Blurbs and favorite authors - a disappointment

I don't buy or read books based on blurbs. I only buy books that are signed first editions by people who have been guest intructors at my writers' workshops or whose work I've discovered because they post on AW. The only exception is Joanna Bourne, whose work I read because she got a stellar review on Smart Bitches. I now buy all her books. She also posts here and I may have discovered her that way, too.

I'm sorry your reading experience wasn't satisfying.

The number of times I've seen:

...best work of fiction since the time of Tolkien...

is ridiculous. I don't know about the sincerity of the reviewers (neither do I really care). I don't ever base my decision to buy a book based on that. As CC said, it's really a matter of preference.

Not aimed at the OP or anything- your initial post was a rant, but the discussion following is interesting

One thing that I thought when I read this was simple: people have different tastes in books.
And some people have broader tastes than others.
Maybe the author enjoyed reading the book, the blurb could be truthful. But just because the author likes something doesn't mean you will.
I've read books that my best friend doesn't like that I absolutely love.
Don't blame them, it just wasn't a good book for you.

~Amber~

I never really look at blurbs, or reviews by other authors. It certainly doesn't effect my buying decision, however, when I get published, I totally want awesome authors to rave about my book lol.

But it really comes down to different tastes and that's it.

I have a sense that writers asked to supply a blurb are going in with the mindset of finding something positive to say. That could make a difference in their perception of the book. If you add friendship to the mix, that could add another layer of rose coloration to the reading glasses.

Also, if a writer supplies a negative blurb, that baby doesn't stand a chance of getting on the back cover.

But, anyway. I don't buy on the basis of blurbs. A flaming great blurb from someone I respect? That could make the difference between me immediately reshelving the book and going on to read the first few pages.

I've thought the same thing as Phael. I'm sure there are plenty of writers who will not blurb something they dislike (or found mediocre), I'm sure there are plenty who will also look for something nice to say. I'm more likely to assume the latter, which is unfair, but it seems like the majority of people I've met in life will...embellish their opinions of something to keep the peace or gain whatever they gain from it. Not even necessarily lying, but pointing out something good, even if it was the only good thing they had to say about it. Granted, I'd also assume that there are good professional reasons not to do this as an author--namely if you keep recommending books that suck, people might think less of your opinion, though I don't know that it really matters that much.

Personally, I don't buy based on blurbs. They go into the same category for me as those little review quotes put on books or movies. I realized pretty early on that a movie that says, "Stunning" might be from a quote that says, "While the graphics are stunning, that's the only good thing about this movie." Or worse, the original quote might sarcastically say something like, "I walked into this movie thinking it would be a top contender for movie of the year, but after seeing it, I realize the only list it might end up on is worst movie of the year." Then the quote on the trailer says "Movie of the year!"

In other words, I'm skeptical.

I rarely pay attention to blurbs, but strangely an author whose work I can't stand always gives great blurbs to one of my favorites.

I find I go the other way and I will avoid reading books blurbed by authors I don't like.

Darzian said:

The number of times I've seen:

...best work of fiction since the time of Tolkien...

is ridiculous. I don't know about the sincerity of the reviewers (neither do I really care). I don't ever base my decision to buy a book based on that. As CC said, it's really a matter of preference.

Not aimed at the OP or anything- your initial post was a rant, but the discussion following is interesting

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Seeing an ellipsis on the left side of a quote always makes me cautious. The reviewer might actually say, "This is not exactly the best work of fiction since the time of Tolkien, in fact, it sucks."

The publisher doesn't change any words, but simply cuts the review in the right place, and it becomes ...best work of fiction since the time of Tolkien...

shaldna said:

I find I go the other way and I will avoid reading books blurbed by authors I don't like.

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Yes me too. That's why I found it odd. I didn't notice the blurb until the second book.