I’m not saying that I will, but some commenters have encouraged me to start a side-blog for bad blurbs and book descriptions. (I actually had a Tumblog dedicated to that very thing, lo these many years ago, but I abandoned and deleted it.)
So, hypothetically, if I were to start such a blog… do you think “Blurbgatory” would be a good name?
Blurbatory would be preferable
Long form of agreeing with blurbatory.
Purgatory from from purgatorium.
Verb to purge from Latin phrase purus agere to make pure.
Suffix -atorium added to verbs as a place where something is done.
Purgatorium or purgatory is a place where you purge.
That’s word dissection.
In living language purgatorium or purgatory from purge + atorium is a medieval Catholic church Latin word which was coined 1160-1180AD by way of Anglo-Norman and Old French to describe a place where sins were cleansed (purged) before admission to heaven.
Adding the noun suffix -atorium to the verb blurb would be blurbatorium or blurbatory. I suspect most people would associate blurb-atory with purg-atory as a place between hell and heaven for blurbs.
(Etymology is the scientific study of words. It often becomes entymology of words, where one collects a specimen of a living word and sticks a pin through its heart to fix it to pad of wax, to preserve it in formaldehyde or to dissect it.)
I like it!
I proffer my own blurbs should you need them!
I could see the value of making fun of the things on the back cover as well, but why start another whole blog to do it? Why not just put those hilariously awful blurbs and descriptions on here, and expand the page to show ten posts at a time instead of just five?
I like it. If this catches on, you should consider starting a companion site that helps authors improve their blurbs (similar to Cover Critics).
Maybe you should add bad titles to the mix. Particularly the really long ones that end up being a kind of title/description combo.
Great idea and great name!
Blurbgatory sounds good, however I woulda picked something along the lines of “Blurbageddon” or “Blurbaholics Anonymous”
“Blurbaholics Anonymous” sounds more like the “Cover Critics” equivalent of this one: it’s where you go when you’re ready to admit that you have a problem, and you need help.
“Hi my name is GENERIC NAME, and I have a blurbing problem. Because of it, I lost custody of my kids after my wife left me, and after several DUIs, I realized I had a serious problem…”
Hi, GENERIC NAME. I think you really buried the lede on your introductory blurb here…
I just wanna see my kids again, sir
-sobs-
It’s a fine pun (or pun adjacent) name, but Lousy Book Covers and Cover Critics do a more direct job of saying what they are. You might want to keep that branding if the intent is for all these blogs to cross-traffic one another. You might consider another pair of blogs titled simply ‘Bad Blurbs’ and ‘Better Blurbs’ to serve analogous functions to the existing cover blogs.
Turd Blurbs?