‘Blurb.’ It is not a very compelling word; it does not seem to signify text of importance. Indeed, the word came into common usage back in 1907 when it was popularised by humourist Frank Gelett Burgess, who used it as a dig at commercialising publishers: ‘To blurb,’ he wrote, ‘is to make a sound like a publisher.’

Because the purpose of back-cover copy of a book is to hook a reader’s interest – to serve as a key marketing – many dismiss this element of the book as not worthy of interest; derisible, even. George Orwell, in his essay ‘In Defence of the Novel’, defined them as ‘disgusting tripe’. But he was writing in a different time, before the explosion of marketing and consumerism. Today, I suppose, he may have characterised blurbs as ‘necessary evils’. And yet, are they evils at all? Or are these kinds of book descriptions in fact essential – even enjoyable – snippets of writing?

First, take the point of view of the author. Every author I know agrees that writing a précis of his or her book – the synopsis and the blurb – is arduous indeed. I am reminded of Thomas Hood’s much repeated axiom: ‘Easy reading is hard writing.’ One could argue, in fact, that blurb-writing is an art form in itself.

Take the blurb for my new novel Masquerade, for example:

A young writer becomes entangled in an illicit gypsy love affair, pulling her into a world of secrets, deception and dark desire.

Summer, 1976. Luz de Rueda returns to her beloved Spain and takes a job as the biographer of a famous artist. On her first day back in Cádiz, she encounters a bewitching, passionate young gypsy, Leandro, who immediately captures her heart, even though relationships with his kind are taboo. Haunted by this forbidden love, she meets her new employer, the sophisticated Andrés de Calderón. Reserved yet darkly compelling, he is totally different to Leandro but almost the gypsy’s double. Both men stir unfamiliar and exciting feelings in Luz, although mystery and danger surround them in ways she has still to discover.

Luz must decide what she truly desires as glistening Cádiz, with its enigmatic moon and whispering turquoise shores, seeps back into her blood. Why is she so drawn to the wild and magical sea gypsies? What is behind the old fortune-teller’s sinister warnings about ‘Gemini’? Through this maze of secrets and lies, will Luz finally find her happiness… or her ruin?

Masquerade is a story of forbidden love, truth and trust. Are appearances always deceptive?

In fewer than 200 words, I convey:

• The setting and era: Cádiz, Spain; 1976.
• The identities of the main characters, Luz, Andrés and Leandro, and a little about them (young, writer, passionate, sophisticated, reserved…).
• The core story: Luz is torn between two different men and must navigate mysterious and treacherous waters to uncover an important truth.
• The central themes: Gemini, gypsies, fortune telling, mystery, danger, freedom and disinhibition versus toeing the line.
• The romantic writing style, as in words like entangled, illicit, dark desire, bewitching, captures, forbidden love, compelling, enigmatic, whispering…

In sum, this short piece of writing gives a reader a good feel for the essence of the book. Not tripe at all, I would argue, but of crucial importance, and valued by readers who based their book choice on this little glimpse into the story.

Of course, in my own blurbs I make an effort to very honestly reflect the contents of the book, and I shy away from what David Foster Wallace called ‘blurbspeak’, ‘a very special subdialect of English that’s partly hyperbole, but it’s also phrases that sound really good and are very compelling in an advertorial sense, but if you think about them, they’re literally meaningless’. (For a fascinating look at how Wallace contributed to blurbs through his career, head to http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/david-foster-wallace-and-blurbspeak.)

I am fortune to have a publisher who welcomes my input into areas of the book that are traditionally the publisher’s domain: cover and marketing copy. Many authors have little or no say. (This article makes for insightful, and quite painful reading, about some authors’ journeys with front and back cover art and text: http://www.theawl.com/2011/04/six-writers-tell-all-about-covers-and-blurbs.) I am delighted to be able to help shape my blurbs, because I think they are so powerful.

Take, for example, this blurb for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights:

Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine’s father. After Mr Earnshaw’s death, Heathcliff is bullied and humiliated by Catherine’s brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible revenge for his former miseries.

The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure, the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English literature.[Wordsworth Editions, 1992]

Now have a look at this blurb, from a different publisher:

Wuthering Heights is a story of the dark and tumultuous love affair between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff…Heathcliff, a young orphan, is adopted by Catherine Earnshaw’s father. Treated unkindly by her brother, Hindley, Heathcliff is at first protected by the elderly Mr Earnshaw. When the elder Earnshaw passes away, Heathcliff is hurt and betrayed by both brother and sister, and leaves…until the day he returns to exact his revenge. Emily Bronte’s demonic and brooding creation, Heathcliff, and the love-affair between him and Catherine, has fascinated and entranced readers for generations. It is a classic of gothic literature. [Simon & Schuster, 2014]

The similarities are interesting; and so are the differences. I find the phrase ‘The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent’ quite off-putting in the first blurb, while ‘the love-affair between him and Catherine, has fascinated and entranced readers for generations’ engages me in the second. Do you react differently to these blurbs? Do you find blurbs persuasive in your choice to read a book? I would love to hear your thoughts.