How Authors Get the Blurbs Printed on Their Book Covers

Pick up almost any book in a shop and you’ll find a few lines of praise from someone else. They sit on the front, the back, or both. Most readers glance at them without wondering how they got there.

The process is less mysterious than it looks, though it takes more planning than most new authors expect. It involves lists, polite emails, patient waiting and a surprising amount of fact checking.

What a Blurb Actually Is

Authors often call their book description a blurb. The established publishing industry uses the term for a testimonial or endorsement from someone who influences target readers.

These quotes are a marketing tool. They’re meant to convince readers a book is worth buying, and they’re typically written by published authors, subject specialists or celebrities. Within publishing, the word works as both a noun and a verb, and the people who write them are called blurbers.

Who Does the Asking

There are two main routes. One is to have your agent or publisher contact the famous person on your behalf. Agents and publishers have friendly relationships across the industry, so they know who to contact and what to say.

The other route is for the author to ask directly. Either way, books get blurbs because the author or publisher asks people to read and endorse them. Soliciting blurbs is so routine that editors often expect to see a list of potential blurbers in a book proposal.

Building the Wish List

Most advice starts with a list. One publisher suggests aiming for at least ten great blurbs, which means contacting about fifty people. Another source puts the target list closer to twenty five, noting that the yield won’t be a hundred percent, but that many targets may reasonably produce four or five great cover quotes.

The list can include more than famous names. Friends, colleagues, mentors and respected names in your field or genre all count. It also helps to identify backups in case an endorsement falls through.

Choosing Endorsers Who Fit the Book

Relevance matters more than raw fame. Good candidates are known to your audience, or hold jobs or titles that sound credible to them. For nonfiction, that means subject experts, and for novels, recognized names in the genre.

Some established writers will even turn down a mismatched request on purpose. One marketing author explains that she’d rather the cover space go to someone with clout among the potential readers. A blurb from the wrong person can simply be wasted space.

Timing the Request

Blurbers need time to read. One guide recommends starting three to six months before production if possible, and no later than one to three months before. Another advises contacting readers at least several months in advance, if not more.

Rushing can backfire. Readers who feel pressed may give a dishonest or half hearted blurb. Relationships help here too, since the advice is to identify the right people months, even years, before you need an endorsement.

Writing a Request That Gets a Yes

Email is the usual channel. Authors can write to personal addresses, website forms, or publicists and representatives, while social media is discouraged for these requests. A clear deadline makes it easier for the person to say yes or no.

Personalizing the message counts. Jane Friedman’s guidance says to explain why you’re asking this person specifically, and why you think they might like your particular book. Reading the endorser’s own work first is also seen as a meaningful gesture.

Curating What Makes the Cover

Not every quote makes the cut. Space is limited, so usually only one blurb goes on the front, from someone very high status to your audience, and up to three fit on the back. Others can appear in an advance praise section before the title page or on retail pages.

Balance is part of the craft. Josh Bernoff notes that the best endorsers don’t always give the best endorsements, so a mix of famous names and strong lines works well. He also suggests variety in the names and titles a reader sees.

Self Published Authors and the Open Debate

Independent authors face the same task without a publisher’s contacts. They have to establish credibility differently, because traditionally published writers have teams backing them. Early reader reviews can fill gaps, since old reviews may be a good place to look for extra blurbs.

Blurbs aren’t universally loved. One self publishing site acknowledges that some publishers have been dropping these endorsements from books. I couldn’t find reliable recent figures on how widespread that is, so it’s best treated as an ongoing debate rather than a settled trend.

Final Checks Before Print

Once quotes arrive, accuracy comes first. Don’t change a quote without permission, and tell the endorser in advance how the final blurb will read. Ask how they’d like to be identified on the cover and in press materials.

Names and titles need checking too. Bernoff suggests confirming the name and title for accuracy before submitting the quote for the cover. Afterward, send each endorser a copy of the finished book with a personal note.