So….this week I thought I would address all of you out there who are very close to finishing your outline/sample chapter to submit, whether to me, another agent, a publisher, whomever, really.
You have labored for months. You are just about ready.
And one day when you are thinking about something else…..it occurs to you: “Hey, my uncle knows Steven Spielberg! I wonder if that would help.”
Answer: it might.
An editor at Doubleday once told me blurbs were like icing: nice, but not essential.I would agree with that statement….but I would add this: if you are an unknown author building a career, blurbs can help you skip over piles.
That is, if the top of your submission has this:
“I could not put this down!” Steven Spielberg, Hollywood, CA
you stand a MUCH better chance of being looked at, esp. if you do not have an agent.
My point? Go ahead & line up blurbs BEFORE you submit. Make sure they are visible–believe me, it can’t hurt.
p.s. the same goes for intros/forewords. Say you are writing a book on the history of the Canadiens; it will not hurt your chances if the intro is by Jean Beliveau.
Brian J Wood- Literary Agent 