Summer Anthology Blurbs

[Graeme]

With the 2008 Summer Anthology, the anthology team trialled the use of short blurbs on the index page. We would really like to know if they were effective. Please let us know via either voting or with comments if you think they are a waste of time or something that we should keep doing.

[Tiger]

I happen to think it is a good idea. People can have a general idea about what they are about to read. This could potentially increase readership.

[Bandage]

I think it's great as well! By those blurbs you make people curious, which will make them read more stories...

I'd say keep doing that!

[Razor]

I gotta say that I wasn't overly fond of them. A couple of them didn't give any info, synopsis, idea... nothing about the story itself. Nothing to indicate whether or not I'd enjoy reading it, at least. A couple others were somewhat misleading.

 

It's a good idea, though. I'm just weird; I don't even like reading the back of a book before I buy it. I just wish they'd have been a bit more informative instead of creative in some instances.

[Graeme]

I gotta say that I wasn't overly fond of them. A couple of them didn't give any info, synopsis, idea... nothing about the story itself. Nothing to indicate whether or not I'd enjoy reading it, at least. A couple others were somewhat misleading.

 

It's a good idea, though. I'm just weird; I don't even like reading the back of a book before I buy it. I just wish they'd have been a bit more informative instead of creative in some instances.

I understand what you were saying. What we tried to aim for was something that wouldn't spoil a story. For example, we had to be misleading, because otherwise we'd risk ruining the ending of the story.

 

What sort of additional information would you be looking for? Genre? Length? Or just more information on the plot essentials? If you have specific examples of what bothered you, please PM me so we don't give out any spoilers in this thread.

 

Graeme (with his GA Anthology Hat on )

[AFriendlyFace]

I liked them

 

I understand what you were saying. What we tried to aim for was something that wouldn't spoil a story. For example, we had to be misleading, because otherwise we'd risk ruining the ending of the story.

 

What sort of additional information would you be looking for? Genre? Length? Or just more information on the plot essentials? If you have specific examples of what bothered you, please PM me so we don't give out any spoilers in this thread.

 

Graeme (with his GA Anthology Hat on )

Length would be something I'd very much like to have known about!

 

Okay, I admit it, I'm kinda ADD and sometimes I just can't get through very many pages at once. At those times I might still want a story, but I only want a relatively short story. Other times I might be settling in for a good long read and I'd like to know which stories will grab me and hold me for awhile before letting me wonder off again. Then there's the simple matter of time constraints.

 

So yes, length would be something I'd like to see, even if it's only relative length or something. In fact if I had to choose between the blurbs or knowing about the length I'd rather know about the length, even though I really like the blurbs.

[steph]

So yes, length would be something I'd like to see, even if it's only relative length or something. In fact if I had to choose between the blurbs or knowing about the length I'd rather know about the length, even though I really like the blurbs.

Technically, we could easily add the word count on the index page. How easy is it to get the word count on stories submitted in HTML format?

[Libby Drew]

I really appreciated them. Coming from a community where story headers are convention, it was very nice to see a short summary of each of the stories here. I had assumed the authors themselves had supplied them. I'd like to see them going forward for my own selfish reasons, but a solid summary can also draw reluctant readers to click.

 

Another thing that would be really helpful, to me, anyway, would be word count. Sometimes I can spare only a certain amount of time to read. I like knowing what I'm getting into in advance.

[Krista]

Technically, we could easily add the word count on the index page. How easy is it to get the word count on stories submitted in HTML format?

 

 

Off topic: STEPH I LOVE the avatar.

 

 

I also liked the tiny blurbs and the overall layout.

[Tiger]

Another thing that would be really helpful, to me, anyway, would be word count. Sometimes I can spare only a certain amount of time to read. I like knowing what I'm getting into in advance.

That's a great idea actually. I'm not sure if there's a way to calculate that except in Word when it's in a .doc format. Thus any author submitting it in HTML would definitely need to use the feature and make sure the word count is in the email.

[corvus]

My stance towards blurbs, however well intentioned, is the same as that towards back-of-book descriptions: i.e., unfortunate necessity. They create false expectations, mislead, give away too much of the plot, blablabla. I don't think if it matters if it's the author writing the blurb or someone else. With longer stories in which the plot may not be immediately clear, they can be of great importance. With short stories, however, I think a better idea would simply to excerpt the first sentence of the work. It'd still be in the author's words, it'd give readers an idea of the author's tone and style and caliber, it wouldn't give too much away, and it'd be a lot less work.

[Graeme]

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions

 

Length would be something I'd very much like to have known about!

 

Okay, I admit it, I'm kinda ADD and sometimes I just can't get through very many pages at once. At those times I might still want a story, but I only want a relatively short story. Other times I might be settling in for a good long read and I'd like to know which stories will grab me and hold me for awhile before letting me wonder off again. Then there's the simple matter of time constraints.

I'll admit that this is why I personally would like to know the lengths, too. What I've done in previous anthologies was to open up a story, look at the scroll bar on the right hand side, and if it indicated that there was a lot to read, I'd leave it and go find something else to read. I would then come back to that story when I had more time. Messy, but it did the job.

 

A rough word count for stories submitted in HTML isn't hard to do -- I can just cut-and-paste the text into a word processor and check the statistics. A couple of minutes work Word counts will always be rough because there's debate on whether notes, disclaimers and copyright notices should be included or excluded. But if people are only looking for a rough indication of the size of the story, then I don't see that that would be difficult.

 

My stance towards blurbs, however well intentioned, is the same as that towards back-of-book descriptions: i.e., unfortunate necessity. They create false expectations, mislead, give away too much of the plot, blablabla. I don't think if it matters if it's the author writing the blurb or someone else. With longer stories in which the plot may not be immediately clear, they can be of great importance. With short stories, however, I think a better idea would simply to excerpt the first sentence of the work. It'd still be in the author's words, it'd give readers an idea of the author's tone and style and caliber, it wouldn't give too much away, and it'd be a lot less work.

I understand your point of view, and it was why I said we were trialling the idea with this anthology. Since we hadn't told the authors ahead of time (it was a late idea), I drafted the initial set of blurbs and sent them out to the authors for comment (apart from CJ, who already knew about them). Several authors came back with their own blurbs to use instead.

 

But when I was drafting them, I was careful to try to avoid saying too much while giving a feel for what the story would be like. In most cases, I drafted the blurb after reading the first couple of pages, since this set up the story. But what you've said is a real concern. I can still remember a print novel where the blurb on the back talked about something that didn't happen until the last page of the story.... :wacko:

 

Blurbs for short stories are tricky, because it really is too easy to say too much, or to twist things so much that what the blurb says isn't what the story is really about.

[old bob]

Blurbs for short stories are tricky, because it really is too easy to say too much, or to twist things so much that what the blurb says isn't what the story is really about.

It doesnt matter ! I found the blurbs OK, its a good help to make a first choice under the different stories and authors. If you dont agree with what the blurb says, its a reason more to participate and give your opinion .

Work well done Graeme, and I hope you will do the same in the next Anthology .

Old bob

[Razor]

I understand what you were saying. What we tried to aim for was something that wouldn't spoil a story. For example, we had to be misleading, because otherwise we'd risk ruining the ending of the story.

 

What sort of additional information would you be looking for? Genre? Length? Or just more information on the plot essentials? If you have specific examples of what bothered you, please PM me so we don't give out any spoilers in this thread.

 

Graeme (with his GA Anthology Hat on )

 

The thing that bothered me was simply the misleadingness, lol. I understand not spoiling, of course, but I would've liked more of the theme, the central idea, the focus, the vibe... y'know what I mean? Each story I've ever read has SOME kind of theme. Even slice of life stories have a theme (well, especially slice of life stories, really). It's really not hard to summarize a theme Cliff notes style.

 

Take the book I just read, A Density of Souls (read it, all of you, or die... I WILL find you if you don't). Theme=the unsettling, terrifying truth that some people, even if only by their very existence, force us to see. Well, one of the themes, anyway, but the most major by far. It would've been more intimate that way... sometimes I don't wanna read something about suicide (although Kevvers, I must say that your story was absolutely excellent), but sometimes I do... it just depends.

 

Also, things like genre and length would be AWESOME.

 

Like I said, I really do understand the difficulty of making a concise and effective synopsis without lapsing into summary... I just wish it could've dealt more intimately with the real essence of the story.

 

 

Overall, though, I'm just being bitchy and they really WERE a good idea. Good job to those involved, I know it took a lot of work.

[AFriendlyFace]

but I would've liked more of the theme, the central idea, the focus, the vibe... y'know what I mean? Each story I've ever read has SOME kind of theme. Even slice of life stories have a theme (well, especially slice of life stories, really). It's really not hard to summarize a theme Cliff notes style.

I kinda like this suggestion!

 

sometimes I don't wanna read something about suicide (although Kevvers, I must say that your story was absolutely excellent), but sometimes I do... it just depends.

Thanks Jamie

[BeaStKid]

I thought they were awesome!!