Enchanting. Mysterious. Riveting. Book blurbs have been a mainstay in publishing, designed to persuade readers to pick up a ...

The following is an edited transcript of their conversation. Kai Ryssdal: For those unfamiliar with the blurb economy — and first of all, there is a blurb economy — how does it work?

While the blurbist must maintain his voice and style, she must also make a blurb sound different from her other blurbs; she can’t be ‘stunned’ by every book without admitting to paralysis.