What turns you off when you read a jacket blurb?

[CodanOfCanada]

Either not much or everything. I pay absolutely no heed to the jacket of the book (well maybe the cover, so sue me). I assume most synopses on the back are not written by the author. Rarely have I read a jacket of a book and thought the book actually sounded truly intriguing, however I've read many books with a lame synopse that turn out to be a great read.

[kissmequick]

The complete lack of any back cover copy. Instead it's just little soundbites from reviews (sometimes of other books the author has written) or other authors - even if I like them as authors, I don't know if our reading tastes are the same. And I like to have at least a gist of what the book is about (so if it IS say an orphan farmboy story, I can put it back before I buy it)

[PeteMC]

Jacket copy isn't usually written by the author so I don't pay it a lot of mind to be honest. That said, anything along the lines of "heartwarming" or "life-affirming" will get it put straight back on the shelf, as will any mention at all of time travel.

[Kenneth2]

What turns me off is bad artwork.

[nposecznick]

I mean, basically, it's a pitch like people do to sell a movie to a studio. I want the same things producers likely want - drama, interesting characters, interesting setting, indications of a good plot without giving away the whole thing.

Don't care much about quotes from other authors or reviews without the above data. Quotes can add slight incentive, but won't do it if I have no idea what's going on in the book.

As mentioned earlier, too much world-based jargon and such can be confusing and get in the way of communication.

Now I tend to dislike epic fantasy farmer Joe Blow who is secretly heir to the throne, dark lord, world in peril, blah blah blah. But if that's your story it needs to be in the blurb for those like me to avoid and for those who love it to seek it out.

I'm an art guy and I dig a good font and cover, but I have to say most books these days fail on aesthetics for me. I'm much more a fan of stylized art than hyper-realistic and I'm totally opposed to the photo-based covers, particularly if it's a mild hodgepodge of stock photos, arranged and adjusted in photoshop.

I like Brom, Raymond Swanland, and Jon Foster a great deal. I'd say Jon Foster is my fave at the moment.

[sink_plunger]

This might sound like a no-brainer, but I really don't like it when the ending is given away in the jacket blurb. I picked up a 'literary' mystery about ten years ago (no memory of title or author, I'm afraid) involving an art restorer cleaning a painting that hides the answer to a centuries old mystery. It was brilliantly written but, incredibly, the cover blurb clearly stated "the mystery is not resolved, but this won't dampen your appreciation of the story" - or words to that effect. So from Page 1, I knew I was on a road to nowhere.

Barmy!