Iris Smyles’s Book Blurb Contest Ends on Friday

Do you like fiction? Are you a critic (or fan) of the overheated praise heaped on the back covers of books, some of which seems to have scant bearing on the content? There is a contest for you.

Iris Smyles, who is an artist in residence at Guild Hall in East Hampton, said this week that she and her publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are having a little fun with the practice. They are inviting aspiring blurb writers to come up with their own pithy plug for her new book, “Dating Tips for the Unemployed,” sight unseen.

The winning fictional blurb will appear at the bottom of a list of real endorsements that include Diane Keaton’s praise of her first work, “Iris Has Free Time,” which was published by Soft Skull Press. It is a “hilarious, lyrical, and wise book about youth — its beauty, its folly, and the belief it will go on forever even as it's slipping away,” according to Ms. Keaton.

Kurt Andersen, a novelist, radio host, and former publisher, called her first book "'The House of Mirth' minus the no-way-out tragedy, ‘Bright Lights Big City’ for the 21st century, ‘Girls’ for people who love the deep dive into great prose.”

Inspired? Then, submit your blurb or blurbs at Ms. Smyles’s website by Friday at 5 p.m. Among other prizes, the winning blurb will appear at the bottom of her new book’s jacket. The book will be published in June. Ms. Smyles will be in residence at Guild House, the arts institution’s new residence behind the main building, through mid-April.