Publisher says expecting authors, agents and editors to secure blurbs can create ‘an incestuous and unmeritocratic literary ecosystem that often rewards connections over talent’

When you buy a new book, you can usually expect to see praise from other authors emblazoned on its cover. A writer slightly more famous than the author of the book you’re buying might have called it “whip-smart”, “illuminating” or “a tour de force”, for example – presumably so that fans of the more famous writer will take a punt on the less famous one.

But soon we may not see so many of these author blurbs – Sean Manning, publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint in the US, has written an essay for Publishers Weekly explaining that as of this year he will “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.