Blurbs – brief, attributed endorsements solicited before publication – emerged in the U. S. but became central to German-language publishing from the mid-1990s, reflecting a shift toward personalized, experience-driven recommendation cultures (from pop literature to BookTok) and away from traditional, ‘objective’ criticism. Tracing their history and uses, the article shows how blurbs serve both as marketing tools and symbolic connectors: they map networks among authors, agents, and conglomerate publishers, shape genealogies for debuts, and reveal how contemporary literature negotiates between aesthetics and economy in a globalized book market.