Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Those blurbs on book covers? Don’t believe what you read.

The Day3 Jan 2026By CHRIS HEWITT

When book lovers grabbed William Kent Krueger’s early novels because of Lee Child’s praise on the cover — “Krueger hits the sweet spot every time” — there was just one issue: Child hadn’t read the books.

“Lee’s a pretty good friend. I asked him for a quote and he said, ‘I can’t read the book, Kent. I don’t have enough time, but I’ll give you a good quote,’” recalled the St. Paul, Minn., writer, whose latest book (without a Child quote on the cover) is “Apostle’s Cove.” “And he did, without reading the book. And for the next three or four books, that was the lead quote on the covers.”

Krueger said he knows Child is not the only writer who does that.

Writing glowing praise for the cover of a book, or “blurbing,” is common practice in the publishing industry. Kudos from a bestselling writer are believed to help sell titles from a writer with less renown. The queen of the blurbosphere is Ann Patchett, who’s not just a novelist but also a bookstore owner (Parnassus, in Nashville). Her recommendations adorn book jackets including pal Kevin Wilson’s books such as “The Family Fang,” employee Lindsay Lynch’s debut novel “Do Tell” and other titles, including Catherine Newman’s bestselling “Sandwich.”

The idea behind blurbs is that if a beloved writer likes a book (assuming they have read it), maybe you will, too. But that’s not a universal belief.

“How often does a blurb from a filmmaker appear on another filmmaker’s movie poster? A blurb from a musician on another musician’s album cover?” asked Simon & Schuster publisher Sean Manning in a story for Publishers Weekly. “The argument has always been that this is what makes the book business so special: the collegiality of authors and their willingness to support one another. I disagree. I believe the insistence on blurbs has become incredibly damaging to what should be our industry’s ultimate goal: producing books of the highest possible quality.”

Manning announced that his company would eschew blurbs because he wants writers to spend their time creating books, not blurbs.

That struggle is real, says Krueger — who, for the record, says he only blurbs books he has read (this year, his praise appeared on the covers of books by Joshua Moehling and Minnesota Star Tribune publisher Steve Grove). But reading and blurbing a book takes time away from his own writing.

“I have started saying ‘no’ to anybody I don’t have a personal connection with, which is the thing readers need to be aware of when they’re reading those quotes. Typically, we know each other. We’re colleagues or friends. We’re not going to say anything bad about the book of a colleague,” said Krueger, who added that the very idea behind author quotes may be wrong, since he enjoys Stephen King’s books but not necessarily the ones King blurbs.

“The Lost Evangeline” writer Kate DiCamillo used to blurb books she liked but decided to go cold turkey: “I was very aware there was no way to be fair, because they were coming at me from different directions. So I started a strict no-blurb policy, which I have stuck to.”

Mindy Mejia has benefited from a Krueger blurb on some of her books and said she tries to keep readers in mind when she does it.

“You want to praise a book in a way that sets some expectations: ‘Oh, I like lockedroom mysteries, too, so this might be good,’” the Apple Valley novelist said. “I’m always happy to take a look. I’m in (professional organizations) Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, so I sometimes get requests that way.”

Kathleen West, the Minneapolis novelist whose “Making Friends Can Be Murder” came out last summer and whose sequel, “Merry Christmas Can Be Murder,” is out now, agrees the process of asking other writers for blurbs is “awkward,” but says there are blurbers whose praise means something to her.

“K.J. Dell Antonia, I know she’s honest. She has a newsletter. And Taylor Jenkins Reid, I do tend to notice what she likes,” said West. “I was at dinner with a couple friends who read super widely and they mentioned blurbs — ‘This book had a quote from so-andso.’ So I do think it still matters to people, seeing books that an author we like blurbs."

Like West, Catherine Dang wonders if blurbs are so prevalent that they’ve become meaningless.

“There are a few authors whose blurbs I would take seriously, like Stephen King or Ta-Nehisi Coates or Judy Blume,” said the University of Minnesota graduate, whose latest novel is “What Hunger.” “But I think blurbs have lost their value, just because there are so many. We’re constantly giving them out, we’re constantly expecting them from other writers.”

King, like Patchett, blurbs a lot of new titles — and Dang thinks his name on a cover means something. It sold her on Kate Elizabeth Russell’s debut novel “My Dark Vanessa” a few years ago, for instance. And she’s a blurb beneficiary. When bestselling thriller writer Laura Dave agreed to sing the praises of Dang’s debut novel, “Nice Girls,” Dang thinks it increased the buzz around it.

Manning wrote that he thinks blurbing helps create a “literary ecosystem that often rewards connections over talent.” Dang’s not sure about that, but she does wonder if blurbing is almost like running in circles.

“I think it’s a necessary evil at this point in the business. I give blurbs, hoping someone else will give me a blurb, and I think it’s the same way with other people who are blurbing me,” said Dang, who at least wants to make sure people can believe it when she enthuses about a novel. In other words: She reads the book she blurbs.

“It’s like you’re putting your name and your stamp of approval out there,” Dang said. “At least know what you’re advertising.”

interesting, barry.
i've noticed that certain authors always blurb each other's books which makes me wonder if they really have read them or are just doing good favors for friends. mostly i like the thing the blurbs are legit, but who knows?

There is no question it happens. I have heard it firsthand from other authors. I am not hating on it. If Brad Thor calls and says, "I haven't read your book, and won't, but I am damn happy to leave a great blurb," my response would be, "Yes, please, and THANK YOU!" I am not holding my breath on that one, though.

I actually include reader reviews on my jacket (with their permission, of course). They are real people whom I had no personal connection with, because I feel like those are the most honest, believable reviews.

That said, maybe I will leave my phone number here in case a famous author is reading this. haha.

Thanks for the article, Barry. Very informative.

Like so many things, it’s who you know that’s important.

I have bought books based on blurbs. I have such mixed feelings about this.

I pay no attention at all to blurbs. I find them meaningless. I'm only interested in the book's summary. Does it sound interesting to me? Even then, I'll probably see if I can get it for free from NetGalley or Edelweiss if it hasn't been published yet, or from the library if it has been published. I don't have much of a budget for buying books.

Thanks Barry, this article is interesting and while it doesn’t surprise me regarding the practice of blurbing; I feel like the author should have asked Ann Patchett about her blurb to reading ratio. I imagine as a bookseller she has multiple opportunities to have knowledge of the books she blurbs and even if she didn’t read the entire book she certainly would get advance synopsis details or know people who read them *Full disclosure Parnassus is my favorite local independent bookstore - I love to follow her recommendations. She does regular video promotions for old and new books.
As for blurbs by authors, in my opinion it’s no different than the kind of recommendations we get from social media or friends on Goodreads or real life. If you find someone who blurbed a book you like, hopefully you’ll like another - but no guarantees. I happen to like most of the books Stephen King promotes on social media, but like Shomeret, rarely pay attention to blurbs.

I put much more stock in what I read on this site than on book jacket blurbs.