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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 16h

Blurbs in the office: (3/3) . . . and the promises of a better life and adventures to come.

Lastly, we can’t leave Lucy and the reader without throwing an element of doubt about the future, ending with an innocuous-seeming but crucial question . . .

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 16h

Blurbs in the office: (2/3) . . . let Lucy have the first words, taking a quote from the book. This is, after all, who the reader will be spending nearly 500 pages with.

Once we establish the set up – jilted, refusal to mope – we then launch Lucy towards pastures new (the industrial north!) . . .

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 16h

Blurbs in the office (1/3): Penguin @michaeljbooks.bsky.social Mermaid Collection brings unjustly neglected 20th-century works back into print. Pitching Margaret Kennedy's Lucy Carmichael – the story of a jilted but sensible, happy-go-lucky woman’s attempts to remake her life – it felt right to . .

Penguin Michael Joseph Mermaid: Lucy Carmichael by Margarey Kennedy

Blurb: ‘People seem to get over things, don’t they? I don’t know how, but they do – ordinary people. I’m very ordinary, so I expect I shall do what they do.’ Lucy Carmichael is jilted at the altar. But no matter. Her loving and kind family never liked her explorer fiancé anyway. Instead of moping or falling into her supportive family’s arms, however, Lucy abandons their suburban home. Heading for the country, she takes up a teaching position in the industrial town of Ravonsbridge. There, she finds solace in her work, in her new (rather gossipy) colleagues – and rediscovers her sensible young self. But if Lucy has, despite everything, kept her head – where lies her heart?

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 19h

Reminds me of the necessity to pre-order @mjohnharrison.bsky.social new novel.

ambientehotel.wordpress.com/2025/10/14/w...

what we can learn from listening to Radio 4

Politics controls the spectacle by making itself the spectacle. We vote not for the winner, but for the tournament, the psychodrama of the struggle to win played out & analysed move by move in …

ambientehotel.wordpress.com

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 4d

3D in 2D.
www.thisiscolossal.com/2022/10/part...

An M.C. Escher-Inspired Series by Parth Kothekar Distorts Perspectives With Single Sheets of Paper

Harnessing the captivating power of pattern and mathematic principles, Parth Kothekar cuts meticulously deceptive works from single sheets of paper. The trippy pieces are inspired by the iconic optica...

www.thisiscolossal.com

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 4d

(2/2) That doesn't stop the blurb deploying some stop-you-in-your-tracks phrasing: 'rituals of eating and slaughter', 'dazzlingly obtuse', 'brilliantly decorative'. Screw reader sensibilities. Take it, or leave it. It was a different age.

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 4d

(1/2) Back in the day they didn't butter you up. Both the line on the front and the blurb on the back of this old @penguinukbooks.bsky.social film tie-in of Isabel Colegate's The Shooting Party are straightforward to the point of bluntness.

Isabel Colegate's The Shooting Party and toy guns

Blurb: A group of men and women gather at Sir Randolph Nettleby's estate for a shooting party. Opulent, adulterous, moving assuredly through the rituals of eating and slaughter, they are a dazzlingly obtuse and brilliantly decorative finale of an era.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 6d

Clearly a great pitch all round.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 6d

Blurbs in the wild (2/2): . . . the first paragraph of the blurb explains why maps are important. Many readers don't read the whole blurb, so for this to work the reader needs to engage fully with the blurb. It requires commitment.

But 'keep up!' it says, delights are to be found within.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 6d

Blurbs in the wild (1/2): The didn't-know-you-were-interested-in-this blurb. Sometimes you have start from scratch. Before you can pitch the book to your reader you've got to pitch the subject. For @wildfirebooks.bsky.social and @jonnelledge.bsky.social A History of the World in 47 Borders . . .

A History of the World in 47 Borders by Jonn Elledge

Blurb: People have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or the decisions of a handful of tired Europeans had gone a different way. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly. From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 7d

Life in dead greenhouses.
www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/10/roma...

Untamed Flora Subsumes Abandoned Greenhouses in Romain Veillon's 'Secret Gardens'

In Romain Veillon's most recent body of work, "Secret Gardens," the enigmatic allure or abandoned greenhouses takes center stage.

www.thisiscolossal.com

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 8d

Blurbs in the wild: When you've got it, flaunt it. @oneworldbooks.bsky.social & Sam Leith's The Haunted Wood pitches its accolades: 1st: its 12 Book of the Year mentions. 2nd: 12 short quotes saying why it is good. 3rd: a long quote makes the reader a promise: if you like stories, you'll like this.

Back cover: A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 Sunday Times, Irish Times, Financial Times, Independent, New Statesman, Tablet and Waterstones Daily Mail, TLS, Economist, Prospect, Evening Standard, 'A delight' Julia Donaldson 'Gorgeous, loving, learned’ Hadley Freeman 'Moving and wistful' The Times 'Written with such love' Lucy Mangan 'Magisterial' New Statesman "A feast of a book’ Independent "Witty and warmhearted' Guardian ‘Marvellously charming' Literary Review ‘A joy’ Michael Rosen 'Gloriously entertaining' Tom Holland 'Fair-minded, terrific' Evening Standard 'Irrepressibly funny' Rowan Williams "This history of childhood reading is brilliantly constructed, well-researched and beautifully written - a wonderful book for anyone who believes in the magic of stories. The Haunted Wood reminds us that the books we read as children shaped us and shaped our societies." Elif Shafak

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 8d

Thank you, Book Boys (and Thomas Mann) for the yeah yeah yeahs for my novel Exo in your review in September's podcast. Apologies for the mathematics, hope that murder made up for it. The review starts at 1 hr 19 min 30 sec. Exo as tonic after Dr Faustus?
open.spotify.com/episode/2a1Z...

Episode 60: What We Read In September

open.spotify.com

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 11d

Fascinating essay on money=energy in science fiction. Lovely idea until you run into the problem of dealing with the economics of scarcity.
vector-bsfa.com/2025/10/03/e...

Energy Economies in Science Fiction

By Jo Lindsay Walton ‘Embers’: Stranded Assets Wole Talabi’s short story ‘Embers’ (2024) explores the potential consequences of energy transition for a rural community in Nigeria,…

vector-bsfa.com

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 11d

Blurbs in the wild (5/5): Three: It tells you what you're going to get, explaining how the book works. This isn't your bog-standard royal biography.

A book about the Queen, it seems to be arguing, is also a book about us. Maybe, this IS for everyone (British)?

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 11d

Blurbs in the wild (4/5): Two: It deploys numerous inversions: optimist/pessimist; radiant/humdrum; public/private; amplifying the tensions we all feel when considering the subject. It reminds us that whoever you are, you had some feelings for the subject (if you're British, obvs).

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 11d

Blurbs in the wild (3/5): Second, we have the blurb, which is a masterwork. It does three things brilliantly.

One: It tells you why the subject matters, and why it will matter to the reader, whoever you are (if your British).

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 11d

Blurbs in the wild (2/5): This is despite the fact that royal books have a very Marmite audience: you either love 'em, or wouldn't touch one with a silver sceptre.
First, we have it's Book o/t Year recommendations, spread right across the other 4th estate's political affiliations. Everyone loves it.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 11d

Blurbs in the wild (1/5): It is a publishing cliche that 'this book is for everyone.' When an editor makes such a claim the comms team groans: they hear 'a book for no one.' But @4thestatebooks.bsky.social & Craig Brown's A Voyage Round the Queen is determined to fly the 'for everyone' flag . . .

Blurb: Queen Elizabeth II was famous for longer than anyone who has ever lived. When people spoke of her, they spoke of themselves; when they dreamed of her, they dreamed of themselves. To the optimist, she seemed an optimist; to the pessimist, a pessimist; to the awestruck, radiant; and to the cynical, humdrum. Though by nature reserved and unassuming, her presence could fill presidents and rock stars with terror. For close to a century, she inhabited the psyche of a nation. Combining memoir, essays, cultural history, travels, dream diaries and parody, A Voyage Around the Queen presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of this most public yet private of sovereigns.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 12d

We need more colour.
www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/10/crai...

Craig & Karl's 'Mateys' Bring Vibrancy and Joy to Bridges in Brisbane and Beyond

Craig & Karl are known for their vivid participatory projects, which range from mini-golf courses to playgrounds to murals.

www.thisiscolossal.com

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 12d

But what are you replacing your Colins with? Asking for a friend.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 13d

Blurbs in the wild (2/2): . . . reframing. Everything else that follows deepens the mystery and raises the stakes. What's the crucial moment of change in your story?

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 13d

Blurbs in the wild (1/2):
'Which they were. But now they are not.'

These two short, plain sentences early in the blurb for @headofzeus.bsky.social and @kellylink.bsky.social The Book of Love provide the hinge for this pitch. Three dead teenagers are no longer dead – why? A subtle, surprising . . .

Blurb: Laura, Daniel and Mo disappeared without trace a year ago. They have long been presumed dead. Which they were. But now they are not. And it is up to the resurrected teenagers to discover what happened to them.Revived by Mr Anabin - the man they knew as their high school music teacher - they are offered a chance to return to the mortal realm and solve the mystery of their death. But only two of them may stay. What they do not realise is their return has upset a delicate balance that has held - just - for centuries.

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Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 15d

Lovely piece by Nina Allan on what the Booker judges this year don't know. Also, a great argument for persistence as a reader. You might fall out of love with a writer's work but perhaps you, they or both of you will find your way back to one another. www.ninaallan.co.uk?p=7171

Nina Allan on Ian McEwan's What We Can Know

Colin the Copywriter @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social · 15d

Blurbs in the wild 2/2: . . . is to pitch the setting and the journey. A Wizard of Earthsea (book one) gets a whole paragraph: introducing our hero and set up. Paragraph two maps out the broader story, the themes and stakes, or why you'll keep reading.