Read It Forward discussion

We absolutely loved Francisco Goldman's Say Her Name: A Novel, so when we read this, we knew we had to read The Dead Do Not Improve by Jay Caspian Kang:

"The Dead Do Not Improve is the most thrilling novel I’ve read in ages," says Francisco Goldman.

Have you ever picked up and book, bought it and read it just because one of your favorite authors blurbed it?

Do blurbs work on you?! Let's chat! Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Yes! It just happened recently. I could hit myself for believing it because I know better. I know that good writers will out-and-out lie in a blurb. I've seen it and even had it explained by a good writer who gave a good blurb to an awful book: he said he wrote the blurb because he knows the author and feels sorry for him because he's a recovering alcoholic.

In my case, I \saw a book by an author who was unknown to me. Because Dennis Lehane, a wonderful writer of thrillers, said that book is a good thriller, I ordered the book. It was terrible.

I've discussed this with some writers, and they all deny doing this, of course.

The blurbs on my new book are all accurate ("The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It"). Counter to the above, which I'm sure happens, someone refused to blurb my book -- after she'd promised, and after reading it! I was horrified and hurt, until I thought about it. My book is about children cured of diseases -- the disease in the blurber's family has no treatment, and likely never will. My book probably upset her and the publisher shouldn't have asked her in the first place.

And yes, I always buy books based on blurbs from authors I know. It works!

I thought I read somewhere, not to rely on the blurbs, because sometimes they were paid, maybe or authors were from the same agent/publisher? and i know that like movie reviews, they can take one sentence out of context from a not so favorable review and make that a favorable blurb. So I don't take those at face value anymore.

Marie wrote: "I don't think they're paid, but they're always going to be positive and basically say the same thing: read this!"

Wrong. They ARE paid. See my message below.

After reading http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/bus...
I now know that ANY review or blurb is suspect, and I am sure goodreads.com must be just as vulnerable to this as amazon.com. And that worries me.

I review most every book I read. I've never been paid for a review. I'm always honest. Sometimess I get the books for free from the publisher or author, but neither has ever required a review much less a good one.

But how do other readers know that when they read my review?

And how do I know that a review was written by someone who really read the book and is reviewing it honestly?

Where can we be sure we are reading honest reviews?

Great conversation, ladies! We can assure you, having been in the publishing industry for 20 years, that authors are not paid to blurb each other's books. We can't speak for other reviews, but when you see a blurb on a book, you can know that it's honest.

Authors call in favors from old friends and agents and editors get involved to get the right blurb for the right book, but it's all on the up-and-up!

I won a copy of this book on July 11, 2012 through Read It Forward and still have not received it. I have sent a couple of e-mail messages to find out the status and have not received any replies.

Lynn wrote: "I won a copy of this book on July 11, 2012 through Read It Forward and still have not received it. I have sent a couple of e-mail messages to find out the status and have not received any replies."

Lynn, just keep reminding them every now and then like you just did. I won the book from Read it Forward at the end of May and finally did receive it on August 9. (That was my birthday, so good timing, I guess.) I emailed them and mentioneod it in this group every now and then.

Lynn wrote: "I won a copy of this book on July 11, 2012 through Read It Forward and still have not received it. I have sent a couple of e-mail messages to find out the status and have not received any replies."

Thanks for being in touch, Lynn. We've moved our mailing warehouse recently and are experiencing some delays, but rest assured your book is on its way!

Thank you for your reply. I look forward to receiving the book.