An announcement by Simon & Schuster’s editor Sean Manning, that their flagship imprint will not require authors to obtain blurbs, rocked the book world on January 30.

Since then, authors and clients have asked me what this news means. Should they drop endorsements and blurbs from their book proposals?

What’s a blurb?

Firstly, you may ask, what exactly is a blurb? A blurb is a quote from a well-known author, celebrity, or someone with expertise in a field. It tends to be on the back cover or inside the front of a book before or just after the title page. A remarkably concise and enticing blurb can also appear on the front cover, which happened with my first book, Good and Mad: Transform Anger Using Mind, Body, Soul and Humor.  We started with a blurb from Amy Tan on the front cover for the first printing. Then, when the book was re-released with a new title, The Ultimate Guide to Transforming Anger, and a new cover, our publisher, Health Communications (HCI), replaced the first blurb with a ringing endorsement from The Chicago Tribune.

Are blurbs necessary to sell books?

Sean Manning researched extensively to see if blurbs are necessary for a book to sell well. He discovered many books that sold quite healthily without blurbs: Catch-22, Steve Jobs, All the President’s Men and others. He, therefore, decided not to require authors to secure blurbs, and more importantly, to achieve his goal, he decided to end the practice of pressuring authors to provide blurbs for other authors. Manning’s statement clarifies that the pressure to blurb books (and read those books) takes time away from authors who could spend that time working on their books.

However, Manning also makes it clear that if an author wants to read an advance copy and provide a blurb for a book, they are welcome to. Many Simon & Schuster books will still have endorsements; they are not entirely dropping blurbs.

Does his research on blurbs prove that they don’t work? No. I have not seen evidence that blurbs do not work. What I’ve seen from Manning is just that books can do well with or without blurbs.

Should I drop blurbs from my book proposal and/or book?

Short answer: No. Keep including blurbs in your book and book proposal.

Most publishers still want to see them, and they are especially helpful in adding credibility for nonfiction books. For nonfiction books, particularly self-help, blurbs can lend credibility to the work of new authors, in particular, and a well-written blurb can be quite captivating to new readers considering a book purchase. Here’s a relevant aside: I know that blurbing also helps the authors who blurb a book. When I’ve enjoyed a book, I sometimes re-read the blurbs when I finish the book and end up purchasing books by the authors who blurbed the current book when I’m intrigued by their book title in the blurb. I’m sure I’m not alone in that respect.

Are other publishers dropping blurbs?

How about other publishers? For now, I don’t see the publishing world banning the blurbing practice. Yes, it may be more challenging than ever to obtain blurbs from celebrity authors, but if blurbs give a book an edge in the marketplace, why would you give them up?

I asked Catharine Meyers, Publisher at New Harbinger, about the company’s stance on blurbs. “New Harbinger will continue to secure endorsements for our books, as we believe that in our mental health niche, it can be a great benefit for the consumer to see that other experts in the field support the work they are purchasing.”

There you have it. Keep on blurbing!

Even this recent article from Slate, which shares many reasons that various parties in the publishing industry dislike blurbs, suggests that blurbs aren’t likely to go away industry-wide. It’s a competitive arena; anything that can make a book stand out will likely be used by publishers and authors to help sell books.

While getting endorsements from celebrities and bestselling authors may be harder, you can still do so. Here are some tips for getting celebrity blurbs.

What’s your stance on blurbs?

Confession: I was over the moon when one of my author idols, SARK, blurbed my most recent book. And when my friend Kate Hanley sent me the foreword she’d written, it blew me away; her confessional story in the foreword completely took me by surprise.

How about you?

• Are you blurbing books for other authors?
• Do you resent the time it takes to write blurbs or do you enjoy supporting colleagues and readers with your blurbs?
• Do you find it a chore to get endorsements or is there some enjoyment in the process?
• Do you have any favorite tips or juicy stories about how you got your blurbs?

Please share your insights, raves, peeves, joys and wisdom in the comments!