The Art of the Blurb

Writing Life: 18

Just what exactly is a blurb?

I know, it’s a strange word… “blurb.” A blurb is a book endorsement of sorts, ideally from a high-profile person or organization extolling the abundant virtues of your extraordinary new book. Simply put, a blurb is a marketing tactic to try to imbue the book in question with cachet—you know, literary “street cred”—to try to help move it from the bookstore shelves to readers’ hands.

Do they help sell books?

I’m not sure anyone really knows whether blurbs actually sell books, but they are definitely entrenched in our literary landscape. To quote a 2008 New York Times article about blurbs: “There’s some debate about whether blurbs actually help sell books, but publishers agree they can’t hurt.” That’s about as definitive a statement one can find on the topic.

Personally, I do read the blurbs on books I’m considering buying. If a favourite author of mine has blurbed a novel I’m considering picking up, it does tip the balance in favour of pulling out my wallet and laying down my money. Should it influence me in that way? I suppose not always, but at least some of the time it does.

Finding blurbs for my novels

I have recruited most of my own blurbers over the years while my publisher (McClelland & Stewart) has secured a few for me, which is always nice. It all started with my first novel, The Best Laid Plans, back when it was initially self-published. Having worked in politics early in my career, I still knew plenty of politicos I could approach—at least after I’d overcome the fear of asking in the first place. The cover blurb on TBLP is from the Honourable Allan Rock, our former Justice Minister and UN Ambassador. It’s quite possible, even likely, that one of his staff at the time (for example, a very dear friend of mine, Tom Allison) prepared the blurb for Allan’s approval. But I was thrilled to get it. The other blurbs on the back cover are from two other good friends.

The self-published edition of The Best Laid Plans, with my first three blurbs ever.

When The Best Laid Plans was picked up and republished by McClelland & Stewart, and I wrote the sequel, The High Road, my agent, editor, and publisher suggested I reach out to anyone I knew who had any kind of public profile. So I did. In 2009, during my weekly ball hockey game, I leaned over on the bench and asked a teammate—when he was hyperventilating after a long shift and likely not in full command of his faculties—if he’d consider reading my second novel and providing a blurb. He either nodded in the affirmative, or was having an exhaustion-induced seizure. I chose to think he’d said “yes.” That teammate was Blue Rodeo singer/songwriter Jim Cuddy.

I’m in front, second from the right. Jim Cuddy is in the middle of the back row.

Jim very kindly read my manuscript and composed a lovely blurb for the back cover.

Jim Cuddy’s blurb for my second novel, The High Road.

A couple of years later, I was lucky enough to consult with Canada’s first astronaut, Marc Garneau, to confirm the space science in my third novel, Up and Down. I recounted that wonderful experience in a separate post back in July. It was very good of him to provide a blurb that appeared, at least in part, on the front cover of the first edition of the novel.

Ali Velshi (then with CNN), and two great Canadian writers, Andrew Pyper and Cathy Marie Buchanan—friends both—provided the other blurbs.

Here’s a quick look at a few of my other book covers and their blurbs.

I’ve been very lucky in finding great writers—and great friends—to blurb my novels. Therefore, I’ve tried to pay it forward, as they say, and have blurbed lots of books over the last 15 years.

Blurbing other writers’ books

I don’t have an accurate count because I don’t have copies of all the books I’ve blurbed. But I’d estimate I’ve provided endorsements for about 75 books, mostly, but not all, novels. It does take a lot of time to read a manuscript, decide you like it, and then craft a meaningful sentence or two to appear on the front or back cover. Here are a few examples of blurbs I’ve given to other writers.

Will Ferguson is one of our finest writers. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, winning the Leacock Medal three times AND then the Giller Prize, is an amazing achievement. He’s a lovely guy and has always been good to me. You’ll see his blurb on the front cover of my fourth novel, No Relation earlier in this post. I was delighted to blurb his African travelogue.

My blurb on the back of Will’s account of his African adventure.

Now to be clear, I’ve never met or even spoken to Roddy Doyle, and I’m quite certain he has no idea who I am. But his Canadian publisher asked if I’d read his then, latest novel, The Guts, for a blurb. No problem! I was thrilled to say “yes.” I’ve loved Doyle’s novels and this one was no exception.

My blurb on the back cover of Roddy Doyle’s The Guts.

Ian Hamilton, the prolific author of the Ava Lee series and the Uncle Chow Tung novels, is a good friend. He’s also a great writer who will keep you turning the pages. His first novel was released in 2011, and since then, he’s only been able to add eighteen more novels to his tally (nineteen in total!). I was proud to blurb his fourth Ava Lee novel.

My blurb on Ian Hamilton’s terrific fourth novel.

I have met Guy Vanderhaeghe and have powered through all of his novels and short stories. The Englishman’s Boy is one of my favourites. Needless to say, I was honoured to blurb his most recent story collection.

I’m a bit embarrassed to see that I used “Brilliant and breathtaking” on both the Will Ferguson and Guy Vanderhaeghe blurbs. The phrase certainly applies equally to both books, but I wished I’d used different words on one of them. I need to be more careful not to repeat myself!

Wrapping up…

Stephen Leacock and the annual Medal for Humour presented in his honour are important to me and in many ways, gave me the writing life I now enjoy. So you can imagine it was an easy call when I was asked to blurb McClelland & Stewart’s special edition of Leacock’s best known collection, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, illustrated by the amazing Seth. I said “yes” immediately. Will Ferguson also blurbed it so I was in very good company.

Blurbs by Will Ferguson and me on the back cover flap.

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