Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

On quoting reviews on jacket blurbs

For discussions of historical fiction. Threads that do not relate to historical fiction should be started in the Chat forum or elsewhere on the forum, depending on the topic.
User avatar
Miss Moppet
Bibliophile
Posts: 1726
Joined: April 2009
Location: North London
Contact:

Post by Miss Moppet » Tue October 5th, 2010, 8:51 pm

[quote=""keny from prague""]
just once it would be nice to read a blurb that didnt endorse a book. "This book is ok but you'd be better off buying something over there..."[/quote]

One of the quotes on the back of my copy of Jeremy Paxman's The Political Animal was from William Hague who said, 'It left me disappointed.' That alone was such a refreshing change that it made me want to read the book.

What does annoy me: jacket copy which gives away major plot points.

User avatar
EC2
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3661
Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Post by EC2 » Tue October 5th, 2010, 9:42 pm

[quote=""Miss Moppet""]One of the quotes on the back of my copy of Jeremy Paxman's The Political Animal was from William Hague who said, 'It left me disappointed.' That alone was such a refreshing change that it made me want to read the book.

[/quote]

Doesn't Terry Pratchett do that on some of his? I have loads of Pratchett's in the house but can't go look because they're in my son's room and he's gone to bed!
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

User avatar
Michy
Bibliophile
Posts: 1649
Joined: May 2010
Location: California

Post by Michy » Wed October 6th, 2010, 12:40 am

[quote=""Miss Moppet""]One of the quotes on the back of my copy of Jeremy Paxman's The Political Animal was from William Hague who said, 'It left me disappointed.' That alone was such a refreshing change that it made me want to read the book.

[/quote]

Wow. I've never seen a negative comment like that on a book cover. They're always mush-gush and urp-slurp. That was pretty brave of the publisher to include that one. Although you are testament to the fact that it worked!

User avatar
Miss Moppet
Bibliophile
Posts: 1726
Joined: April 2009
Location: North London
Contact:

Post by Miss Moppet » Fri October 8th, 2010, 9:21 pm

[quote=""EC2"]Doesn't Terry Pratchett do that on some of his? I have loads of Pratchett's in the house but can't go look because they're in my son's room and he's gone to bed![/quote]

Don't know as I have never read a Pratchett but if so it's one more reason I should!

[quote="Michy""]Wow. I've never seen a negative comment like that on a book cover. They're always mush-gush and urp-slurp. [/quote]

Yes, like the ones on the inside cover of my library copy of Juliet by Anne Fortier:
Ingenious, intriguing, a thrilling story that keeps you turning the pages. This is a wonderfully textured novel of history and imagination that brings Italy, past and present, beautifully to life. (Kate Mosse).
This book is a stunner. Elegantly written...every character lives, and medieval and modern Siena are brilliantly evoked. The theme is delightfully original - and the kind of thing you wish you had thought up yourself. (Alison Weir).

The problem? Mosse and Weir were responsible for two of the most disappointing books I've ever read in my life. I feel their taste can be no rule for mine and it's a strong factor in my urge to return the book whence it came, unread.

User avatar
EC2
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3661
Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Post by EC2 » Fri October 8th, 2010, 9:37 pm

[quote=""Miss Moppet""]Don't know as I have never read a Pratchett but if so it's one more reason I should!

Dang, I've been and looked at son's Pratchett's, but I can't find the adverse quote, so I dunno. I could have sworn I saw it. It'll turn up when I'm not looking.

Yes, like the ones on the inside cover of my library copy of Juliet by Anne Fortier:


The problem? Mosse and Weir were responsible for two of the most disappointing books I've ever read in my life. I feel their taste can be no rule for mine and it's a strong factor in my urge to return the book whence it came, unread.
[/quote]

Weir certainly is selling it high. I think you'd be ready to wallbang it before you reached half way.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

User avatar
Ariadne
Bibliophile
Posts: 1151
Joined: August 2008
Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Fri October 8th, 2010, 9:56 pm

I'd agree with her comments about medieval and modern Siena, but "elegantly written" - I didn't find it so at all. Not that there's anything wrong with a more commercial style, but that phrase is way overused.

User avatar
Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Fri October 8th, 2010, 9:57 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Weir certainly is selling it high. I think you'd be ready to wallbang it before you reached half way.[/quote]

Gawd, I still have that one for Amazon Vine.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

User avatar
Miss Moppet
Bibliophile
Posts: 1726
Joined: April 2009
Location: North London
Contact:

Post by Miss Moppet » Fri October 8th, 2010, 10:02 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Weir certainly is selling it high. I think you'd be ready to wallbang it before you reached half way.[/quote]

Well at the moment I'm thinking:

1. Not in the mood for it.
2. Flicking through it, I'm not in love with the way the contemporary parts are written and the historical bits look like total wallpaper.
3. The author bio manages to say twice in the space of three sentences that the writer did postgraduate studies at Oxford, where she met her husband. If a one para bio is this badly edited it doesn't bode well for the book.
4. Still not in the mood for it.

There are also quotes by Katherine Neville, Susan Vreeland, Jamie Ford and Karen Essex but I don't know their work so it doesn't mean much.

Comparing this to Vanora Bennett's The People's Queen, which happens to be the other newish book I have to hand, it isn't being sold nearly so hard - I guess because Bennett is a well established author. There's one short quote from Simon Sebag Montefiore and that's it, as opposed to eight on the Fortier. Neither book carries any quotes from print reviews.

User avatar
EC2
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3661
Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Post by EC2 » Sat October 9th, 2010, 12:00 am

Amazon Vine is interesting as the advance copies are aimed at booksellers too, so they state the promotion details and tell you who is getting what in terms of shout. Of course I can't remember where I have put Juliet down in the house, but the blurb is full of what the marketing will entail, but I have Daisy Goodwin's My Last Duchess in my study. No quotes on the ARC but it says 'Daisy Goodwin is a hugely respected talent in the worlds of TV and journalism and is chair of the judging panel for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010. My Last Duchess is guaranteed major review and feature coverage on publication. (my italics). Platform and media clout count for a lot.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Sat October 9th, 2010, 12:34 am

Do "name" authors actually read the books for which they write these cover blurbs/puffs? I sometimes have the suspicious feeling that they might just be doing a Harriet!

Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”