First Sunday Q&A: Getting Endorsements and Reviews for Your Book

Apr 7

Q: Exciting times! I’m finally getting close to the production stage for my first book. I know you’ve talked about how a writer can set up a network of potential contacts, quite far in advance of publication, to get endorsements and reviews. Please share more about the actual process and best timing—anything a first-time author might need to know. Thank you!

A: When I began publishing back in the 80s, I didn’t need to know much as an author. Back then, my publisher handled all requests for reviews and blurbs. It was a different era in publishing, for sure. And it wasn’t until my eleventh book that I began to understand how the author can help this process by planning ahead and setting up a network of contacts.

Reviews and blurbs are a given in publishing—it’s rare to see a book cover or inside “praise pages” without at least a couple of blurbs and excerpts of media or trade reviews.

I buy books based on recommendations. I believe that blurbs—especially from writers I admire—make me more inclined to read the new book myself. If this is true in general, blurbs and reviews definitely boost a book’s chances of success in the world. Because the goal, after all, is to widen your book’s reach to readers you may never meet, those outside your current circle of friends and family who would buy your book anyway.

But some publishing professionals are not as convinced about the blurb’s benefit in selling books. An August 2023 article in the Atlantic, “The Blurb Problem Keeps Getting Worse,” talks about the over-the-top praise of many blurbs, with books that fail to warrant them. Authors patting each other on the back, creating a kind of club for blurb exchanges.

So what’s a new author to do? Is it worthwhile to get blurbs/endorsements? And is it worth the extra work to go for reviews as well?

I’d say yes, and here’s why. And scroll down to the end for a sample blurb email that you can adapt and use, if you’re ready to request.

Back in the day

I have to take you back to when I started learning about blurbs, in the 90s. This book was not my first, but it was in a different area of nonfiction (I’d been published for years as a food journalist). The book got accepted by a small press, and my editor assigned me a publicist. She focused on interviews in print and on television and radio, which was the norm back then. Podcasts weren’t around much, so publicists went for talk shows and newspaper and magazine articles.

Before she began pitching, we talked about endorsements. A few blurbs would get me more notice by the media, she said. As is common now, she asked my help. She wanted me to make a list of authors I loved, who had published well in my genre. We would send them a press release and a request to write a blurb for my book.

I thought this was much of a fairytale, my chances of getting some of these well-known names to write anything. But I was game to try.

I came up with a wish list of about twelve names. These were all authors I read personally; I owned copies of their books. So I could easily write a one- or two-sentence description of why their work paralleled my own.

The press sent the requests, drafted by me and the publicist for each author. It carried weight to receive a request from the publisher versus an relatively unknown author (as I said, I’d just moved from food journalism to this new genre). The request acknowledged the writer’s work, spoke about the parallels between my book and theirs (mostly the same audience and intent), then asked if we could send them an ARC (advance reader copy) to consider writing a blurb.

Out of the twelve requests, we got about seven yesses. That astonished me. Good timing, perhaps? Each yes got an ARC and a deadline of a few months. Out of the original seven, five actually sent endorsements. My publicist used them to pitch me for interviews.

I guess it worked. I got interviews on over 100 radio and TV stations during my book tour that year, plus quite a good number of print interviews.

Nonfiction versus fiction endorsements

Fast forward to the 2000s and my next book: my debut novel.

I was expecting the same process—working with my publisher (no publicist for this title) and editor. My editor asked for the same wish list of possible authors. She also contributed a few, writers she knew from her years in the industry.

I talk with many writers who naively expect their publisher or editor to do that pre-pub work, but it’s always been something I’ve had to handle myself, with some help. And now, unlike my earlier experiences, it has to happen sooner in the process.

Many authors get tapped for endorsements a full year before a book is released. For this first novel, we worked about six to nine months ahead. Early reviews can be used to pitch you for podcasts and media interviews. They can be placed in your media kit and on your website, used in social media and on the back cover and praise pages of your book.

Having a few choice blurbs in hand also helps you pitch other blurbers. If I could get one or two early blurbs, they could be added to the request email, and I definitely got yesses when authors saw fellow writers had already blurbed my book.

Recently this happened to me. I was unsure whether I could take the time to blurb a new author’s memoir. I didn’t know this writer well and my schedule was crammed with tasks for my launch. But her request email listed a few other authors I greatly respected, who had already blurbed for her, and I felt good about being listed among them. So I made room in my schedule and said yes.

When a writer blurbs for you, their name and endorsement is associated with your work forevermore. It’s not a lightweight decision. It involves their career going forward, in small or large ways. So it’s good to think carefully about who you should ask to blurb.

**Who should you ask to blurb, ideally?**

The short answer is: Not just anyone. Ideally, the blurbs come from well-respected and recently published authors in the same genre as your book.

Why? Because it’s not beneficial to you or the blurbing author to dramatically cross genres. For instance, it doesn’t really help a self-help author’s career to endorse your novel—the readership is very different, so their blurb won’t reach the right people (for you) and your readers won’t necessarily be interested in their novel (for them).

This sounds very commercial, like the decision is about career-furthering rather than doing someone a good deed. Yes, there’s a service aspect to taking hours from your life to read and endorse someone else’s book, but generally, in my perhaps jaded view, writers blurb to get their own name out. If you blurb for an author who will sell well, your own name and book title will be spread around.

There are ethics about this too—not held by all, of course. I have a policy of not endorsing a writer who hired me to edit or coach this same book in the past. To me, it crosses ethical lines. It feels like a conflict of interests, an almost paid endorsement. Not all authors have this policy—I once hired a rather well-known novelist as a coach and she offered to blurb my book when we finished.

More common blurbers might be instructors or professors in an MFA program, teachers you’ve studied with, colleagues you know from conferences. These are people you’ve worked with but not hired privately. And, as I said above, not everyone holds to this line.

But I do feel strongly that it’s just not smart to ask just anyone, especially an easy contact, if they are not an author in your genre. Their endorsement won’t help you reach your ideal readers.

Unless I’m known as an author in the writer’s genre, I usually decline when asked to blurb their book, because it’s not a good use of my time and it won’t help the writer at all.

Not being shy

It takes courage to ask for blurbs. It’s a big risk, but I’ve found most self-promotion tasks are risks, especially the first time. You have to plan on rejections and no responses to your requests. You have to be brave and do it anyway.

As I went through my publishing career, my list of potential blurbers grew. Yours will too. I had started teaching at different writing schools by the time my first novel came out, so my list now included names of other debut novelists I’d met through classes or my teaching, as well as a few authors I’d been lucky enough to study with.

Years of networking and supporting others was starting to pay off. One reason I suggest thinking about and beginning your own networking a year or more in advance of your first book release, then continuing to build your community ever after.

I was in a great writer’s group by then, too, so I could ask the other members if they knew of anyone who might be approachable. They gave me some names.

For that first novel, from my efforts and those of my editor, we got about six blurbs for the back cover of the book and the praise pages in the front matter. A decent result.

Did those blurb help sell my book? No idea. It gave me more confidence and I could use the blurbs in other promotion. But most of all, it felt confirming to hear that other authors I loved, also loved the story.

How many blurbs is ideal?

For prescriptive nonfiction books, such as self-help or how-to, it was vital to have a substantial number of endorsements. Nonfiction authors often publish to boost their credentials and share whatever expertise they offer in their work. A well-endorsed book would also get them gigs as experts in interviews, on panels at conferences, and more. I always went for a dozen blurbs for my nonfiction books—actually, the more the merrier.

It’s harder to get blurbs for fiction. My goals for my novels was one for the front cover, two for the back cover. And if I could get more, I would add them to the praise pages in the frontmatter.

Memoir has the same goal as fiction.

For self-published books

Review requests carry more weight if they come from an authority outside of the author, as I mentioned above (publisher, publicist, editor). But indie authors can get great endorsements too.

I first tried indie publishing with my twelfth book, Your Book Starts Here. I started with the same steps: I made the list of everyone I could imagine asking. This included colleagues at my writing schools, authors I’d met at a writer’s conference, instructors I’d studied with. I only listed those who also had published writing-craft books, since that was my genre. I reached out as far as I could—even to a friend whose sister had published a well-loved craft book, asking if my friend would reach out for me (she did).

Even though I angsted about whether I’d get any response, because of not going through a publisher or editor, I was blown away by the yesses. And the amazing blurbs, from writers I’d admired forever. I think the work I’d done over the years, establishing relationships with other writing teachers, made all the difference.

Are blurbs from unknowns worth it?

Say it’s your first book. You haven’t spent time doing this relationship-building, and you can’t think of any authors you’ve taken classes from in the past whom you could approach. All you have are instructors or coaches who don’t write in your genre (see above). What do you do?

One of my students was publishing a memoir on childhood trauma. She reached out to a few professionals in her community who worked with that area. The blurbs were wonderful and worth it—even though these were not writers. What I find less worthwhile are blurbs from friends and family. What do these tell the potential reader? Well, you have a loyal following in your close circle, as you should. But it doesn’t really help you reach a wider audience, in my view.

Make this a priority before publication. Develop your network: take classes to meet writers and instructors. Consider the cost part of your promotional effort, if you want. Get to know a few authors who teach. Establish a relationship during each class you take, show appreciation for their work (you bookshelf it on Goodreads, you write a review). After the class, approach them with your request. I think you might be surprised how many will say yes.

Valuing their time, respecting their work

Two final tips about asking for blurbs. The first is: be respectful.

What you’re asking is not nothing. Everyone, especially writers trying to build their careers, are busy. They may not have time to read your ARC. It’s not a reflection on your book, it’s a sign of their own priorities. Maybe they have a new baby, a new teaching gig, a big deadline with their publisher.

In the sample blurb request, below, I always let the author know I respect their time. If it’s not a good moment, I understand.

The other tip is so important and so ignored by many new authors. If you want someone to blurb your book, read theirs first! As I said above, be genuine about this, be able to say you love their work and mean it. You’ve read their books and think there’s a good match with yours. You’ve shelved their book on Goodreads. You’ve written reviews on amazon, BookBub, or Goodreads for their books. Do this, way before you ask for anything.

This week, I’m including two extra bits of information, which I hope will be helpful. The first is a cheat sheet with the steps I learned to follow, as I grew my community and requested blurbs for more books. Add your own, and share in the comments, if you want!

Make a list of anyone I admired, who had published in my genre in the past five years.
Add the names of any writer friends I could ask for ideas, connections, or help.
Find contact information for each person.
When the ARCs were just about ready, draft the request email.
Send out the requests. Wait a few weeks and send a reminder if needed.
Thank everyone who contributed a blurb. A signed copy of the book plus a personal note, at minimum, was essential.