tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post7613665589603204041..comments2023-06-30T14:33:11.914+01:00Comments on Carrie Etter: Book blurbsCarrie Etterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617695047663413425noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-21392763383484336992013-09-01T12:25:13.288+01:002013-09-01T12:25:13.288+01:00Interesting--belated thanks!Interesting--belated thanks!Carrie Etterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09617695047663413425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-54420278329328214402013-09-01T12:24:40.493+01:002013-09-01T12:24:40.493+01:00Thanks, Sheenagh--I appreciate reading your views....Thanks, Sheenagh--I appreciate reading your views.Carrie Etterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09617695047663413425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-8803209026318773442013-09-01T12:23:56.059+01:002013-09-01T12:23:56.059+01:00Thanks for sharing, Catherine! That's all good...Thanks for sharing, Catherine! That's all good to hear.Carrie Etterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09617695047663413425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-41007725792517078292013-08-22T08:48:59.905+01:002013-08-22T08:48:59.905+01:00There IS a danger of appearing on too many back co...There IS a danger of appearing on too many back covers and thus no longer being taken seriously. These days I only do blurbs for poets whose work I already know I really like, In the nature of things, many of those are friends and/or ex-students and I don't see why one should refuse on those grounds - I know some of those books really well and feel better qualified to write on them than on something I don't know and have read purely for the purpose of reviewing it. Conversely, I won't usually agree to blurb someone who's totally new to me because it'd just be too embarrassing if it turned out to be something I didn't like enough. (I'll review books I am averse or indifferent to, but honestly, and I can't write a dishonest blurb either). Besides, if you take it sriously, which I do, it's a lot of work. I wouldn't write a blurb without reading the collection at least twice, carefully, and I'd rather do that for someone I know. When I do write them, however, I rather enjoy it; it's fun trying to make up soundbites.Sheenagh Pughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02735299981866333316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-13539436602460697782013-08-21T15:31:12.614+01:002013-08-21T15:31:12.614+01:00Interesting! I was very lucky with blurbs for my b...Interesting! I was very lucky with blurbs for my books and didn't have to fish around too much. I sent off a couple of hopeful letters to writers I admired and voilà! Like you, I was moved by the kindness and feel uplifted to reread their comments. My publisher is small and timestrapped so I was quite happy to go out foraging myself. Best, Catherinechillcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360989103518880339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-49001664263816280312013-08-21T12:42:57.880+01:002013-08-21T12:42:57.880+01:00Oh, the reviewing-books-by-friends thing. It's...Oh, the reviewing-books-by-friends thing. It's hard. There are little pockets of the lit scene in which everyone seems to know everyone else, so it's always cropping up. (See, for example, the Private Eye comments on the current Forward shortlist. Always the judges on these things will know personally some of the writers whose work they are judging.) And how to define 'friend' – inclusive of people you work with, have taught, have enjoyed a couple of drinks with? I don't think it's always a no-no.<br />charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16580118367334638930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-20403131532633329612013-08-21T11:36:39.668+01:002013-08-21T11:36:39.668+01:00Thanks for your comment, Charles. I guess I assume...Thanks for your comment, Charles. I guess I assumed I was responsible for garnering the blurbs as that's what I'd always heard was done and none of my publishers ever volunteered to go after them. Perhaps, too, I wanted particular people who probably wouldn't have occurred to my publishers. <br /><br />I've heard instances of the dodgy side of blurbing and experienced a little myself, with one poet who told me she didn't do blurbs then appearing on others' books thereafter--but those may have been at the instigation of the publisher; I don't know. <br /><br />Regarding what you say about respecting "reviewers who have a rule about not reviewing the books of the friends" (I myself have such a policy), I'd be interested in your thoughts about reviewers who do review the books of their friends. Carrie Etterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09617695047663413425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-31839221364771062012013-08-21T11:03:30.141+01:002013-08-21T11:03:30.141+01:00I think on the whole it’s the publisher’s rather t...I think on the whole it’s the publisher’s rather than than author’s job to ask for quotes from other authors. This depersonalises the situation. Yet I always feel awkward when asking: I feel I’m putting the person I’m asking under an obligation, which I don’t want them to feel. At the top end there’s certainly a dodginess to the whole practice (I’ve seen letters going out from a mainstream publisher actually suggesting what the author being asked might write). I’ve known authors who do not want a quote from X or Y, because they blurb ‘everyone’, so it becomes meaningless. So I respect authors who have a rule about not blurbing at all (just as I also respect reviewers who have a rule about not reviewing the books of their friends). But ideally, if A really does like the writing of B, asking A for a quote is enabling them to express their admiration and encouragement in a very practical and helpful way, and they are pleased to it. charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16580118367334638930noreply@blogger.com