The Society of Authors (SoA) has spoken out against publishers misrepresenting negative reviews on book covers and the UK publisher Bonnier Books is producing a “best practice” document for blurbs, after controversy over the use of reviews on the cover of the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson’s book Beyond Order.
On 15 August, prominent writers criticised the way their reviews had been quoted on the back cover of the paperback edition of Peterson’s book, published by Penguin Random House. The Times columnist James Marriott tweeted an image of the cover featuring a quote from his review that appears to endorse the work. In the now deleted tweet, he wrote: “Incredible work from Jordan Peterson’s publisher. My review of this mad book was probably the most negative thing I have ever written.”
The quote attributed to Marriott read: “A philosophy of the meaning of life … the most lucid and touching prose Peterson has ever written.” The actual phrase from Marriott’s review is: “one of the most sensitive and lucid passages of prose he has written”, a description specifically about one chapter in an otherwise almost entirely negative review.
In a similar vein, Johanna Thomas-Corr, literary editor of the Sunday Times, tweeted that her quote featured on the book (“Genuinely enlightening and often poignant … Here is a father figure who takes his audience seriously. And here is a grander narrative about truth, being, order and chaos that stretches back to the dawn of human consciousness”) was a “gross misrepresentation” of her review, calling for it to be removed. In a Sunday Times comment piece on 20 August, she wrote: “Beyond Order is an awful, mad book – you shouldn’t buy it.”
Nicola Solomon, chief executive of the SoA, said that “quoting lines out of context isn’t clever marketing”, calling the practice “morally questionable”. Readers and authors “deserve honest, fair marketing from publishers. We can’t get that by undermining and misrepresenting one writer to boost the sales of another. It puts off reviewers from reviewing and readers from buying,” she told the Bookseller.
A spokesperson for Bonnier said that the publishing house “will be putting together a best-practice document for blurbs to share across teams”. They said that teams “apply common sense and respect” in the use of blurbs, and “appreciate the time and level of engagement that goes into every write-up”, adding that shortened quotes “should always reflect the tone and intention” of the original review.
Solomon said that the SoA would be “pleased” if Bonnier create a best-practice guide, but added that “it shouldn’t be necessary”. She said that misrepresenting quotes “is professionally and legally unsound” and drew attention to the Advertising Standards Authority code’s section on misleading information, which states that marketing “must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information”. She added that the deliberate omission of information “can amount to a criminal offence” under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Thomas-Corr tweeted that it was “good to see” the SoA speaking out against the misrepresentation of reviews and that she hopes other publishers will follow the “lead” of Bonnier Books in creating a best-practice document for blurbs.
