Simon & Schuster imprint will no longer ask authors to obtain blurbs for their books Publisher says expecting authors, agents and editors to secure blurbs can create ‘an incestuous and unmeritocratic literary ecosystem that often rewards connections over talent’.
But soon we may not see so many of these author blurbs – Sean Manning, publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint in the US, has written an essay for Publishers Weekly explaining that as of this year he will “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.
“While there has never been a formal mandatory policy in the eight years I’ve been with the Simon & Schuster imprint, it has been tacitly expected that authors – with the help of their agents and editors – do everything in their power to obtain blurbs to use on their book cover and in promotional material.
A writer slightly more famous than the author of the book you’re buying might have called it “whip-smart”, “illuminating” or “a tour de force”, for example – presumably so that fans of the more famous writer will take a punt on the less famous one.
And at the moment, Manning’s policy only applies to books published by that flagship US imprint, not all books published by Simon & Schuster globally.
