1. Must have been published (or republished) within two years of submission date, or must be scheduled for publication within two months of submission.
  2. Must be published by an established publisher (and have an ISBN number).
  3. Must be written in (or translated into) English.
  4. Must fall within one of the following 15 categories (or Other):
  1. Pitches must be no more than three minutes in length. (Longer pitches will automatically be disqualified.)
  2. Pitches must be made by the book’s respective author(s). (The inclusion of other voices will automatically disqualify the pitch.)
  3. The inclusion of podsafe music and/or sound effects in the pitch is permissible (though not mandatory).
  4. Any pitch not selected for inclusion in “Blurb!” may be resubmitted for a future show, though the pitch must be revised in some way (i.e., a different – and, ideally – stronger version).
  5. All pitches must be submitted via our Submissions Page.
  6. All pitches must be submitted as MP3 files. Files may be made by calling blurbs into Cinch (see below for a full tutorial).
  7. All pitches must be labeled with a corresponding genre code, as posted above.
  8. Each week, live on the show, the hosts will select one winning pitch from among the five featured authors. That winning pitch will be posted on the “Blurb!” website within the next week, and remain in a search engine friendly archive in perpetuity.
  9. The respective author, whose book will be named “Blurb! Book of the Week” will be invited to appear on a subsequent week’s edition of the show. The author and his/her work will also be featured/promoted in other Blog Talk Radio venues.

 

CREATE YOUR MP3 BLURB USING CINCH (COMPLETELY FREE!)

Cinch is a simple, free tool that allows you to record your 3-minute Blurb and capture it as an mp3, which you will then submit to us online via our Submissions Page.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Dial Cinch at (646) 200-0000
  2. You will hear the following voice prompt, "Please record after the tone. When finished, please hang up." Then you will hear a short beep. Immediately after that beep, begin recording your blurb (watch your clock so that you don't go over 3 minutes!)
  3. When you are finished, hang up.
  4. To retrieve your blurb (which should be available within a minute of hanging up), go to this URL:
    http://cinch.blogtalkradio.com/(NUMBER YOU CALLED FROM)
    (for example, if you called from the telephone number 212-555-1234, then your URL would be:
    http://cinch.blogtalkradio.com/2125551234
  5. At the Cinch website, you will see the file directly beneath the date and time it arrived.
  6. Download it to your PC (right-click on a PC, and choose "Save-As", ctrl-click on a Mac)
  7. You should then listen to your blurb to make sure that:
    a. You are satisfied with it
    b. it is no longer than 3 minutes
    c. If you are not satisfied, simply record another one using the steps above.
  8. Once you have your final blurb, you need to rename it using the genre codes below.
  9. The last step is to fill out the form on the Submissions Page and send us your mp3 at the bottom of that page.