Don't Quote Me On This, But....

by Susan/Miranda

Do you believe endorsements?  When someone fabulously famous or celebrated or educated, or even Just Like You tells you to buy something, do you listen?  Are you willing to take the advice of a complete stranger, and plunk down your MasterCard when it counts?

Publishers believe you will.  That’s why almost every book on the market today carries some sort of recommendation on the cover or front pages.  For fiction, these come mostly in the form of praise from other writers, usually other writers successful in the same genre.  This makes sense: if you like A’s books, and A says B’s book is a rip-snortin’ read, then it (should) follow that you’ll like B’s books, too.  A’s quote gives B instant credibility.  It’s as much a gift of generosity as one of admiration, its kind praise shared through bookmarks and websites. (At least that's how I've always thought of it, and a hearty thanks to all the authors who have done this considerable favor for me over the years.)

But before I was published, I had only the vaguest fairy-tale notions of how this came into being.  I thought that A just happened to pick up B’s book, and wrote to her, and said swell things, that B in turn passed along to her publisher.  Somewhere I guess that must happen, just like some fairy-tales do come true.

But for the most part, review quotes (that’s their formal title, just as “to quote” really means “to give a review quote”) come about in three different ways.  The first, and most agreeable, is between author-friends and acquaintances.  B meets A at a conference/booksigning/class reunion/airport lounge/orthodontist’s waiting room.  They email, they chat, they cross paths again.  B finally screws up her courage, and asks A if she’d be willing to read her next book in manuscript form, and IF she likes it, give her a quote.  In almost all cases, A will happily oblige.  That’s what friends and colleagues are for, and a tidy deposit in the karma bank it is.  There’s precious little that one writer can really do to help another professionally, but this is one of the best.

However, it can get messy if A is a New York Times bestselling author and in great demand.  A is flattered to be asked by B, but as her star rises, A discovers that right after B are C,D,E,F,G and the whole rest of the alphabet, eager for quotes of their own.  A can be a real princess, read and quote for everyone who asks so long as they say please, and risk being late turning in her own next book.  Or she can ask B to write her own quote, and A will endorse it as her own.  Or A develops a generic quote that she gives to every writer who asks: “No one slices bread like B!”  Or, in time, A may just throw up her hands in overworked dismay, put out the word she’s given up giving quotes, and change her email server and phone number.

But what happens if B doesn’t ever meet A?  Then B must rely upon that professional matchmaker, otherwise known as her agent.  Agents will cheerfully act as go-betweens, hunting down other authors for quotes, whether blindly or from their own lists of authors.  They’ll make polite inquires for B, praise her work to A (agent-praise is always more agreeable than self-praise, anyway), send along B’s manuscript if A agrees, and shield B from the ugly truth if A says she wouldn’t quote for B if B were the last book on earth, the no-good, plagerizing slut.

The other go-between can be B’s editor.  Most writers pay attention when an editor asks a favor, because in this business, You Just Never Know when it could be very useful to be in another editor’s address book.  A really pays attention when her editor is also B’s editor, and the interest rate at the karma bank goes through the roof.

But the very best part for A is that, if she’s lucky, B’s book will make her forget that she and A are writing pals, or publishing stable-mates.  Instead A will get to be a reader first and forget about quoting, and lose herself in a wonderful book.  She’ll have the rare privilege of being among the first to discover a new author, or read a book that might someday become a bestseller in its own right. 

In this spirit, I’d like to recommend two new historical novels that I recently quoted.  Both were by authors new to me, and reading their books was like finding unexpected treasure.  Check ‘em out:

The Winter Prince by Cheryl Sawyer
http://www.Cherylsawyer.com

Too Great A Lady: The Notorious, Glorious Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton by Amanda Elyot
http://www.tlt.com/authors/lcarroll/amanda_elyot.htm

But what about you?  Do you pay attention to cover quotes? Or have you recently “discovered” a book or author you’d like to recommend yourself?

Comments

[Maggie Robinson]

What gorgeous covers!

Thanks for the insight. Sometimes I feel as if I've been "burned" by those endorsements...an author I admire has obviously succumbed to Godiva or some other devious bribe to write a positive blurb on a negative book. But it doesn't happen too often. And I still look for those authors' words of praise.

I found the Pink Carnation series because of Eloisa James' endorsement on the cover. The book wasn't in my usual romance section haunt and was twice the price of what I usually pay ($14!!!), but I'm hooked now and can't wait for Lauren Willig to finish number 4.

[jrox]

It is interesting that this topic came up now. I used to buy books based on these endorsements, but haven't for many years. Then, just the other day, I spotted a book with a cover quote by Diana Gabaldon. It was Vicki Pettersson's Scent of Shadows, an Urban Fantasy--a genre in which I have never had any interest. It was so unusual to see a quote by that author, however, that I picked up the book and bought it without even reading the back. Turns out to have been the best thing I've done reading-wise in while because I've discovered a whole new genre to glom! While waiting for her next book, I'm now flying through Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan books.

The thing is, I probably wouldn't have been open to any of this if I hadn't decided to read Mary Jo's A Kiss of Fate a few months ago and start reading historical paranormals for the first time, so it all comes back to the Wordwenches in the end!

[Nina P]

Hi Susan/Miranda! Thank you for sharing how book quotes come to be.

Generally, I don't even look at book quotes unless I've read the author that gave the quote. Even then, I'm not willing to whip out the old MC unless I trust/know the author. Mary Jo is quoted for Karen Harbaugh's NIGHT FIRES. "Riveting...the best historical romance I've read in a long, long time," the front cover says. You bet I bought that book.

But, the down side to such a vibrant endorsement is that now Ms Harbaugh gets to suffer my highest levels of expectation. After all, she’s right up there with Mary Jo, because Mary Jo said so, right? Poor Karen. In truth, she doesn't deserve the harsh scrutiny of my beastly internal editor, unleashed.

And, what if I, as a reader, don’t like the book? To me, that opens up whole new Pandora’s Box for both the quoted author and the author of the book, with books sales hanging in the balance. Ugh. But as one of the Word Wenches noted somewhere on this blog, authors best come with a thick skin.

Nina, who is indeed *riveted* by NIGHT FIRES.

[Susan Wilbanks]

A quote from an author I enjoy isn't quite enough to make me buy the book all by itself, but it will make me pick it up and try a few pages to see if it works for me.

I put more weight on books favorite authors recommend online. They usually go into more detail about why they liked the book, for starters, so I can judge whether our tastes match in that area. Also, sometimes the recommendation is a reply to a question like, "Darn it, Favorite Author, I read so much faster than you write! What can I read in the meantime that's a lot like Your Series?" So I think you get books that are more like Favorite Author's than you usually get from cover quotes.

[Elaine McCarthy]

It's sad, but the only influence author quotes have on me tends to be negative. I know writers are Nice People, and will support each other for reasons that have nothing to do with how they REALLY feel about the work in question, so the fact that one genre writer raves in print about another doesn't weigh much with me. BUT if the writer giving the quote is someone I don't admire, I'm likely to skip right down the shelf to the next possible book without further ado.

I don't think recommendations from writers whose work isn't like the book they're recommending help at all. My agent got La Vyrle Spencer to give a nice quote for my book, and since mine was Nothing At All like her work, I hope nobody bought it on her recommendation, as they would probably have been hugely disappointed.

[CM]

They make a difference. As a general rule, the authors that are autobuys don't produce enough books to keep my reading habit in check. But there are too many other books out there for me to buy indiscriminately.

A quote from an author isn't a guarantee I'll like a book, but it's more of a guarantee than flat nothing.

[shscott21]

I have to admit that I'm also swayed by quotes from writers I already like, and by writers I already like who don't give a lot of quotes. If the quote makes the book seem like something really special, then I'll at least pick it up for the "skim test."

Susan/Miranda

[Kalen Hughes]

I have no idea who does and doesn't give a lot of quotes. LOL! Cause as a reader I never paid any attention to them. Now I study them and try to figure out how to get them. *grin*

[Lois]

I guess they work as a whole otherwise they wouldn't get other authors to do it, but for me I just look at them like I do other types of reviews -- I might look at them and read them, but I never let them influence me. I prefer making up my own mind on stuff, and plenty of times (at least with movies) I'll love something that most others hated. And sometimes that happens with books as well.

Besides, I'm sure you guys have your favorite authors or books and the like, and I have mine, and they don't always intersect. And if they did, it would be a boring world. LOL So seeing a familiar name referenced on a book might catch my attention for a minute, but that's about it. :)

Lois

[Sherrie Holmes]

I seldom pay attention to cover quotes, especially the ones that say something vaguely polite and noncommittal, like "A fresh new voice in romance" as opposed to the more specific "I couldn't put it down."

If a really big name author provides a cover quote, that probably would have some pull with me, provided the quoter is an author I love. What makes me kind of laugh, however, is if the cover quote is by a writer as obscure as the book's author! *g* It makes me sort of wonder about the value of the quote.

Susan Miranda, that was so nice of you to mention those two new books on your blog. I'll bet the authors are thrilled by your recommendations. I always pay far more attention to that kind of publicity than I do cover quotes. It makes me feel like authors are part of a sisterhood, and helping one author helps us all. Definitely a deposit in the Karma bank.

[Wendy]

I usually ignore them, because they're almost always by authors I don't care for, and/or utterly ludicrous. (That Jane Austen compairson for Julia Quinn always makes me want to smack someone.) But I was debating over a book a while back and then noticed a blurb from *Jo*, and that decided me. And I loved the book.

[Janga]

I pay no attention to author quotes. However, I do trust the recommendations of favorite authors on their websites or in online communities. For example, I first read Marcia Willett and Adriana Trigiani because Mary Jo recommended them in RRA posts, and Eloisa James's recommendations have led me to some fabulous non-romance reads.

I don't mean to be insensitive, but I haven't been able to look at book quotes in the same way since the time I was rereading one of Nora Roberts's first single titles and realized that one of the quotes was given by Janet Dailey.

[Jane George]

**But before I was published, I had only the vaguest fairy-tale notions of how this came into being.***

Tra-la-la-la...skipping down the starlit path...

I do pay attention if the quote is by a writer I respect. Otherwise, not.

Thanks for the further insight into The Perils of Publishing.

*puts blinkers back on* Tra-la-la-la!

[shscott21]

Interesting how most of these comments say the same thing: that it's word of mouth that creates interest in a book. The only difference is whether that "word" comes via another author you respect, a friend, a store reading group, or a bulletin board for readers and writers.

Jane, those "fairy-tale blinders" are almost entirely necessary for any kind of writing career. Just a matter of knowing when to take them off!

Janga, I don't like to put words into other people's mouths -- but I think I'm pretty safe in saying that if Nora Roberts could have that Janet Dailey quote removed from her books, she would. Oh, would she! *g*

Susan/Miranda

[Kalen Hughes]

Don't know how true it is, but I was told the cover quote was important for book buyers and such. *shrug*

[Melissa]

I don't pay attention to author quotes any more, because too many are fairly generic or sound 'too fake'.

What works for me is recommendations from friends, which is how I discovered "Lady Be Good" by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Or recommendations from RRL, which is how I discovered "Accidental Goddess" by Linnea Sinclair. Or from the LJ Romance Novels community, which is how I found "Enchanted Inc." by Shanna Swendson. All three books were wonderful discoveries and found a permanent home on my bookshelves.

I'm slowly adding more blogs to my weekly reading, and I'm sure that'll add more books to my already overcrowded bookcases. Oh well. :)

[Francois]

I use cover quotes as an indication of genre not of quality. It seems an author often likes books completely unlike their own which is no help at all.

That said, the recent re-issues of Georgette Heyer have a plethora of expansive quotes from good authors on the back, so even I would take notice. Now, this is a blurb and a half.

"'Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to.' - Katie Fforde"

[shscott21]

Kalen--
Slightly off topic here -- but many thanks for mentioning this blog in the RWA e-newsletter. Your "quote" demonstates this kind of cross-pollination quite nicely! *G*
Susan/Miranda