RE: Signaling
In an era of paper-covered hardbacks and paperback books, there is also the competitive question: What else if not a blurb? Art? White/colored paper? A note from the Author (eg. This paperback edition, and no other, has been authorized ... JRR Tolkien)? In Slovakia (like the Czech Republic), we have some books that include company advertisements of sponsors, for instance Slovnaft, a huge oil refinery--I like blurbs better, but getting money from the sponsor to put out a (classical) liberal book is better than NOT publishing it at all. For novels, having some summary of the book or an exciting scene in lieu of more blurbs seems more the practice. For non fiction today, being WITHOUT a blurb would be exceptional, and may well be negatively disorienting to a prospective buyer who expects one. Signalling is evolving nicely at Amazon.com, with multiple reviewers. Ciao is even better, with reviewers who are rated -- and even get PAID to write reviews (very small amount), based on their ratings. (www.ciao.com to choose Euro country) Tom Grey Technical note -- I failed to get the original Signalling posting (did get many copies). Don't know what else I've missed. [Very unimportant-] All time most memorable (not a) blurb to Bored of the Rings: Note: This paperback, and no other, was written with the sole intention of making a few quick bucks. Those who believe in courtesy to a certain other living author won't touch this gobbler with a ten-foot battle lance. (As I remember from 20 years ago -- so naturally I bought it. ) -Original Message- From: jsamples [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 10:46 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Signaling A marketing professional in book publishing adds: Maybe having friends, especially famous (in their fields) ones, sells books. A 1999 study of consumer behavior in buying books listed blurbs as the 7th most important factor in deciding to buy a book. (Number 4 was recommended by someone I know.) John
RE: Signaling
At least from my own perspective I would think less of a blurber who obliviously lied to me. In addition I nearly always glance at the names of the blurbers to see if there is a name or association I recognize. If there is a will read the blurb. If not I generally dont. Also if I were well known and was asked to write a blurb I would try to be fair with it for fear of damaging my reputation. All to say I would not dismiss the reputational cost idea so quickly. Lynn Gray, economist State of Oklahoma -Original Message- From: jsamples [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 1:07 PM To: Armchair Subject: Signaling All this talk about the Nobelists got me thinking about a small puzzle in book publishing. Book blurbs are those small endorsements of a book that appear on the jacket or in ads. They seem to be a way to sell the book to prospective purchasers by signaling that the book is worth more (or at least as much) as its cost. But how could blurbs do that? They are mostly written by friends of the author. If potential customers know that, they will quickly realize that the blurbers have strong reasons to lie to them about the book. After all, if a blurber says her friend's book is mediocre, she will pay a heavy price in interpersonal relations. If she lies to the potential customer, she pays no price because so far as I can see there are no reputational costs in writing false blurbs for books. Even if a potential purchaser does not know that almost all blurbs are written by the author's friends, he would still have strong reasons to doubt the value of the blurb since it comes from the publisher who also has strong reasons to favor the interests of the author over the interests of potential purchasers. So a blurb doesn't signal this is a good book but rather the author is my friend. That is hardly reason to buy the book unless the purchaser also is the author's friend. So blurbs ought not enhance book sales. Yet they continue to exist. I take that to mean either the publishers or potential customers are deluded about the nature or effects of blurbs. Another possibility is that blurbs may serve some function besides selling books. So, why do book blurbs exist? John Samples Cato Institute
Re: Signaling
Have you considered that the author is my friend may have some information in it? For example, if Robert Reisch endorsed a book, you could reasonably conclude that Robert Reisch is the author's friend and that his friends tend to be liberals with a certain slant. It wouldn't signal the quality of the book, but it would help signal the content of the book. I'd also add that some blurbs have high content, if the blurb is written by somebody with certain experitse,known tastes or strict standards. Ie, blurbs by book reviewers. Fabio So a blurb doesn't signal this is a good book but rather the author is my friend. That is hardly reason to buy the book unless the purchaser also is the author's friend. So blurbs ought not enhance book sales. Yet they continue to exist. I take that to mean either the publishers or potential customers are deluded about the nature or effects of blurbs. Another possibility is that blurbs may serve some function besides selling books. So, why do book blurbs exist? John Samples Cato Institute
Re: Signaling
*Warning* the following message contains shameless promotion. Milton Friedman, Armien Alchian and William Baumol recently blurbed a book that I edited that is forthcoming on Oxford University Press called Entrepreneurial Economics: Bright Ideas from the Dismal Science. I would like to say that Friedman, Alchian, and Baumol are my friends - I certainly like the idea that people might think they are my friends - but in point of fact none of them would recognize me on the street, they are just distinguished economists who know a good book when they read one (and who were kind enough to give me some of their time and reputation.) I agree 100% with Bryan by the way who writes The better your names, the the better you can expect the book to be.! :) Quite seriously, there is real information in blurbs especially when they come from people with good reputations. Don't worry I'll be sure to tell you more about my book when it appears sometime early next year. :) Alex -- Dr. Alexander Tabarrok Vice President and Director of Research The Independent Institute 100 Swan Way Oakland, CA, 94621-1428 Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: Signaling
A marketing professional in book publishing adds: Maybe having friends, especially famous (in their fields) ones, sells books. A 1999 study of consumer behavior in buying books listed blurbs as the 7th most important factor in deciding to buy a book. (Number 4 was recommended by someone I know.) John -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Bryan Caplan Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 3:14 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Signaling jsamples wrote: Book blurbs are those small endorsements of a book that appear on the jacket or in ads. They seem to be a way to sell the book to prospective purchasers by signaling that the book is worth more (or at least as much) as its cost. But how could blurbs do that? They are mostly written by friends of the author. If potential customers know that, they will quickly realize that the blurbers have strong reasons to lie to them about the book. After all, if a blurber says her friend's book is mediocre, she will pay a heavy price in interpersonal relations. The real signal, I'd say, is WHO writes your blurbs. If they are nobodies, then readers can infer that no one better would say anything nice about the book. The better your names, the the better you can expect the book to be. After all, smart and famous people don't hand their friendship out for free. In addition, many blurbs provide information about subject matter, not just praise. If 5 political science professors write your blurbs, that helps prospective readers decide if your book is up their alley. -- Prof. Bryan Caplan Department of Economics George Mason University http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men but what *they* thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. --Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
