THE MEDIA BUSINESS: Publishing; For Some, Best Prose Is in Blurbs
By EDWIN McDOWELL
Published: April 22, 1991
SIMON & SCHUSTER is apparently still deciding whether to publish "Just Killing Time," a novel by Derek V. Goodwin that was submitted with phony endorsements, or blurbs, from John le Carre and Joseph Wambaugh. Whatever is decided, one thing is sure: The "blurb industry," as some publishing executives call it, is recession-proof and is here to stay.
Few books appear without at least one testimonial to their value or to the skill of their authors. No matter that many blurbs on book jackets and in advertisements amount to literary backscratching, in that they are written by friends of the author, the agent or the editor. They serve their purpose if they call attention to a particular book in a very crowded field.
"When 55,000 books are published each year, you are desperate for ways to distinguish your books from everybody else's," said Paul Gottlieb, president of Harry N. Abrams Inc. "The right person writing a blurb for the right audience can sometimes make a tremendous difference in sales."
The conventional, though unproved, wisdom is that blurbs can turn undecided readers into buyers. "But there's a presumption among the marketing people that they're especially important for the sales reps and booksellers," said Donald I. Fine, the president of Donald I. Fine Inc.
When he was head of Arbor House a few years ago, Mr. Fine published in hardcover "The City Primeval" by Elmore Leonard, then a relatively unknown author of paperbacks. He sent galleys to John D. MacDonald, soliciting a blurb. Mr. Fine recalled, "MacDonald called me and asked, 'Who is that guy? He's teriffic,' and we used that line in our advertising."
Novelists are said to be more generous about giving blurbs than are writers of nonfiction, many of whom are specialists and some of whom are careful not to bolster the reputation of real or imagined rivals. "Fiction writers who have struggled, and writers of such genres as mysteries and science fiction, tend to enjoy helping other writers," said Kent Carroll, publisher of Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc.
Even well-established literary writers are often willing to provide a helping hand. William Least Heat-Moon attributes much of the success of his 1983 best seller, "Blue Highways," to Robert Penn Warren, who called it "a masterpiece." That blurb, by the winner of Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry, adorned the book's jacket.
And the reputation in the United States of the Italian writer and chemist Primo Levi owes much to Saul Bellow, whose memorable blurb -- "This is the book it is necessary to read next" -- adorned the jacket of "The Periodic Table" by Mr. Levi, published by Schocken Books in 1984.
But blurbs can backfire. "Hyperbolic blurbs on a book that doesn't measure up create as much skepticism as giving four stars to a mediocre restaurant," said Fred W. Hills, a senior editor of Simon & Schuster.
One book reviewer, who insisted that he not be identified, said he saw blurbs in a negative light. "The enthusiasm in most blurbs," he said, "is probably a gauge of the blurb writer's relief that the book he's endorsing is inferior to anything he can write."
Still, certain blurbs are likely to make even reviewers take notice. "I try to get blurbs from people who don't usually blurb," said Ann Godoff, the editor in chief of the Atlantic Monthly Press. She did just that when she elicited a blurb from Graham Greene for "The Hidden War" by Artyom Borovik, a Russian journalist. Printed on the jacket, the quote declares: "I've read no other account of the war in Afghanistan equal to this . . . This is literature, not journalism."
Publishers usually cast as wide a net as possible for blurbs. Thus, the back jacket of "The Prize" by Daniel Yergen consists entirely of blurbs from such authors, scholars and media personalities as John Chancellor, Simon Schama, James Schlesinger, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Theodore Levitt and Paul A. Samuelson.
Even blurbs by relative unknowns can help in certain situations. "If it's the right quote," said Alan D. Williams, the publisher of Grove Weidenfeld, "it can make you feel guilty for not knowing who it is."
Blurbs by literary writers are likely to be of little help in promoting romance novels or self-help and diet books. When William Morrow & Company published "Swim With the Sharks" by Harvey Mackay a few years ago, a book about motivation and negotiating, it ran an ad with blurbs from Ted Koppel, Walter F. Mondale, Gloria Steinem, Fran Tarkington, Gerald R. Ford, Robert Redford, Billy Graham, Gov. Mario Cuomo, Norman Vincent Peale and 18 others.
Of course, whoever chose the spurious blurbs by Mr. le Carre and Mr. Wambaugh for "Just Killing Time" knew enough about publishing and book buying to know that the imprimatur of both men, who give blurbs infrequently, would greatly enhance the book's value by appealing to the audiences of both authors.
Some publishers have even demanded that authors deliver blurbs from established writers, in return for advertising the book. But almost no one is more cynical about blurbs than publishing people themselves.
"If you're trying to sell paperback reprint rights to one of your books," Mr. Carroll said, "and you have teriffic reviews from The New York Times, The New Yorker or The New York Review of Books, reprinters are interested. But if I sent a sheet of blurbs from six important writers, they'd come back and say why did you send me this?"
Chart: A Sampling of Blurbs on Books "Julia Phillips comes out of retirement and out of legend to write the ultimate Hollywood chronicle, yet a book that transcends all Hollywood books. This is The Julia Phillips Story, the story of life at the top of Hollywood, and the story of everything that's wrong with Hollywood. This is the debut of a natural writer." -- Anne Rice on "You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again" "Marvelous - funny and wry and full of behind-the-scenes Hollywood lore." -- Liz Smith on "I'll Think About That Tomorrow" "For anyone who has experienced cancer in the family, this valuable book tells you all you need to know. It is a godsend!" -- Luciano Pavarotti on "Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy" "Daniel Yergin has brilliantly produced a road map that shows us where we've been and where we're going as the world heads into the uncertain landscape of the 1990's. 'The Prize's should be read by everyone who wants to know why nations struggle over the control of oil resources." -- John Chancellor on "The Prize"