Authors - quit doing this!

[latepaul]

I'm sure this doesn't apply to anyone here, but I wanted to share this anyway.

Imagine you're in a supermarket, browsing the shelves and you come across a can. It's got a colourful, attractive label and a product name in big friendly letters. But instead of a description or a "serving suggestion" picture the label is covered with quotes from various food mags and random shoppers saying how tasty it is. It's true there's a web address/QR-code you can use to "get more details" but you can't be bothered. Not knowing whether it's a can of baked beans, pineapple chunks or steak in gravy you put it down and move on shaking your head.

Of course no food manufacturer in their right mind would do such a thing, so why do authors?

Authors - quit doing this!

[kennyc]

It's more the publisher than the author I suspect.

[HarryT]

I must admit that I do find it irritating when the "Description" of a book on Amazon is simply a list of quotes from reviews of it. The description should be a synopsys of the plot of the book, not tell me what people think about it - that's what reviews are for!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The description should be a synopsys of the plot of the book,

Maybe I'm not clear on what those words mean, but wouldn't that be a huge spoiler? When I think "synopsis of the plot" I think Cliff's Notes.
I'd think very very little of the plot should be revealed in a description.

[kennyc]

I think the point of the description should be exactly like the blurb on the back of a physical book --- which btw I thought the O.P. was referring to because of discussing cans of soup, I was thinking of the book racks at my local grocery store and books with quotes on the front.

I think the Description should tell what the book is about but should create interest in purchasing/reading it. I agree it is not a place for quotes etc.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ApK

Maybe I'm not clear on what those words mean, but wouldn't that be a huge spoiler? When I think "synopsis of the plot" I think Cliff's Notes.
I'd think very very little of the plot should be revealed in a description.

Here's an example of what I mean:

I'd consider this a good description of a book. Not one that I'd read, but a good description, none the less:

All Milly has is hope. Her brother, Neel, is missing and presumed dead in Afghanistan, but she refuses to give up on him. As she turns seventeen, there are only three wishes she wants to come true: get Neel home, get a boyfriend, get into Cambridge University. When Milly and her three privileged friends are catapulted into misadventures, capers with unsuitable boys and the pressures of friendships, family and Sixth Form, it's almost more than she can bear. From the spires of Cambridge to sunny Mumbai and the shadows of war-torn Afghanistan, Milly's offbeat story of love, loss and longing confirms that life is anything but predictable.

And here's what I'd consider to be NOT a good use of the "Description" field at Amazon:

'Urban rather than natural settings are the stamping grounds of Jørn Lier Horst, whose Dregs (his first book to be published in English) is immensely impressive The writer's career as a police chief has supplied a key ingredient for the crime fiction form: credibility. --Barry Forshaw, author of Nordic Noir

'Jørn Lier Horst demonstrates in Closed for Winter that he belongs to the premier division of Norwegian crime fiction.' --The Norwegian Book Club

Top class crime writing. --Sindre Hovdenakk, Verdens Gang

Classic police procedural from an author who knows what he is doing ... I recommend that every fan of crime novels should dedicate some time to Jørn Lier Horst s writing. Make a pleasurable start with Closed for Winter. --Torbjørn Ekelund, Dagbladet

[latepaul]

What Harry said.

I spent a fair amount of time over the last couple of weeks checking the "12 days of Kindle" deals and in a surprising number of them the Description field was just quotes from reviews. There is a "see all product description" link and sometimes when you hit that you get a blurb or synopsis at the bottom but really if the author/publisher can't be bothered to let me know what the book's about why should I bother.

I do care about reviews, but they only come into the equation once I know something about the book. General hints about the genre from the title and cover aren't enough.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by latepaul

if the author/publisher can't be bothered to let me know what the book's about why should I bother.

While I do agree with what you are all saying about descriptions, there is an argument to be made for NOT giving anything away.

I had a friend who would sometimes work to avoid finding out anything about a movie a friend was taking her to so that she could be completely surprised and have no preconceived notions.

In the case of the "bad" example Harry gave above, isn't that fact that it's Norwegian police procedural crime fiction written by an ex police chief sufficient to make a go/no go decision?

How much about the plot do you need to see in a paragraph? What are the chances the particular detail that would really turn you on or off about the book would end up there any way?

This is mostly a devil's-advocate argument, since as I say, I prefer the kind of description that you're talking about, but I think it's a valid argument.

[HarryT]

It's certainly a valid point of view, ApK, although personally I do prefer that the description tells me the basic outline of the story (without any spoilers, of course).

[Dngrsone]

What's even wosre is when they are reviews for the author's other works.

Is this a hint that the work in hand is sub-par? Or should I blindly assume that since the alst two books got rave reviews from professional-opinioners (not, I point out, professional readers) that this one must be just as good?

There are authors whose work I will buy based on their name alone, but that list is very small.

For the rest, I need something to convince me that this pile of paper is worth me investing in.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by kennyc

It's more the publisher than the author I suspect.

Same here.

I'm also in the "set it down and walk away" club when I find a book with no actual blurb. I like to have some idea of what I'm getting into before I buy something.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by ApK

In the case of the "bad" example Harry gave above, isn't that fact that it's Norwegian police procedural crime fiction written by an ex police chief sufficient to make a go/no go decision?

How much about the plot do you need to see in a paragraph? What are the chances the particular detail that would really turn you on or off about the book would end up there any way?

Harry's example is not the worst I've seen. I've seen several with literally no information about the book other than some random people on the internet liked it. Typically of course I can't find then now.

I guess this is slightly specific to the use case. There are several authors where simply "a book by X" is enough for me to buy. Or possibly "a book by X at 99p". But when you've looking through a list of bargains and have a genre, a title and a cover and nothing else and you click on a few hoping to find more details and you find you have to click again to actually find out more, it's annoying.

In a lot of cases the customer reviews are actually more helpful because there are people trying to write a proper review with an intro to the plot.

But even with the one Harry gave, it's hardly unique is it? The "Nordic Noir" sub-genre is not exactly a sparse field. You'd think the author/publisher would want to give me enough information to see why theirs is particularly unique. Despite my analogy, I don't buy books like cans of beans. They're not quite that interchangeable.

[ApK]

You just made some poor bean maker cry.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Here's an example of what I mean:

I'd consider this a good description of a book. Not one that I'd read, but a good description, none the less:

All Milly has is hope. Her brother, Neel, is missing and presumed dead in Afghanistan, but she refuses to give up on him. As she turns seventeen, there are only three wishes she wants to come true: get Neel home, get a boyfriend, get into Cambridge University. When Milly and her three privileged friends are catapulted into misadventures, capers with unsuitable boys and the pressures of friendships, family and Sixth Form, it's almost more than she can bear. From the spires of Cambridge to sunny Mumbai and the shadows of war-torn Afghanistan, Milly's offbeat story of love, loss and longing confirms that life is anything but predictable.

Wow, where can I get a copy?

[princess_ducky]

latepaul I have to give thanks for even mentioning my post on this forum...I feel that I have officially 'arrived'

That said I have to say that I am not completely against having a review snippet (as in 1 review excerpt under 15 word) in the description area but I do not think the whole visible area should be what other people think. I think for myself and to have an author shove someone else's opinion at me is irritating and demeaning. I find myself thinking that the manuscript might not be able to stand on it's own merit. If the book description needs the added help of reviews to entice readers then re-do the description so that hooks me.

There are a few authors that I do not even bother to look at the description but those are few and they have a massive fan base anyway. New authors and even not so new authors should not try to emulate the big names in this way as I believe it backfires.

From the response I have had on the post, twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, an overwhelming number of readers agree with me. I have also heard that I am not the only one that refuses to buy books with the review snippets filling up the initial visible portion of the book description area.

Anyway, thanks for continuing the discussion on Mobileread. I am honored.