Several studies have attempted to identify the move structure of book blurbs.
For example,
Gea-Valor (2005) proposes three moves, namely, description, evaluation and about the author. In
order to achieve its promotional purposes, they would employ a wide range of linguistic
elements
and conventions such as complimenting, elliptical syntactic patterns, the imperative, the address
form you and the curiosity arouser. On the other hand, Cacchiani (2007) identified a 4-move
structure, namely, identification, establishing credentials, highlighting parts of the book, and
appraising the book. The author concludes that the book blurbs selectively present the positive
features of books in highly positive terms. In other words, negative terms are seldom found.
Gea-Valor (2006) in another study researched the features of book blurbs publicised on the
Internet. The study found that the digital features such as visual effects are gradually shaping the
structure and rhetoric of traditional printed book blurbs. They contain many innovative and
resourceful characteristics including international scope, interactivity, non-linearity and
bidirectional communication.
Keyness in academic textbook blurbs: Lexical variations across disciplines (PDF Download
Available). Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273172095_Keyness_in_academic_textbook_blurbs_L
exical_variations_across_disciplines [accessed Apr 25, 2017].
Differing from the previous research, Marciulioniene (2012) studied book blurbs in fiction from a
diachronic perspective. In addition to the identification of its 4-move structure, the study reveals that
unique and rare words, in particular, adjectives, in the book blurbs are still very stable across time
differences. Similarly, Gesuato (2007) also found that there were relatively few variations of language
use in book blurbs across four academic disciplines (biology, engineering, education and linguistics). By
using the same diachronic method, Gea-Valor and Inigo-Ros (2009) also examined 100 book blurbs
published by one publisher, Penguin, from the late 1940s until the present. They identified a 5-move
structure of the book blurbs of classics, namely, catchphrase, description, appraisal, author’s credentials
and technical information, and found that the tendency of merging both descriptive and evaluative
language is frequent across time. However, in contrast to the previous two studies, they also argue that
book blurbs do change, such as in their employment of elliptical structures in order to “reveal the
influence of marketing and the need to be competitive in a fast-moving world” (p.217).
Kathpalia (1997) examined the book blurbs from a cross-cultural perspective by comparing those printed
by international and local publishers. The study argues that socio-cultural factors, especially the
pragmatic value in a specific professional-business context, would affect how a genre is constructed and
its success in various environments. Basturkmen (2009) compared book blurbs in EFL textbooks
published in New Zealand, and claimed that they can serve as a window on cultural values as they
contain value-laden assumptions about how disciplines should be approached at a specific time. The
words chosen in book blurbs suggest and reflect how language should be taught and learnt in a specific
discipline at a specific time in a specific country.
Hence, though there may be conventional clause and syntactic patterns to follow in traditional book
blurbs, this genre is also becoming hybrid and fluid as a number of factors such as culture, discipline,
diachrony or medium would affect how they should be constructed in terms of their move structures
and linguistic realisations. In addition, recent studies on genre texts have placed increasing emphasis on
the variations of disciplinary culture, which further determines what is the acceptable argument or
organisation in respective disciplines (Hyland & Bondi, 2006). In academic lexis, research also shows that
“different disciplines tend to use it in slightly different ways, on the basis of their methodological tenets”
(Bondi, 2010: 8). That is, specialist vocabularies used in disciplinary texts represent their individual
epistemic conventions, and ways of constructing, formulating, negotiating and disseminating knowledge
(Malavasi & Mazzi, 2010).
Keyword analysis, a qualitative concordance analysis with the help of computational tools, can help
identify the significance (or key) of lexis in a set of texts (Groom, 2009). Analysing keywords in a given
set of disciplinary texts has recently become of interest in studying the evaluative features of discourse
(Martin & White, 2005) as they are closely associated with the cultures, assumptions, and value systems
of argumentative practice in academic disciplines (Bondi, 2010). They not only are often regarded as
“useful indicators of the characteristic style of a particular text or corpus” (Groom, 2010: 59) but “often
provide a way of identifying which words best distinguish the texts of a particular author or group of
authors from another” (Hyland, 2012: 68). Furthermore, the keyness1 in keywords also indicates the
texts’ aboutness2 and style. Keyness is text-dependent and can represent a quality in a given set of texts
or in given cultures (Scott, 2010).
Wen-hsien Yang
Keyness in academic textbook blurbs: Lexical variations across disciplines 2012
Colin Dwyer (2015) NPR Forget The Book, Have You Read This Irresistible Story On Blurbs?
Blurb is one of the most pervasive, longest-running, controversial tools in the publishing history.
The term blurb has attached a lot of meaning over the years; however, lately it has referred to just one
thing: an endorsement from a writer or a celebrity that praises the book right on its cover.
Blurbs have garnered quite a reputation from various critics, who one hand, see some value in them; but
one the other hand, is appalling and is getting over the top. Nonetheless, blurbs are still popular among
publishers.
The process of making a blurb is a simple one. A recognized critical institution or critic writes a positive
review; and that review comes to the attention of the book’s published, who then puts a positive quote
somewhere on the book cover. It happens before the books are sold, since its manuscript is passed
around critics for their praise.
Though blurbs are expected to sell books, they aren’t exactly meant for readers – at least not entirely.
By the time a blurb gets to the reader, by the time it is resting on a book in a display, it has already done
most of the work it is supposed to do. When literary agents submit manuscripts to publishers, they
include endorsements from known authors and celebrities. In a way, blurbs are meant for publishers to
consider selling the book in as much as readers for buying the book.
Blurb is a short piece of writing describing and advertising a book, film, or a new product (Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English)
Carl Bialik The Best Worst Blurbs of 2007 (Gelf Magazine) January 6, 2008
The critic blurb is a staple of arts advertising. Yet if you look behind some blurbs, you'll find quotes
out of context, quote whores, and other questionable ad practices. Blurb Racket exposes the truth
behind critics blurbs in movie ads from the New York Times.
Book reviews are becoming ever more pervasive in terms of their occurrence, influence, and critical
significance. For many contemporary literary releases, these reviews serve as the only critical material
available in the early stages of release. Just as reviews are important to literary scholars, they have a
significant function for the publishing industry in the marketing and selling of books. Book reviews, while
still present in their literary-critical forms, are increasingly found in the popular press and on the web in
shorter, more accessible formats. For example, on-line bookseller Amazon.com has a section for
"customer comments": readers are encouraged to write short reviews, which become part of the
website's publicity for selling books.2 Richard Woodward, an essayist for the Village Voice Literary
Supplement, suggests that Amazon.com's reviews reflect a move away from professional criticism
towards reviews that can be more easily manipulated for the bookseller's gain (1).
Reviews are also being exported in shorter, snappier forms such as the "book jacket blurb." This is also
sometimes called the "publisher's blurb," which is a descriptive paragraph telling readers what the book
is about and is increasingly giving way on book jackets to a series of review quotes, usually by famous
authors, or critics from well-respected periodicals or journals. Such reviews are often solicited from a
well-known author of the same genre primarily for inclusion on the book jacket, these are called
"solicited blurbs". Alternatively, blurbs may be extracts from longer reviews published in journals,
known as "review extract blurbs.” Most commonly, blurbs attest to the book's being somehow special, a
"must read" worthy of purchase. Bronki (1998) cited on Douglas (2001) suggests that "most readers and
buyers understand that blurbs are not reviews." He contend that in the current literary climate, this is
not correct as the majority of the blurbs are sections or phrases taken from longer reviews-because such
blurbs are fast becoming the new form of book review, the most read and referenced piece of criticism
on a new release. Johnson (1992) cited on Douglas (2001) asserts that every word reviewers write is
read avidly by publicity department staffs. These staffs are ready to seize on the magical phrase that will
serve as a 'blurb' to be used in ads for the hardcover book, and in direct quotation on the cover of the
eventual paperback. (104). Richard Woodward concurs:
Dave Wilton (wordorigins.org) April 8, 2016
In the publishing trade, a blurb is a testimonial to the book that is printed on the dust jacket. It is meant
as an advertisement for the book. The origin of blurb is one of the more humorous etymologies.
Blurb was coined by the American humorist Gelett Burgess in 1907. According to his publisher, B.W.
Huebsch, Burgess’s book, Are You a Bromide?, had been published and was selling well. At the annual
trade association dinner that year the publisher distributed some five hundred copies of the book with
a special jacket, as was the custom. It was also:
the common practise to print the picture of a damsel—languishing, heroic, or coquettish—anyhow, a
damsel on the jacket of every novel.
Burgess provided a drawing of a particularly buxom and pulchritudinous blonde for the jacket and labeled
her Miss Blinda Blurb. The name stuck, eventually including not only drawings of buxom women but also
any excessive testimonial to the book.
From Burgess’s Burgess Unabridged, 1914:
Blurb 1. A flamboyant advertisement; an inspired testimonial. 2. Fulsome praise; a sound like a
publisher...On the “jacket” of the “latest” fiction, we find the blurb; abounding in agile adjectives and
adverbs, attesting that this book is the “sensation of the year.”
Athalya Brenner Society of Biblical Literature (1999)
Blurbs. Why read them? The answer is simple: for certain kinds of shorthand information. By and large,
blurbs can be divided into two kinds. The first is the "straight" kind: some blurbs are introductory
summaries to/of the book and its author[s], simply factual. These are usually written by the authors
themselves or by in-house Publisher hands. They are the equivalent of, sometimes identical with, a
publisher's short description of a book in a catalogue, next to the book's front cover image.
But don't we all also know of the other kind of blurb, the ones that qualify as info-commercials, intended
to advance sales by praising author and book extravagantly; these are either reproduced from reviews
or solicited from Third Parties? I certainly do, since—like many other scholars—I'm an occasional blurb-
writer as well as a habitual blurb-reader, and I am "blurbed" on the covers of my own book publications.
As a blurb-writer, I recognize that "blurb" is a genre. Brevity is its possible hallmark—the blurb must be
short, four to ten lines at most if a single blurb, shorter if a number of other blurbs are being sought by
the publisher. As a result, it is sometimes fragmented [...]; something about, or a hint as to, the
contents; words of praise for author and/or book; or the citing of an endorsement ("Run and buy it!")—
and always signed by a known authority on the book's subject matter. As a blurb-reader, I hope for
information in a nutshell, the good judgment of superiors and peers, truth in advertising according to
the required legal norms.
As a blurb-writer again, I recognize that, once you've agreed to write one, factors additional to a book's
value or excellence may intrude: you wish to have the book on your shelf (this is the regular reward of
published blurbing); the author is a colleague, an acquaintance, a student, an ex-student, an influential
person—in short, someone you wish to honor or help in some way; or you find it difficult to say "no" to
a publisher; and so on. Of course, at times you read the book and believe that it is truly wonderful.
What really gets me is the inflationary praise attached to books with or without reference to their real
value. Even when a short summary has been blurbed, there follow quoted remarks and signed
endorsements, such as the following recent examples, taken at random from books on my shelves. On
the back cover of a 2001 book, an appetizer referring to the author's other publications:
Fascinating.
Masterful.
A deeply probing search for the real [X].
On a 1995 book:
No serious Bible reader—whether Jewish, Christian, or secular—can afford to ignore this volume.
On a 2003 book:
A meaningful contribution to....
On a 2005 book:
This is a liberating reading.
I haven't named the books or their authors. Had I done so, I'm not sure that many of you guild members
would have heard about them or would have agreed with this praise. And even if you don't, you might
say to me, dismissively: This is sales talk, as you know. Treat it as sales pitch and no more, don't look for
credibility, get on with your reading, don't waste your time.
And this is, of course, partly true. Praise or endorsement blurbing in the profession[s] is largely an
American practice, a commercial move instituted by publishers of academic books after the example of
more commercial publishing. You and I can simply treat it cynically, as suggested above; this is not easy,
however, when the "name" of a scholar I know or know of, and respect, is attached to the blurb.
Exaggerated praise, especially when it is not deserved, would detract from the book or its author's
credibility, is an exercise of undue influence by relying on authority, and might influence your or my own
judgment when we read.
Blaise Cronin and Kathryn La Barre 2005
Blurbs advance praise and are designed to stimulate book sales. One author’s reputation is used to launch
or augment another’s. Sometimes the authors are reputational equals; sometimes the relationship is
asymmetrical, as when a celebrity author allows a novice to draw on his or her reputation.
The word ‘blurb’ was coined almost 100 years ago by the American humorist Gelett Burgess. In Burgess
Unabridged: A New Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed, he defined it as a ‘flamboyant advertisement;
an inspired testimonial.’ Today, no self-respecting book cover or dust jacket is complete without one or more blurbs.
Puffery and commercial publishing have become inseparable, whether we are talking about fiction or non-fiction,
trade or academic markets. Indeed, a new lexicon has emerged to capture this publishing epiphenomenon: there are
‘blurbers’ (aka ‘blurbists’, or in special cases, ‘blurb-meisters’) who ‘blurb’ for ‘blurbees’. A blurber may be said to
‘lend his blurb’,which then appears in ‘blurb space’. And so on (Almond,
2003; Fischer, 2004).
Ahmed Muhammad 2015
Intensifiers
According to Biber et al. (2000: 554-5), intensifying adverbs belong to the subcategory of degree
adverbs. They are used before gradable adjectives indicating “degrees on a scale” or “an endpoint on a
scale” as in the sentences below: 1.Most will be extremely cautious until new case law defines the
extent of the new Act. 2.But snow and ice accumulate in a totally different way from sediment.
Cacchiani (2007: 9-11) discusses the use of intensification in book blurbs from semantic and pragmatic
perspectives. Intensifiers indicate “the semantic role of degree”. Three types of intensifiers are
recognized: 1.Absolutives/completives (absolutely great) 2.Intensifiers of the extremely high degree
(extremely high) 3.Intensifiers of the high degree (very) Intensifiers show differences in terms of “type
and degree of expressivity and speaker’s involvement and commitment.” Hence, three categories are
identified: 1. Subjective or personal 2. Undistinguished emotions 3. Specific emotions Intensifiers,
according to Quirk et al. (1999: 589), do not only indicate “an increase in intensification” but also “a
point on an abstractly conceived intensity scale.” The point may be high or low and the scale is
applicable to a predicate, predication, verb phrase or an item within it. The verbs which are involved
here express “attitude”.
3.3.2 Ellipsis
Ellipsis involves omitting elements that are recoverable from the linguistic or situational context.
Elliptical syntactic patterns are used to influence and gain the reader’s attention (Gea-Valor, 2005:55-6).
Ellipsis is also utilized to “imitate real speech and to establish proximity with the audience.” Another aim
behind the use of ellipsis, as stated by Carter et al. (1997: 211), is to “create an illusion of closeness”
between the reader and writer. In the following example blurb is an illustration of this: 1.“A triumph”-Ali
Smith (An Evening of Long Goodbyes, by Paul Murray, Penguin). A common form of ellipsis in blurbs is
subject ellipsis to imitate the “spoken language” (Gea-Valor, 2005: 56): 2.“Inspiring…offers a real sense
of what it’s like to be at the beginning of something Big” (Sync, by Steven H. Strogatz. Penguin).
3.3.2 Imperative
The imperative is not only used to make commands. According to Eastwood (2002: 22) there are other
uses such as issuing slogans and advertisements: e.g. “Save the rainforests.”, “Visit historic Bath." The
imperative is to be understood as a kind of invitation or recommendation not as normally interpreted in
the sense of a command or an imposition. This function of imperative is basically persuasive targeting
the potential buyer: 3.“Steal yourself for a gripping tale of obsession, madness and fear”-Sunday
Mirror(Land of the Living, by Nicci French. Penguin).
3.3.4 Superlatives
The use of the superlative form is another characteristic of blurbs. Gea-Valor and Ros (2009: 212)
maintain that these are used to “qualify the book in absolute terms”: 4. Beowulf is the most important
Old English poem and perhaps the most significant single survival from the Anglo-Saxon period. Blurbs
employ prepositional phrases with “positive adjectives” and the syntactic structure: one of the most+
string of adjectives: 5. Tess of the d’Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy’s novels.
3.3.5 Curiosity arousers
To fire the reader’s interest and attention in the subject which the book tackles. GeaValor (2005: 59)
remarks that these include the use of “excerpts from the books” containing “especially powerful
meaningful sentences” as in the example she provides: 6. “When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought
of my daughter…” (No Sound Chance, by Harlan Coben. Barnes & Noble). Another form of arousers is
the use of rhetorical questions containing key elements of the plot or argument and leaving the reader
on a cliff-hanger.(Ibid: 60). They are utilized to indirectly “make a comment or an
exclamation.”(Downing and Locke, 2006:201).The following example reflects this: 7. “Are the differences
between the sexes really just down to our upbringing or is there another, more fundamental
explanation?”(The Essential Difference, by Simon Baron, Penguin).
Gea Valor (2005)
in order to perform their persuasive function, blurbs make use of a wide range of
strategies which are basically meant to attract the potential reader’s attention, and to
get the customer to buy the book by emphasizing and praising its qualities:
Complimenting: Intensifying adverbs, positive evaluative adjectives and superlative
constructions are abundantly used to praise the book and the author, especially in the
move offering critics’ reviews.
Complimenting the book: In this case, praise usually appeals to the emotions by
underlining the effects of the book on the reader, that is, what he/she will feel when
reading the book in question:
“A really great, hilarious, rollicking, fantastic read” –Newsnight Review (Stupid White
Men, by Michael Moore. Penguin).
“A beautiful, funny, wise book, full of understanding, gentle direction, brilliance, and
heart” (Pay Attention, for Goodness’ Sake. The Buddhist Path of Kindness, by Sylvia
Boorstein. Ballantine).
Complimenting the author: In this case, praise tends to highlight the author’s
writing qualities and style, as in these examples:
“Uproarious and touching! Gervase Phinn writes with enormous warmth and wit”
–Daily Mail (Head over Heels in the Dales, by G. Phinn. Penguin).
Complimenting both the book and the author: In some cases, the review extract
praises both the book and the author in the same statement:
“A novel of passion in every sense ... [She does] it all with aplomb, with a demon
narrative intelligence” –The Boston Sunday Globe (Horse Heaven, by Jane Smiley.
Ballantine).
Ellipsis: Blurbs, especially in move 2, generally make use of elliptical syntactic
patterns, especially minor sentences (sentences with no verb), in order to impact the
reader and attract his/her attention. Thus, ellipsis brings blurbs closer to advertising
slogans and headlines, which tend to be as simple and direct as possible to catch the
reader’s eye.
Another purpose of ellipsis is to imitate real speech and to establish proximity with
the audience. As pointed out by Goddard (1998: 107), speakers who know each other
well “don’t need to be all that explicit about their meanings, because they know the
other person will fill in the gaps as a result of shared knowledge and shared history.”
Similarly, Carter et al. (1997: 211) state that ellipsis can be used deliberately “to create
an illusion of closeness [...]. The reader is forced to adopt the same position towards
the writer that a speaker would adopt to a close friend in a conversation.” So ellipsis
functions as “a binding factor because ties between writer and reader are strengthened
through the work that the reader has to do to fill the gaps.” This is especially so in
advertising, where the effectiveness of the message is based on the decoding by the
receiver. In blurbs, ellipsis is pervasive, as the following examples show:
“A triumph” –Ali Smith (An Evening of Long Goodbyes, by Paul Murray. Penguin).
“A huge hit” –Guardian (Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, by Eoin Colfer. Penguin).
In addition, omitting the subject (“the book,” “the story,” “the author”) is also a
characteristic elliptical pattern of blurbs, as in these examples, which remind us of
spoken language:
“Inspiring ... Offers a real sense of what it’s like to be at the beginning of Something
Big” (Sync, by Steven H. Strogatz. Penguin).
“Extraordinary depth and resonance. Will rank among the finest of Second World
War memoirs” –Independent (First Light, by G. Wellum. Penguin).
Imperative:
Another characteristic feature of blurbs is the imperative, which is pervasive
in advertising discourse. As Fairclough (1994) observes, the imperative and the address
form you, which is dealt with below, evidence a personalised relationship between
producer and consumer, in which the audience members are individually addressed.
By means of the imperative, the persuasive function of the blurb becomes clear since
it is used to address the potential buyer directly. In this case, the imperative form has
to be understood as an invitation or recommendation, not as a command or an
imposition (del Saz, 2000), as in the following examples:
“Steel yourself for a gripping tale of obsession, madness and fear” –Sunday Mirror
(Land of the Living, by Nicci French. Penguin).
“Enter the world of Susan Lilian Townsend –sun-worshippers, work-shy writers,
garden centre lovers and those in search of a good time are all welcome ...” (The Public
Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman Aged 55 3/4’, by Sue Townsend. Penguin).
As del Saz suggests, a way of mitigating the original illocutionary force of the
imperative is the use of politeness strategies, such as giving reasons before or after
the imperative form, as in the next examples, where we are invited to read the book
because of the author’s writing qualities:
“Ali Smith has got style, ideas and punch. Read her” (The Whole Story and Other Stories,
by Ali Smith. Penguin).
“If everyone who wants to be a writer would read this book there would be many
more good writers, many more happy writers, and editors would be so overwhelmed
by sweetness they would accept many more good books. So what are you waiting for?
Read it” –Ursula K. Le Guin (Making a Literary Life, by Carolyn See. Ballantine).
Another use of the imperative is to make the recommendation of the book more
personal, and the appeal to the reader even more direct and one-to-one, as in the
following examples, especially the second one, which illustrates what may be
considered an aggressively overt advertising style:
“This time, it’s a small town in the mid-Atlantic states with a savings-and-loan in 1982,
and you want to be there. Trust me on this” –Donald E. Westlake (Good Faith, by Jane
Smiley. Barnes & Noble).
“However, it’s not all bad news if you’re caught in the dilemma. Read and find out
why!” (How Not to be a Hypocrite: School Choice for the Morally Perplexed Parent, by Adam
Swift. Routledge).
Address form “you”: This textual feature is closely related to the previous one, the
imperative. Blurbs often employ the typical advertising address form “you”
(Goddard, 1998) with the purpose of involving the prospective reader and getting
his/her interest in the story, as in the following examples:
“Gripping, harrowing. A true triumph over tragedy. You may start Kevin Lewis’s
book in tears, but you finish it exultant” –Mail on Sunday (The Kid, by Kevin Lewis.
Penguin).
“The book that will get you marching mad” (Globalization and Its Distontents, by Joseph
Stiglitz. Penguin).
“One of those stories that will have you muttering ‘Just one more chapter’ at two in
the morning” –Washington Post (The Tutor, by Peter Abrahams. Penguin).
Another use of “you” is for generalising the reviewer’s feelings, emotions and
reactions to the book:
“Richly detailed, ingeniously constructed ... you will revel in Jane Smiley’s Horse
Heaven” –San Diego Union Tribune (Horse Heaven, by Jane Smiley. Ballantine)
“Carolyn See doesn’t just tell you to sharpen your pencils, she shows you how to
sharpen your wits” –Rita Mae Brown (Making a Literary Life, by Carolyn See.
Ballantine).
Curiosity arousers:
These are intended to pique the reader’s interest. To this
category belong excerpts from the books, and questions concerning their contents.
Excerpts from the book are often included in the blurb, especially powerful
meaningful sentences which aim to capture the reader’s attention and arouse his/her
interest in the story:
“I always thought you knew what you were –now I know different. The world’s
slippery. All it takes is for one thing to shift and everything can slide away. It’s like
falling off the edge of the world” (Bad Influence, by William Sutcliffe. Penguin).
“We have no future because our present is too volatile ... We have only risk
management. The spinning of the given moment’s scenarios. Pattern recognition ...”
(Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson. Penguin).
Curiosity arousers may also appear in the form of rhetorical questions containing key
elements of the plot or argument and leaving the reader on a cliff-hanger. As Brierley
(1995) states, posing questions to arouse curiosity and involve the reader is a common
technique in advertising. The following examples illustrate this point:
“Are the differences between the sexes really just down to our upbringing–or is there
another, more fundamental explanation?” (The Essential Difference, by Simon BaronCohen.
Penguin).
“How do social and economic characteristics affect political behaviour and
preference? What are the local and national determinants of voting patterns? How
strong are regional factors, or the personal votes of MPs and candidates? What makes
each parliamentary seat tick?” (The Almanac of British Politics, by Robert Waller and
Byron Criddle. Routledge).
