Book Blurb
A short endorsement quotation printed on a book cover to signal quality.
A blurb is a brief promotional quotation, usually from another author or a review, printed on a book's cover or opening pages. The word was coined by Gelett Burgess in 1907 as a parody of the form, and then adopted by the industry it mocked.
Blurbs are quotations under commercial pressure, which produces characteristic distortions: heavy ellipsis, adjectives lifted out of qualified sentences, and the 'quote-mined rave' in which 'not the disaster it could have been' becomes 'not a disaster'.
Readers can evaluate blurbs with two checks. Is the blurber named and identifiable, and is the phrase long enough to carry a clause rather than a single adjective? A three-word blurb with an ellipsis is a warning sign.
Common mistake, for writers seeking blurbs: sending the whole manuscript with no framing. Blurbers write better lines when given a clear sense of what the book argues and who it is for.
“"Astonishing ... a triumph" — reduced from "an astonishing amount of research went into what is, sadly, less than a triumph".”
Keep reading the glossary
The practice of quoting selectively to misrepresent a source's overall meaning.
A short, eye-catching quote lifted from an article and displayed in large type for emphasis.
Three dots that mark words omitted from a quotation.
Borrowed words used to sell — with legal, ethical, and reputational strings attached.