Blurbs and how authors get them
Introducing a new kind of terror: waiting for validation from the writers you admire.
The process of acquiring the blubs you read on the front (or back) of books from authors with a history of publication success, begins with the formulation of a two page press release, incorporating some of the answers from a Q & A I filled in for the PR Agency hired by my publisher. This will be sent to a list of potential endorsers and later, booksellers to give them a bigger picture of the novel and its author: me!
If they like the sound of it, they’ll make a concerted effort to read the novel in the time limit set by the publisher. Usually, this is around three months, although like most things, this will vary from publisher to publisher.
There are over fifty people on my list of potential endorsers, the majority of which my editor, agent and FMcM hand selected. Around a fifth of them are those I sought out myself. Months ago, I knew I’d be asked if there were any authors that might like to blurb my book. Thankfully, I had existing relationships I could call upon, genuine friendships over years of supporting their work. It was time to get vulnerable.
I haven’t made a mystery of my ambitions. Over social media I’ve sought advice, attended zoom sessions on craft, pre-ordered my favourite novelist’s work and shouted about it from the rooftops. None of this done with the prophetic knowledge I might call on them myself one day, but it certainly helped to have made a conscious effort to curate a community online.
The truth is, most of the authors I contributed to the list asked me for an advanced reader copy (an ARC or proof) rather than me approaching them myself. Although none of this early enthusiasm guarantees they will offer a glowing endorsement, it sure feels good knowing I have a chance.
I wondered whether waiting to hear who believes in my debut enough to put their name to it feels worse than being on submission to editors. Once again, the terrible unknown demands I sit on my hands and wait it out while people I admire and respect read the novel I laboured on for years. It feels strange, mildly nerve-wracking, but ultimately miraculous. The fact that I get to be here and do this has not worn off quite yet. I hope it never does.
I’m reminded that I named this newsletter ‘None of this is scientific’ as a healthy reminder. The best I can do is take my own advice and curate as much objectivity as I can. If that author I’ve loved for a decade hates it, it’s not personal. I’ll have a cry then go on loving them anyway.
Asking and getting aren’t mutually exclusive. Sometimes what you really want to happen will. Out of fifty authors, the odds dictate that at least five will read it and say something quotable. Five is wonderful. Five is more than enough to fill in the spaces on the front of the cover and then some.
You can pre-order A Healthy Appetite now!
Screen Saver 🎬
What I’m Watching
‘Paranormal Activity’ a play, performed at Ambassadors Theatre
Something a little different this time! No screen in sight, just a stage with a whole two story house suffering a paranormal infestation so horrifying you’ll sleep with the lights on for a week.
I’ve been a horror goblin since I was a child. I grew up on a diet of Goosebumps and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, then, when I needed a stronger hit, graduated to a whole host of horror films I shouldn’t have been watching as a tween.
The Paranormal Activity franchise was one of my favourites. Give me a haunted house, a terrorised family, an entity without a face or name having its wicked way, any day of the week. Horror movies with monsters that burst on the scene via questionable special effects and dodgy prosthetics ruin some of the magic for me. Ghost are different. Spirits, poltergeists, haunted objects. Now these are truly terrifying. How can you fight something intangible? How can you exorcise the kind of absence that makes itself known through you?
I’ll admit, I was sceptical about how all of this would translate to the stage. In the end, I didn’t need to be. These people really know what they’re doing! The home reimagined on stage was utterly convincing, down to the plants lining the stairs and the light pollution streaming through the window from cars passing at night.
There was so much brilliant foreshadowing in details I’ve been mulling over since. The scares were scary and surprising, handled with just the right amount of gusto, and no silly monster skulking from the shadows in sight.
If you can handle some slightly laboured American accents for two hours, and get past the mildly uncomfortable seats, you’re in for a real treat. When the lights go out and Nirvana starts to play, sink in, and hold your loved ones tight.
4 ☆☆☆☆
Current Reads 📚
I’ll Be the Monster by fellow 2026 debut Sean Gilbert
A love story about the worst people you know.
‘A homicidal couple embarks on a luxury holiday to save their marriage. After years of secrets and self-restraint, they’ve reached breaking point.
Three days into the trip, they run into Benny, an acquaintance from their Cambridge days. Once a promising student, now a failed rapper, Benny is desperate to reminisce about a time—and a person—they would rather forget.
And Benny has no intention of leaving.’
Hooray! I present to you one of my favourite reads of 2026 thus far! I’ll Be the Monster is an absolute masterclass of characterisation, dialogue and tension, with some truly despicable moments that made my skin crawl in the best ways.
There’s something gleeful about being invited into someone’s secret madness. I’ll Be the Monster doubles that, offering not one, but two unhinged protagonists set on defending their secrets, no matter the cost to those around them.
When Benny (a tragic rapper with no fans) steps on the scene, you’re not sure whether to implore him to run, or to fear him too. The story will have you guessing right up until the last moment, where revelations are delivered with a whack that’ll send you reeling.
Critics are comparing the novel’s feel to The White Lotus and I think that’s pretty spot on. The novel is jam-packed full of debauchery, dark humour and murderous intent. But this is not a book of cheap thrills - there’s no murderous rampage (although there’s certainly murder) and that’s exactly what I love about it. Gilbert conducts a masterclass of threatening restraint, like a noose tightening slowly around your throat.
The ending is playful in its ambiguity, but not in a sense that frustrates its reader. If you love anything by Sophie Mackintosh or Oyinkan Braithwaite, you’ll love this.
It’s safe to say, anything Sean writes next I’ll be reading first.