The dreaded blurb request
How to ask for what nobody wants to give
There are a lot of dreadful things a writer must do through the life-cycle of a new book. Write a synopsis. Write an outline. Write a proposal. Construct an elevator pitch. Steel yourself for months of begging friends, family, and strangers to buy your book.
But none may be as dreaded as asking another writer to blurb your book.
It’s absolutely daunting when you’re a debut author. You know nobody. You assume your editor and agent will do the asking for you, given their years in the business and fat Rolodexes, and you may get a half-hearted offer or two but—probably not. Nobody wants to be asked to blurb and so they’re not going to dip into their bag of favors owed on your account, not unless yours is one of the biggest books of the year.
I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t get much better when you’re on your tenth book.
As I write this, I’ve just written a letter to another author asking them to blurb Incarnate (Update: he said no. Que sera). I don’t know this person. It would be easier if I did. You can ask less formally, always adding I’ll understand if you can’t right now, and Bob’s your uncle. (Please understand that, just because I’m less formal in these cases, I don’t ask willy nilly or take anyone’s cooperation for granted. Because asking anyone to read an entire book is still a big ask.)
When it comes to asking strangers to blurb your book:
Be strategic about your asks. Don’t leave the person scratching their head wondering why in world you’re approaching them.1 There should be a direct relationship between the prospective audience for your new book and this author’s audience because that’s what you’re asking for here: an introduction to their readers.
Now is not the time to hold back praise. Blurb requests always say, “I’m such a fan of your work”, usually naming a specific book or two. After a while, though, one can begin to suspect the sincerity of these requests, so it helps if you can be specific. What is is specifically about this person’s writing that you truly admire? In the case of the letter I just wrote, we both worked in a particular field and so I could honestly tell him that I admire the way he handles technical explanations in his novels. Everyone likes to have something they’ve labored over honestly admired.
No, I’m not going to post that letter here. It’s groveling, but not in such a way that I’d be embarrassed if I met the author in person. That’s probably about the right tone to aim for.
Keep it short. These types of letters are also a showcase for your writing. Show that you can get to the point without being brusque.
Acknowledge that their punishing workload may prevent them from honoring your request. Everyone needs a face-saving out.
Do not take it personally if they turn you down. Blurbs are tight in the current moment. People are burned out, overworked, bombarded by an insane, soul-sapping news cycle, and that includes authors, too.
These letters will usually be forwarded through your editor or agent to the requestee’s agent or editor. Much riskier is tracking down contact information for the author and sending the request yourself, otherwise known as a cold call. My understanding is that many authors won’t respond to cold calls, not even to say sorry, though I usually do because I don’t want people wondering if they’re going to hear from me.
Side thoughts:
What happens when a publisher says it will forego blurbs? A year ago, an imprint of Simon & Schuster announced it would no longer require blurbs.
This seems awful familiar, Alma: read what I last wrote about blurbs last February.
What happens after the blurb? We’re talking author etiquette. When I started out, you were advised to handwrite thank you notes, even send presents to thank a blurber. That’s all gone the way of the dodo. The bare minimum should be that the publisher sends a copy of the finished book if your blurb made it to the front or back cover, but even that seems to be hit or miss these days. (I’m not clutching my pearls over this, I swear I’m not.)
I hope this helps. And remember: don’t take it personally.
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Recommendations
Books: I finally finished the audiobook of Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait and can now say that O’Farrell (best known for Hamnet) is becoming one of my favorite authors, in the vein of Emma Donahue. Luckily, she has quite a backlist, a fact of which I was unaware until recently. Her next novel, Land, comes out June 2nd.
TV: We started watching How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (Netflix), a murder-comedy about three women who attend the wake of their teenage friend, only to find out she’s still alive and it’s all tied to a secret they share from 20 years earlier. If it sounds a bit like nearly every suspense novel on the market these days, I’m a couple episodes in and it hasn’t disappointed yet. The showrunner manages to keep it interesting and funny with unexpected touches, big and small.
Do people do this, especially in the beginning? Of course—I did for my debut and the author was kind enough to send me something, and now understanding my gaffe I still cringe about it TO THIS DAY. But that is the bottomless generosity of some authors.
I appreciate all the information you pass along. There's so much to keep track of and to understand, and the writing world keeps changing. Thank you. Question: Are you going to StokerCon this year?
It’s suuuuuper hard to ask for blurbs. In non fiction it’s definitely an expectation. I even wrote a whole post about it if you’re interested in reading that side of things. I offer a template too for those that need a place to begin