Julie Broad (founder of Book Launchers) presents a short, practical guide about forewords for nonfiction books. She advises against paying for a foreword, explains that a foreword is a personal introduction by someone other than the author (ideally a recognizable person who knows the author), and gives practical guidelines: keep it short (≈500 words or less), prefer endorsements/blurbs if you can't get a foreword, and remember a foreword is optional — better none than a mediocre one.
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Woohoo. Let's celebrate. You've written a book and now you're wondering about endorsements, book forwards and other final details. I've got the skinny on book forwards for nonfiction books. Hey there. I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers, a fantastic company that helps entrepreneurs and professionals write, publish and sell a nonfiction book that will grow your business and build your brand. First things first, let me just get this out of the way. There's absolutely no reason to pay someone to write a forward for your book. And if you don't have anybody famous to write your forward, your book is not doomed. Let me repeat, your book is not doomed. Most books do not need a forward. It's kind of like the video I shot on the book award scams to watch out for. Don't worry if you haven't seen that video, you can watch it afterwards. I'll put a link below. Paying someone to write your forward isn't going to give you a good return on investment. I know some names out there that happily sell a forward as part of their book publishing package and they've written hundreds of very similar sounding forwards and it's not worth it. Hopefully you get the picture. So here's to the important stuff. What is a book forward? It's an introduction to your book and to you, the author, and it's written by someone other than you. It does give you the author status and credibility if the foreword is written by a big name and they know you personally. For example, if you've written a book on entrepreneurship and Tim Ferriss writes your foreword, or if you have a book on social media and Gary Vee writes a foreword or a book on environmental, tech and business. And Elon Musk. Well, pre pot smoking Elon anyways. Anyway, if he writes your forward, Cha Ching. This is a great way to establish credibility and get attention for your book. If the person writing the foreword has worked with you or can share a cool story that shines a really positive light on your work, your expertise, your message, or even the industry in the context with which the reader might benefit from knowing what what's going on in the industry around your book, then it gives more background than a basic buyer or book description ever could. And that adds a lot of value. If you can't get a forward to accomplish these objectives, it's really just wasted space at the start of your book that should be used to showcase the juicy stuff your reader needs to know to decide to buy it. Remember, the first 5% and first 20% of your book are viewable to a reader without purchase online, so make it content that sells your book. Here's the thing, you can ask total strangers to write a forward, but that's a tough sell. It's much better to approach them to endorse your book with a blurb. A forward is very personal, and it's really seen as a personal introduction, like they're vouching for you. It's why it can be really powerful from the right person, but it's also why it's really tough to get someone to do it unless you pay them or you have a long standing relationship with them. The big question what if the book is not done or they're too busy to read my book? The person writing the forward doesn't have to read your book. It's more like they're introducing you and your work to the world. So if they know you, it's really about that and not so much about your book. Essentially, you need someone to share who you are to them, why you're unique, and someone they respect. And hopefully they're able to relate this back to the subject matter of your group and why they believe the reader is going to benefit from learning about you and your perspective on this subject. That's the essence of what the forward should be and what they're talking about. They don't need to read the book to do that, and it doesn't need to be very long. We're looking at two pages in a book, so less than 500 words ideally. So let's recap what we learned here today. Number one, don't pay someone to write a forward. Number two, a forward should introduce you and the subject matter to a reader with a personal introduction by someone that knows you. Number three, it should be short. And number four, it's optional. Better to have none than to have a mediocre one. Cool. Cool. Now go ahead and tell me whether you even read forewords. I'm curious. I know my answer. But what is yours? Do you read the forwards on books that you are reading? And while you're posting that in the comments below, please subscribe to the channel. Turn those notifications on so we can hang out whenever a new video comes out. Because it's truly a pleasure to spend time with you. Thank you. Now, as promised, here's the video on award scams that you need to watch out for. And you might enjoy this one on how to get a celebrity endorsement for your book. Go ahead, go watch those videos. They're awesome. Go ahead, Click, click.
