How to Get Book Blurbs - The Ultimate Guide

Getting book blurbs or asking for an endorsement for your book before it's even print ready can be anxiety inducing. It might feel like hitting a giant panic button. You might even feel like you're needy or desperate for praise. So if you're wondering if book blurbs actually work and are worth the effort, then this video is for you. Hey there, I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers, a fabulous professional self publishing team. You've heard it said, don't judge a book by its cover, right? So no one will judge your book if you skip right past getting blurbs right? Not so fast. Blurbs are essentially endorsements for your book that tell readers that it's worth their investment. They're two to three lines and serve as advanced reviews of your book. They're different than regular consumer reviews, but just as important for a different reason. Sure, a few lines of approval seem unimportant as far as making or breaking a sale, but plenty of readers do rely on these things during their decision making process, and they say that blurbs can be a factor when buying a book, even if they aren't the ultimate factor. Blurbs sell books, especially when you're a new author or still establishing your author brand. Think about it. No one needs to see a blurb on one of Malcolm Gladwell's books to convince them to buy it. He's already an acclaimed author, but a blurb from Malcolm Gladwell? An endorsement like that could be invaluable to increase your sales and influence as an author. And they aren't the only or the biggest piece when it comes to your promotion or book sales. But blurbs work, and they are one of many puzzle pieces to creating book marketing and book sales success. So here's what makes a good one, how to get it, and what to do with it. An effective blurb comes from a significant authority on your book's topic or subject matter, someone with a strong reputation and influence on your target reader. Your audience will likely care about what they have to say. In other words, your audience knows the person, or at the very least the company or organization that that person is affiliated with. So the words they have about your book have clout. So if they say your book is great and give it a stamp of approval, well, that lets readers know that your book is trustworthy and worth reading and that you're credible as both an author and a subject matter expert. There are three kinds of blurbs, although a great blurb might accomplish all three things. First, an effective blurb will help that target reader identify your book as for them and it'll help them figure out what they're going to get out of your book. Again, that's why it's important the blurb be from someone that will matter to your reader, so when they say this book is for someone like this, they will believe it. The second kind of blurb should highlight a specific benefit or element of the book that is unique and that the reader isn't going to find somewhere else. In other words, what's the reader going to take away from your book? Ideally, this is kind of a testimonial that echoes the hook the what's in it for me? This is the kind of blurb you can get from a customer or client of yours because they can speak directly to this topic. But of course a well respected name saying something about your book being great for this reason is a great blurb too. And finally, an effective blurb covers why the influencer thinks you yes, you are the only one that could write this book. What makes you unique? What have you done? What's the most important piece of your story that differentiates you and therefore the book from other authors in your space? You don't have to know of celebrities to get good book blurbs for your book. You just need a good strategy for contacting a bunch of people who are respected and known, and you need to do it with plenty of time to spare before your launch. A really great blurb might go on your cover front or back, but if not, there's plenty of spaces like your Amazon author page, your media kit, and even inside your book where these important words can go as a key element to your marketing and building. That early platform blurbs can't be put off until the last minute. There's no procrastinating allowed. You want to make sure you're prioritizing these during your pre sale period so they can be included in all those valuable things like your media kit, social media, Amazon product page, and even the book cover. Look at these great covers with blurbs on them. Looks good right now. Think about your friends, mentors and clients who could write endorsements. Make a list. Who do you know that can speak to your expertise, offer their own credibility on your behalf, or provide a testimonial that speaks to what readers will gain from reading your book. The earlier you start asking for blurbs the better, but you need to make sure that you at least have an ARC copy to send along with your request. At Book Launchers, our authors are usually in the layout phase of the process which means that you're not sending a perfect and pristine finished book. But it's been through many rigorous edits, so an endorser will feel confident giving their seal of approval on the book knowing that it's of high quality. I know it's a little scary to send an unfinished product through, but you can include a note letting them know that they're receiving an uncorrected proof and that there might be typos. The most important thing is that the content isn't changing, it's just getting cleaned up. If that's the case, it's totally fine to send them an uncorrected proof. It's common practice in the industry. Asking for the blurb takes finesse though. Before you go out and send a mass email to everyone you've put on this list, remember each message needs to be personalized. Create a brief to the point email that asks them to provide an endorsement for you. Let them know why you think that they are the right person to provide a testimonial. A little flattery which is genuine in this case goes a long way when what is it about them or their work that has inspired you or influenced your own work? Are you familiar with the things they've done in the past? Or perhaps there's something about their approach in your field that you echo and believe your book can help back up in that message. Share quickly what your book is about and how you're publishing and marketing it. Once you have this message template, you can use it over and over, just personalizing the start for each person. It takes time to get blurbs, but you want results, right? Close your email with a very direct task for this person. Ask them for a brief endorsement that you can use for your book marketing purposes. If you haven't heard back about your request, you can send a follow up once by email or maximum of two times or one email and one phone call. Just don't be a pain. Just say hey listen, I know you're busy and I just appreciate knowing if and when you can do this. Once they agree to provide a blurb, promptly send them your manuscript and let them know your timeline. Be sure to give people enough time, but not months and months. Tell them you'd love to consider their endorsement for the COVID or the inside flap of your book so you need it by X date. Reach out to way more people than you think you'll need or you think you can get. In other words, don't put all your eggs in one basket because often it's the one you least expect who will come through for you once those blurbs start rolling in, Collect them and figure out which ones are going to be the best for your book cover, if any. And make sure to include the influencer's full name, title and company with each blurb and file them all in a place where you'll have easy access to them when it comes time to marketing. Whether you use their blurb on your cover or not, please, please, please remember to send a thank you note. You can also send a signed copy of the book when it's published. They were willing to take their time and associate their name with your finished product and that's pretty cool and it deserves a personal thank you. You're also pretty cool. Let's keep hanging out. If you're looking for more help with your influencer outreach, this video right here is an excellent thing to watch next. Or if you're wondering about arc copies, what they are, how to get them. Well, this video's got you covered there. Both are pretty great and I can't wait to hang out with you a little more.