Blurb my book

Most pieces that talk about blurbs usually deal with those who are inundated with requests. Lee Goldberg turns the subject on its ear by explaining why soliciting them from his friends is one of his least favorite pursuits:

With every book, the publisher expects you to go out and hustle some

positive reviews from well-known authors (aka “blurbs”). It’s a

requirement — and the blurbs really affect how your book is perceived

internally at the publishing house and among the sales reps (the blurbs

from Janet Evanovich, Meg Cabot, SJ Rozan and Lee Child on my DIAGNOSIS MURDER

novels have made a huge impact). I know there are some authors who have

editors who will slog for blurbs… or who have agents who will hit up

their other clients…but I have found that doesn’t work very well. You

have the best luck when you have a personal relationship with the

authors you are asking to rave about you.

…[b]ut it still hasn’t gotten any easier for me to ask for blurbs. In some

ways, it’s harder, at least for me.  I feel uncomfortable hitting up my

friends –it puts them in an awkward position. What if they like me…

but don’t like my book? Then they are worried about the impact not

blurbing the book will have on our friendship. I know… because I’ve

been in that position many times myself. I’ve blurbed lots of books…

and there are just as many that I haven’t.

As I said in the comments to Lee’s original post, blurb solicitation is awfully akin to being a senior in high school and asking your favorite teachers to write you a letter of recommendation so you can get into your Ivy League college of your dreams, except that it’s worse, because in many cases, it mixes the business of writing with the friendships that writers form with each other. Even though blurbs are a necessary evil that do seem to have a decent track record, at least when it comes to in-house reaction and enthusiasm, I wonder if the aggravation is really worth it.

So with that in mind, some questions to ponder: does anyone like asking people, be they friends or writers they don’t know at all, for blurbs? Or if you haven’t done it before, would you have any anxiety about doing so? How do you handle it when someone who’s a friend hates your book, or simply refuses to give you a straight answer on what he or she thought of it? And has a blurb (or lack thereof) had any impact on what was once a solid friendship?  Because all of these things are something I may have to think about somewhere down the line…