When you consider buying a book on Amazon by an author you’re not familiar with but find glowing blurbs for it by famous authors that don’t even indicate they’ve read the book, be very skeptical. I just finished a book that had several praising blurbs by well-known authors. The book was so badly written that I wondered if an editor had been involved at all in its publication.
Rather than using these blurbs as a guide, read the reviews given by normal readers to get an idea of what to expect.
@KarenSohne Thrillers are my favorite, and that’s what I mostly write. The book that prompted my post was a “thriller” written by a woman who held a position in the Reagan administration. Lee Child, of the Jack Reacher series fame, wrote a brief blurb praising it. I doubt he read the book. Blurb inflation has become common these days. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/book-blurbs-ethics/675139/
@johnldeboer l used to read more thrillers and murder mysteries, but a combination of world and personal events was making those less enjoyable so l’ve gotten into more fantasy novels. I always skip over the blurbs and read the brief synopsis when choosing a title. I’d much rather go with an actual human’s recomendation over a “paid blurb”( even when l don’t know the human) go figure!
@johnldeboer You have to be careful with the "normal people" too. I run across tons of ads looking to pay for positive reviews from people with valid Amazon accounts. You can usually spot those too as they are more detailed and similar in sentiment but not normally 5 stars so they look more legit.
@awnaves Yeah, you get some of those, though Amazon is getting better at spotting them. I prefer getting blurbs from respected book-review bloggers for my books, as they’re authentic and done for free.
@johnldeboer l hear ya, John! I go through a lot of ebooks through the public library. A lot of folks here will give their brief book reviews too any genres you like? #cosobooks #cosoreads