How to write a blurb part 2
I’m the Senior Copywriter for Penguin Press – a division of Penguin that publishes non-fiction (history, politics, popular science, etc) as well as the fabulous Penguin Classics and Modern Classics. I did an honours degree in English Literature aeons ago and some people commented at the time that it wouldn’t leave me qualified for anything. But being a copywriter, especially writing hundreds of blurbs for Penguin Classics, really does require you to have read anything from Beowulf to Sherlock Holmes.
My approach to blurb writing is based on gathering lots of information. It takes me back to when I wrote essays at university – spending lots of time on research, reading and collating plenty of material, to be fully armed and prepared for the bit when I sit down to write. This way, I pretty much have the blurb written in my head before any of it even appears on my computer screen – though I do spend quite a bit of time tweaking and rewriting afterwards. I have to admit to lying awake at night thinking of good phrases to describe a character (sometimes I remember to jot these down before they vanish from my mind), or walking down the street when an idea for an opening copy line pops into my head.
We’re always having to think of original and creative ways to write about books, but I do catch myself overusing phrases and or stuck on particular adjectives. A thesaurus is always on my desk to help me find a fresher description.
Being a blurb writer has made me pretty critical about lazy copy on books. The most frustrating blurbs just have a selection of quotes from newspaper reviews, none of which actually describe the content or plot of the book. This seems a little elitist to me, as it seems to assume potential buyers already know all about the book and just need convincing. But a good descriptive review quote is always good to complement the blurb.
With fiction, I sometimes feel slightly short changed when it becomes obvious the copywriter hasn’t read the book or much of it – when they concentrate on trivial characters and events that only appear briefly or in the first chapter. Obviously we don’t have time to read all the books we write blurbs for, but I try to at least skim through thoroughly to get the gist of the plot (or else cheat, by reading a plot summary elsewhere).
Madeleine Collinge
Senior Copywriter, Penguin Press
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