You All Wish You Could Have Such a Blurb From Me
Posted on March 22, 2011 Posted by John Scalzi 27 Comments
Gaze, if you will, upon the blurb I provided Sam Sykes, featured on his latest book Black Halo, which is out today:
And yes, in fact, it is quite an endorsement when in fact I do not wish for the ravens to strip the flesh from your very bones. In case you were wondering. I do not give such an endorsement to everyone. And the ravens are pleased for that.
Sam Sykes, you may recall, was the fellow who did this. I have that placard next to one of my Hugos, incidentally.
Also, the actual book to which the blurb is attached? Fun. I mean, if you like such things.
The best part is that Amazon has your blurb listed under “Reviews” :)
See this? Is why I want to be a writer. It seems like such a fun club to be in. :)
me thinks he doth protest too much.
I think that’s rather magnanimous of you.
But why do you have the volcano death ray on standby and aimed at Sam Syke’s head?
I admit, it sends conflicting signals to the public.
My favorite author blurb of all time was by Dylan Thomas for Flann O’Brien’s At Swim Two Birds, “This is just to sort of book to give your sister, if she is a loud, dirty, boozy girl.”
I went to Amazon to see about picking up this book and I see the main character is called Lenk. I immediately imagined Tom Lenk fighting demons. I purchased them immediately.
Somewhere out there there’s a bemused copy editor who had to make sure that that line was quoted correctly.
I want you to review my novel (when it is eventually published), thusly: “I like pie.”
Thank you very much.
Black Halo excerpt at Tor.com
It doesn’t just appear as a review, but really the first thing you see other then book pricing and other recommended books! Its above the publisher’s description of the book. This is gold!
P.S. From the Tor.com page… “These chapters are available exclusively through Tor.com for one full week.”
So don’t wait too long if you’re interested in checking out the preview.
Awesome = you gave that phrase as a blurb.
More Awesome = he actually used it.
That’s much too much awesomeness after a four fricking hour risk and compliance meeting. Now I have to go soak my head in ice water lest it asplode. Then I will lie amongst the flowers and dream of nettleberries and godfish.
It was always kind of a life-goal of mine to have just the opposite kind of blurb on my book from Mr. Harlan Elllison.
(If you haven’t seen “Dreams With Sharp Teeth” where HE threatens Neil Gaiman and other luminaries with various violent acts I can’t recommend it enough.)
Huh. Call me a lawyer, but I can’t help reading in other implications of that blurb.
“I do not wish him dead. I wish him alive, forever, screaming through vast aeons while jackdaws feast on the marrow of his bones.”
Oh, “Undergates”, not “Undergraduates”. Perhaps I skim too fast…
(Liam, #5 — Thank you, I love that! Flann O’Brian was one of the great weird minds of the 20th century.)
I think “The Head of Scalzi Demands Blood” needs to be a button.
I dream of such a blurb one day, it’s true. Maybe more along the lines of, “At no time during reading did I want to jam sharp pencils in my eyes.”
I have the sudden urge to write some tawdry Scalzi/Sykes slash. HAVE YOU TWO EVER BEEN AWAY FROM THE SIGNING TABLE TOGETHER?
I figure that blurb and its being used is worth half an Internet to both of you.
Loved Sykes’ 1st novel. This one, which my under connected self did realize was out, is now top of the list. Now, if I could just find that list.
*More from Tor…
Three copies of Black Halo up for grabs
“Three winners will be randomly selected by noon EST on Thursday, March 24nd.”
“Also, keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming Q&A with Sam Sykes!”
__________
* NOTE: Lest anyone get the wrong idea I am not affiliated with Tor in the slightest. I simply follow the Tor.com blog via RSS and kind of figured the Tor stuff is more than a little bit relevant in this case and might therefore be of interest around these parts.
I dunno, I think I’d rather have “Books like this are a threat to my dominance of the SF world. I wish Sam Sykes dead.” – John Scalzi.
Wow. Just… Wow.
I dunno. Seeing that blurb on the cover would probably make me put down the book, go on the net, and find out what’s up with the blurb. I could well end up buying the book, though, so I guess that works out.
The question is “why not?”.
Or is it a subtle poke at the series which should be subtitled “All protagonists hate each other & wish each other dead!”
What hurts me is that this has encouraged otherwise innocent people to seek out this tome.
Be more explicit in your warnings next time sir, for the innocents out there….
Short Sam Sykes Q&A now posted at Tor.com.
No more money left for books this month (I blew it on Patrick Rothfuss, Steven Erikson and too many non-fiction books), but I put his both books onto the “to buy” list.
I can’t remember who it was, but somebody was doing a book signing and wrote ‘ Dear, [x], I’ll never forgive you for what you did to my sister. Sincerely, [x]’ for a bemused fan.