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ApK · 01-24-2014, 09:39 PM

There is a saying about movie marketing:
"If you only have have 30 seconds of good footage in the whole movie, put it all in the trailer."
The idea is that you need to get them going to the theater and buying tickets. Be a good side show barker, get them in the door.
If they don't actually like the movie, well, you already have their money.

Were I asked to give advice to someone with lousy English skills who wanted to write and publish a book in English, my honest advice would range from "Learn English first" to "Get a ghost writer or collaborator to help you tell your story."

But some people just plunge ahead regardless. They get 100,000 words down on paper (no small accomplishment in itself...not only do I doubt I could write a novel, I doubt I could type one) and maybe there is even a good story in it somewhere. Maybe not.
But it's so badly written that it's painful to read and serves to perpetuate all the negative stuff in self-publishing's reputation.

Should we be grateful that these same writers apply the same horrible writing to their promotional blurbs?

That serves as an instant filter, warning people away, and hopefully the resulting poor response might turn the author on to the idea that there may be a problem, and maybe they'll eventually accept that the problem is their writing.

But when I read these awful blurbs, I'm sometimes tempted to tell these people: "For goodness sake, have someone fix the grammar and spelling in your blurb! You need to get them in the door!"
I'm tempted to point them to some of the threads in this section showing how good writers put so much time and effort into crafting their blurbs.

But I don't, because the bad blurbs are my early warning system. They save me the effort of having to seek out a sample and the mental trauma of having to read it.

So, what do you think? Are bad blurbs good?

ApK

Note: In case anyone was wondering: yes, this is a rant after having read some blurbs recently. Not saying where or for what books.
I just don't have my own blog or a Facebook page to rant on.

01-24-2014, 09:39 PM	#1
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,389 Karma: 68329346 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	Are bad blurbs a good thing? There is a saying about movie marketing: "If you only have have 30 seconds of good footage in the whole movie, put it all in the trailer." The idea is that you need to get them going to the theater and buying tickets. Be a good side show barker, get them in the door. If they don't actually like the movie, well, you already have their money. Were I asked to give advice to someone with lousy English skills who wanted to write and publish a book in English, my honest advice would range from "Learn English first" to "Get a ghost writer or collaborator to help you tell your story." But some people just plunge ahead regardless. They get 100,000 words down on paper (no small accomplishment in itself...not only do I doubt I could write a novel, I doubt I could type one) and maybe there is even a good story in it somewhere. Maybe not. But it's so badly written that it's painful to read and serves to perpetuate all the negative stuff in self-publishing's reputation. Should we be grateful that these same writers apply the same horrible writing to their promotional blurbs? That serves as an instant filter, warning people away, and hopefully the resulting poor response might turn the author on to the idea that there may be a problem, and maybe they'll eventually accept that the problem is their writing. But when I read these awful blurbs, I'm sometimes tempted to tell these people: "For goodness sake, have someone fix the grammar and spelling in your blurb! You need to get them in the door!" I'm tempted to point them to some of the threads in this section showing how good writers put so much time and effort into crafting their blurbs. But I don't, because the bad blurbs are my early warning system. They save me the effort of having to seek out a sample and the mental trauma of having to read it. So, what do you think? Are bad blurbs good? ApK Note: In case anyone was wondering: yes, this is a rant after having read some blurbs recently. Not saying where or for what books. I just don't have my own blog or a Facebook page to rant on. Last edited by ApK; 01-24-2014 at 09:42 PM.