Many a time has Ramblin been asked to blurb a book he hasn't read. As you become successful, this will happen to you. Let me help.
I read a lot of blurbs on Civil War book jackets. It's a quick, fast, fun way to save time and energy. The material I find there, I add to my stockpile.
This guy decided to pen a navy book and asked for my opinion. I wasn't going to spend a lot of time plowing through somebody's rehash, so I said
Successfully demonstrates the navy's importance to the Union victory in 1865.Quick and easy. He was not entirely satisfied, so I added
Places this naval scholarship in the larger context of the war.I gave him a quick and easy context win. But I didn't want him bothering me again, so I added
A welcome addition to the literature.Of course, every addition to the literature is welcome.
Different example: somewhere, some fool is writing yet another book about Chamberlain. You would waste time reading it. How do you blurb it? Here are some ideas:
Anyone with an interest in Chamberlain, the Civil War, Bowdoin College, postwar Maine, or any combination thereof, will enjoy it.Sounds good but is noncommittal. Sort of like "Anybody with an interest in anything will enjoy this."
In the same vein:
His words serve as a reminder that the experience of war remained with the veterans long after the guns fell silent.I don't even understand that sentence and I wrote it.
Of course, you always need a plan B. If the book is a total stinker and you would be humiliated to endorse it, you can still praise the intro, foreword or both:
His introduction and the foreword supplied ... are the best summary of Chamberlain's life and legend I have read.
Give every book it's due using Ramblin's simple rules of blurbing.
