This is a book I wish I had written, because then I could have made sure it was never published."
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Unread 06-25-2021, 01:58 PM
F.F. Teague F.F. Teague is offline
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Hi Sarah-Jane,

Happy to help you with this via PM, if you like. (Word-Bird and I have quite a lot of experience in this area.)

Best wishes,
Fliss

Edited to add smiles :-) :>)

Last edited by F.F. Teague; 06-25-2021 at 02:57 PM.
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Unread 06-25-2021, 02:41 PM
John Riley John Riley is offline
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Shorter the better. I worked in ed publishing for decades and in the process did research on how to make text inviting for reluctant readers, i.e. school kids, and for reviewers so as to entice them to review our books. A 500-word blurb probably won't be read by more than 5-10 percent of the people who see it, including other writers. (Italic text is a real stopper. A very small percentage of people will voluntarily read italic text. I sometimes wish William Faulkner had known this.) I would go with Michael's suggestion. Look for the exact right words. It isn't a review.
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