A short YouTube tutorial by Julie Broad (founder of Book Launchers) explaining the three kinds of endorsements every nonfiction author should gather: (1) endorsements that establish the author’s unique credibility to write the book, (2) testimonials that state a clear, quantifiable benefit to the reader, and (3) endorsements that create curiosity (often from a respected name). The video also covers where to place endorsements (cover, back, Amazon, media kit) and gives outreach strategy tips (ask many people, use client results).
Chapters
Are you publishing a nonfiction book in the next year? If you are, it's time to start thinking about endorsements or testimonials that you should get for the COVID of your book or your book marketing. There are three kinds to focus on getting for your book. Stick around and I'll explain what they are and who you should ask to get them. Hey, I'm Julie the book broad, an award winning author and the founder of a fantastic company called Book Launchers. We're your fabulous professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and sell nonfiction books that will grow your business and make you money. Getting people to endorse your book is smart marketing. The absolute best endorsements can go on the COVID of the book. Like this one from Deepak Chopra on the COVID of Alka Dylan's book. Nice work, Alka. But only the absolute best ones should ever be considered for the coveted cover space. Others can go on the back of the book, a dust jacket cover, or like this great quote on the back of this sport of school that's right there. And all the other testimonials or endorsements that you can get can go on Amazon, inside your book or on media materials. So these quotes are important to your book marketing, but there are three specific kinds you should try to get for your book. Now, before I get into them, remember that anything that goes on the COVID of your book or in your book description needs to sell your book. It has to give you major credibility, create curiosity for your book and get that I gotta buy that book feeling in people so they have to buy your book. So the first one is the one that you need that clearly says that you are the person to write this book. What makes you unique? What have you done? What's a piece of your story that showcases that you are the person that should have written this book. That's the first testimonial or endorsement that you need to get. And it comes in many forms. It could be someone saying something like, when I worked with Joe at Google, he was always the one to suggest the most creative and original solutions to problems. So when he talks about creative thinking, I listen. The VP of Google Product Development, obviously I made that one up. But this is a real one for William Hung. A great book called Champion by Choice. I've interviewed over 2,200 successful entrepreneurs on my podcast, Entrepreneurs on Fire. And the one commonality they all share is the ability to rise in the face of defeat. William Hung is as good an example as it gets of someone who bounced back from failure stronger and smarter and is now impacting the world in a powerful way. Champion by Choice is a must read for those who want to choose freedom. John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire I like this one as an example because even if you don't know what a popular podcaster John Lee Dumas is, this tells you what why John Lee Dumas is someone to listen to and what makes William Hung different and someone that you might want to read about. Number two, you need an endorsement or testimony that covers the benefit to the reader in reading this book. So somebody who says, I read this book and the tips helped me make $10,000. They helped me lose 50 pounds, they helped me run the fastest race I've ever run. Whatever the key benefit of your book is, or one of them, you have to have a testimonial or endorsement that showcases what somebody is going to get as a result of investing their time and a tiny bit of money into buying your book. Ideally, this is a testimonial that is precisely your hook. You know, that thing that says what's in it for your reader? That benefit? This one's pretty darn good on the COVID of Gautam Bade's book the Joys of Compounding. Which by the way, if you go to buy a copy of this phenomenal resource, you might find it out of stock because Columbia University Press bought the rights to the book. Congrats, Gautam. But this testimonial speaks to the reader benefit really clearly. An instant classic, Gautam's book is the definitive guide to lifelong learning for investors and anyone seeking to reach their full potential. A must read. This one actually gets a bonus point in my mind because it spells out exactly who this book is for. Not just what the benefit is, but also who that benefit is going to benefit. The third one is a testimonial that creates curiosity. So this can be from a big name celebrity or someone that says, wow, I was absolutely blown away. Something like that from a big name is ideal, but just something that creates incredible curiosity will do the trick. If you don't know anybody famous in your industry, here's one from from Robert Krabeck's book Malibu Burning. Thrilling, well researched and occasionally lighthearted, this is a unique and special book. Paul Colsbee, writer for the critically acclaimed Netflix series Ozark. Actually, go to Robert Quebec's Amazon page and check out the endorsements listed there. He has some great endorsements, but that one creates curiosity. I mean, aren't you wondering how a story about a major fire could be light hearted at times. Now I know you're probably thinking I don't know anybody famous first of all, other than Deepak Chopra. I don't think any any of these folks that I've mentioned so far are truly famous, but they are respected in their fields or the company they represent gives them credibility. But you don't have to know famous people. You just need a good strategy for contacting a bunch of people who are respected and known and do it with plenty of time to spare before your launch. You don't put all your eggs in one basket. You ask a bunch of people and expect many will ignore you or say no. It's kind of a numbers game. And finally, you can use your client base for the second kind, which is the testimonial who writes that is less important than the quantifiable details. For example, we had one client that we landed a webinar for him. That webinar sold 250 books and led to four paid speaking gigs. If I wrote a book about pitching your book to get sales, I'd get a testimonial from him that says Julie and her team at Book Launchers have mastered the methods to get books in readers hands. Just one technique you'll learn could lead to 250 books sold and four paid speaking gigs. Because that's what it did for me. The big thing there isn't that you know the name of the person, it's that there is a first and last name attached to it. And if they're an author, the book name, or even a website. Only the best of the best will go on the COVID But you need these for your media kit, your Amazon page, and inside of your book because they sell books. Especially if you can get at least one great one from each of these three categories. How do you get endorsements or testimonials? Share that in a comment below and when you share on the day a video is released, you'll be entered to win some sweet, no boring books swag. I've been told copy tastes better in our noboringbooks mug. You'll have to try it and let me know. Make sure you've subscribed to the channel and turn those notifications on so you can make sure you're commenting on the day a video comes out so you have the best chance to win and you might become one of my valued YouTube besties. I took a break in the summer and I missed these guys so much. Ron Neitzel Alan West Poetry from the heart Kevin McGuire always Studio 38 big virtual hugs to you. I'm not ready for you to leave yet. Let's keep hanging out, okay? Have you seen this video yet? I think it's gonna make you smile. And this one is all about getting celebrity endorsements. And I had a ton of fun thinking about you watching this one. So check them out. Click one. I'm waiting. I'm so excited to see you again.
