Asking for a book endorsement isn’t always the easiest thing for most of us. Now, some people, like my friend and writing coach client David Rosell, just have a knack for it. They either know a lot of high-profile folks, or they simply don’t mind cold-calling. And often, this ballsy approach works. For the rest of us, however, asking authorities, influencers, and important or famous individuals for a quote about the book we’ve written seems daunting at best.
So, why even bother? In one word, promotion. Whether you use these blurbs on your cover or in your sales copy, an endorsement provides the social proof that will hopefully convince a potential customer to buy your book. As renowned book marketer Sandra Bethwith points out in her Who Should You Ask to Endorse Your Book post, “They only make a difference, though, if that endorsement is coming from the right person – someone with a logical connection to the book, the genre, or the topic.”
Knowing the ins and outs of how to go about getting an endorsement from the right person helps. For starters, you want the reader to recognize and respect either the endorser’s name, their affiliation or credentials or, if an author, the book they’re written.
According to Bethwith, fiction writers will want to seek testimonials from:
- Authors writing in the same genre (the better-known the better, but even lesser-known authors can work)
- Book reviewers
Nonfiction writers will want to hit up, in her words:
- Recognized topic authorities
- Industry thought-leaders
- Satisfied customers who have applied principles outlined in the book
- High-ranking officials and executives
- Authors of other books on your topic
- Celebrities with a connection to the topic, which might be a disease, issue, cause, hobby, or location
Wondering how many people you should approach? My answer would be as many as humanly possible. You’re going to get a lot of nos, assuming you get answers at all. The more approaches you make, the better your chances of getting a lot of yeses as well.
What if you get too many endorsers? Impossible. Even if you can’t fit all the endorsement excerpts on your back cover, there will be plenty of room for them on your sales pages and in your promotional material.
Still not sure where to start? Consider investing in Bethwich’s online program called Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book. At just $39, I know I’m going to.
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