Who are the people who can help you sell more books?

I thought about this after an article source mentioned that his company had acquired a firm that specializes in connecting brands with “influencers” — influential social media personalities.

The companies or brands pay social media influencers to showcase their products to followers. They also advertise on influencer blogs and pay bloggers to write “sponsored” posts about the brand and its products or services, too.

There has to be transparency, of course — the FTC requires influencers to state that they’ve been paid to try and/or write about the brands.

Ethics obligate influencers to disclose their brand relationships, but so do their relationships with their followers. They know that fans count on them to provide information they can trust.

The author connection

What does this have to do with authors?

It illustrates how important key influencers are to good marketing. And good marketing is the difference between a good book that sells and a good book that doesn’t.

Plus, if the big consumer brands are connecting with their audience’s influencers in ways that help them sell more products, shouldn’t you be doing it, too?

The most important reason to identify your reader infuencers, though, is to solicit endorsements. It doesn’t cost you anything, and endorsements carry weight.

Reader influencers play a role with your audience

An influencer is someone who is both active online and respected and followed by your target audience.

“Key” refers to the influential people at the very top of your list. They’re the reader influencers who have the most clout and audience respect.

To find your key influencers, you have to be clear on your target audience. It’s essential that you know who is most likely to buy your book. (For more on that, read “The powerful and effective formula for more book sales.“)

When you know your target audience, you can figure out who they listen to and respect.

Fiction vs. nonfiction reader influencers

People who influence fiction readers are usually different from those who influence nonfiction readers.

Novelists, start with the most popular authors in your genre.

A historical romance author, for example, might include Diana Gabaldon and Beverly Jenkins on their list of key influencers.

A novelist’s list might also include BookTokers, BookTubers, genre bloggers, prolific genre readers, and any well-known genre publishing house editors.

Add lesser-known influencers in those categories, too. They are going to be more accessible than those at the top. (But I believe in starting at the top and working my way down.)

Nonfiction influencers are usually industry or topic experts and leaders.

A cookbook author’s target audience can be influenced by any high-profile food personalities, including TikTok chefs and popular Food Network show hosts.

Successful serial entrepreneurs and technology startup founders probably influence the audience for an entrepreneurship book.

How to find your reader influencers

The question for many authors is “How do I figure out who influences my readers?”

You might know the answer already without realizing it: Who influences you?

• If you write fiction, you’re probably influenced by certain novelists or recognize the names of up and comers. Start there.
• If you write nonfiction, who are the topic experts you’re following already?

Expand your search from there.

Tools to help you find influencers

Whether you have a list of influencers already or not, a handful of tools can help you expand your search.

Social media

Use hashtags on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to find people posting about what you write about. Check follower counts and engagement. Who’s the most popular?

Google

Type what you you’re looking for into the search box; dig into the results.

LinkedIn and Facebook groups

Both social networks offer groups for a wide range of topics. Group founders, leaders, or administrators are often experts on the topic being discussed.

In addition, many group members are also influential experts.

Trade association officers and leaders

Trade and industry association officers and committee chairs — such as the board of directors of the Romance Writers of America — are usually widely respected in their fields.

Conference speakers

This is a great way to identify influencers on their way up. Study the speaker line-up for conferences you’d consider attending if you could.

Followerwonk

Follwerwonk is a multi-layered social media management tool. The free version lets you schedule content across multiple social media platforms.

But the power is in the paid version. Identify potential influencers with the profile search function, which lets you find people through bio keyword searches.

Subscribe for one month for $15 to get everything you need, then cancel. (Or, get hooked on Followerwonk’s analytics and stick around!)

What do you do with your reader influencer list?

Once you’ve created your influencer list, become known to the people on it. Get on their radar.

It’s a slow, subtle, process.

But it’s a simple and easy one:

• Follow them on social media.
• Share their content.
• Comment on their content.

When commenting, be sure to say something that adds to the conversation. There’s nothing wrong with “Nice post,” or “Good point,” but both are generic comments that won’t help you stand out.

And your goal is to stand out in a good way. When you stand out, you get noticed.

The big ask

When your key influencers know who you are, you can ask for their support.

Ask them to “blurb” your book. A blurb — testimonial or endorsement — from a key reader influencer tells readers that your book has been expert- and authority-tested and approved.

If you haven’t done this before and appreciate step-by-step instructions and templates, get my multi-media training program. “Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book” has everything you need to know to reach the right people with the right message.

Alternatively, work toward the kind of word-of-mouth recommendation that can help sell books. Send your book with a personal note that suggests that their followers will be interested in it with a brief explanation of why.

If they oblige, be sure to extend the impact by resharing what they’ve posted with your followers.

Got a big marketing budget along with an audience that pays attention to social media influencers? Explore a paid relationship with a less-popular influencer who might be willing to talk up your book for a fee (and disclose that it’s a paid post, of course).

Don’t skip this step

Whether you ask anything of influencers or not, you need to be familiar with the most influential people in your niche, genre, or category. When you don’t…and that becomes clear…readers won’t have faith in your ability to meet their standards.

via GIPHY

You can’t give readers what they expect when you’re so out of touch that you don’t know who represents the best in your genre.

Make connections that are important to your career and build trust with your readers by identifying and connecting with key reader influencers. It’s easy…and it’s free.

Start thinking about your influencers today — now. Who is one of them? Tell us who it is and why in a comment below. 

Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2017. It has been updated and expanded.)

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

Last week, Esquire reported on how some publishers send book-themed goodies – “merch,” as the Young People say – with advance reader copies (ARCs) going to TikTok and Instagram influencers.

What the Esquire essayist might not realize is that this is a long-standing practice in consumer product publicity.

Why, when I was your age…

Waaaaaaaay back when I was a publicist at what was then the world’s largest PR firm, we often sent attention-getting and relevant gifts with press kits. They weren’t extravagant, but they weren’t tchotchkes, either.

It usually worked.

And it often made my telephone follow-up calls easier.

That was the case with the bicycle horns included with a Schwinn press kit. As soon as I mentioned the horn to a journalist recipient, they’d say, “Oh yes! I remember that!”

What are publishers sending with ARCs?

This tactic works best when the gift makes sense.

In my Schwinn example, the connection between a bike horn and a well-known bicycle manufacturer was obvious.

Publishers seem to be focused on making a clear connection, too.

As “The Merch-ification of Book Publishing” notes, each influencer ARC box includes just a few gifts linked to the book’s graphics or themes.

For example, for a book set in Long Island, N.Y.’s wealthy Hamptons area, influencers received:

• An ARC
• A tube of pricey sunscreen
• Sunglasses in book cover colors
• Cookies from Tate’s Bake Shop, which started in Southampton

(Sidebar: Tate’s gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are the best I’ve ever had…link added for fellow celiacs.)

Searching for #bookmerch on Instagram, I found fiction ARC gift boxes that included:

• Tote bag, t-shirt, and sticker
• Notepad with the book’s graphics and a tiara
• Crown replica

DIY ARC gift packages

These examples are from publishing houses. What if your publisher isn’t willing to support your book this way? Or if you’re self-published?

Can you do this yourself?

Of course you can!

You can easily send clever merchandise with ARCs, especially if you don’t try to match or compete with big publisher budgets.

5 steps to send clever merchandise with ARCs

Here’s how to get started.

1. Keep your distribution list small.

What’s most important to your author career right now? Rewarding your most loyal super fans? Getting on the radar of a top influencer in your genre or field? Connecting with up-and-coming reviewers?

Understanding who you need to influence now will help you narrow down the list of potential recipients.

While it’s always a numbers game – the more ARCs you send, the more likely you are to enjoy some level of exposure – once you start spending money with gift boxes, less is more in the beginning.

Starting with just a handful of recipients (5? 10?) allows you to test ideas, become familiar with vendors, and gauge results.

2. Brainstorm gift ideas.

I like to brainstorm with another person who understands what I’m trying to do and can contribute ideas.

If you write fiction, start by listing relevant details, including the book’s mood and tone, themes, protagonist characteristics, settings, and so on. That process could lead to a Greek evil eye key chain for a thriller set in Greece, for example.

Nonfiction authors can prep for brainstorming by listing key messages and ideas from the book along with tools used to accomplish them.

Get creative! Imagine what you’d like to receive with an ARC and apply that to ideas for your book.

Write down all ideas– don’t discard anything – before zeroing in on those you like the most.

3. Keep it practical.

Today’s readers are increasingly concerned about sustainability and waste. Tiaras are fun, but they’re a throwaway item, aren’t they?

On the other hand, if your book involves royalty, a faux crown works just fine.

Here are just a few generic items you can order with custom graphics that connect with your book specifically or with books in general:

• Tote bags
• Note pads
• T-shirts
• Can koozies (neoprene beverage can sleeves)
• Pencils embossed with your book title or bookish sayings
• Coasters
• Coffee/tea mug
• Imprinted Post-its®
• Key chains

Don’t let this list limit you. You might have bigger ideas!

4. Get it done.

The biggest challenge for me in this situation is figuring out how to execute my idea.

Here are a few resources that might help you overcome that obstacle.

• Amazon – You can find just about anything on Amazon, and can sometimes get what you need in bulk quantities for items that include personalized pencils.
• Etsy – Looking for personalization? You might find it here.
• Moo – Use Moo for printed products that include stickers, labels, notebooks, and postcards.
• Vistaprint – This is another reliable source for printed merchandise that includes notepads, stickers, labels, and note cards.
• Zazzle – Thinking about custom t-shirts, mugs, or other items that are more expensive than key chains and pencils? This is the place to start. Create, then order.
• CafePress – Like Zazzle, CafePress lets you create products.
• Canva – Need a little design help for anything you’ll imprint? Design site Canva can help.

In addition, when searching online for items you’d like to be imprinted with the book title, your character’s image, or anything else, use the term “advertising specialties,” as that’s what they’re called. Adding your city and state to that phrase will help you find a local supplier if you’d rather talk to a pro than wing it on your own online.

5. Follow up.

Make the most of your investment by following up with the influencers you’ve sent packages to.

Rather than ask if they’re going to review your book, ask if there’s anything else they need from you to decide if they’d like to review it.

Not a big name? Doesn’t matter

So what if you’re not a big publisher with a big promotion budget? You can still embrace big publisher tactics that include sending clever merchandise with ARCs. Just do it on a smaller scale.

Less is more – send fewer packages, include less merchandise with each ARC.

But don’t dismiss the idea because you’re not with a big-name publisher.

My experience with this tactic as a publicist taught me that it’s effective whether you’re sending out three packages or 33.

Follow the publishing leaders and give it a try.

Not sure if this tactic fits into your book marketing plan because you don’t have a book marketing plan? Download my free Build Book Buzz Book Marketing Plan Template now! It comes with complete instructions and examples. Don’t wait!

What big publisher promotion tactic have you tried that worked? Please tell us about it in a comment!

Raise your hand if you waited until you hit “publish” on Amazon to start thinking about how to get the book launch results that author dreams are made of.

If you’re a traditionally published author, you might not have thought about it at all. You expected your publisher to do whatever was needed to make sure readers discovered your book. No need for you to get involved. (Whoops.)

You were probably disappointed with your launch results, too.

Let’s turn that around. It starts with taking specific book marketing steps while you’re still writing.

Discovery is key

I understand the challenge. It’s hard enough to find time to write the book. Making room in your schedule (and mind) for book marketing while writing might seem like too much of a challenge.

But you have to — even if it means it takes a little longer to finish writing.

If you don’t start laying the groundwork you need to sell books before your manuscript is done, your book launch results will be dismal, discouraging, and disappointing.

Your book won’t be discovered on launch day or any other time of the year unless you goose the discovery process. That work starts early.

9 early steps to improving your book launch results

Here are nine steps to take while still writing that will help lay the groundwork for success.

Take on just one at a time. Fit in what you can, when you can.

If you do this, you’ll have several of your book marketing basics in place by the time your manuscript is done. That will set you up for a better, more successful launch.

1. Learn as much as you can about book marketing.

Read a book. Take a course.

Identify the bloggers who are publishing book marketing information you can trust. Subscribe to their newsletters.

In addition to my newsletter, I recommend:

• Kindlepreneur
• Author Marketing Experts
• The Nonfiction Authors Association
• Reedsy

2. Get clear on who will love your book.

That’s your target audience, the people you wrote your book for.

If you’ve written a nonfiction book, your target audience is people who are interested in that topic. But what do you know about them?

Many novelists tell me they wrote the book they’d like to read. It makes sense, then, that their ideal reader – their target audience – is people who are like them. (That’s not always the case – it’s just an example.)

3. Research your target audience.

Learn as much as you can about the person who is most likely to buy your book.

This will help you visualize your audience “avatar” – the one individual who best represents those who will love your book.

Next, do more research to learn where you’ll find them online and offline. For example, do people in your target audience use TikTok? Will you find them on LinkedIn? Do they like Pinterest?

4. Build a following on the social network that most of your audience uses. 

Your research into your target audience helped identify where you’ll find them online. Select one or two social networks that are most popular with your audience and learn how to use them effectively.

After you’ve spent some time learning how they work, start following “the right” people there.

Try this: Find the most popular authors in your genre. Follow them, and follow the people who follow them, too. (If they like the types of books the category leader writes, they’ll be interested in yours, too.)

And, of course, share content that will interest your ideal readers.

5. Connect with bloggers. 

Virtual book tours (author blog tours) are common and popular book launch elements.

When you “go” on a virtual book tour after your book is published, you’ll ask bloggers who reach the people you want to reach to share content that’s related to your book. That might be a:

• Guest post
• Q&A
• Audio or video interview
• Book review

You will be far more successful with bloggers who already know who you are. So, after you’ve identified the blogs you’ll want to visit on your tour, comment on and share their posts regularly.

They’ll notice you.

6. Build an email list.

Start gathering email addresses now. This is a never-ending process and for many, that growth is slow. So don’t wait.

Be sure to offer a downloadable gift – a “lead magnet”– in exchange for each email address. (Get ideas for fiction lead magnets and nonfiction lead magnets and learn how to create them at those links.)

Learn how successful authors use email to communicate with their readers by subscribing to their newsletters. What do you like about their approach? What do you dislike?

I also recommend reading Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert.

7. Compile a list of “key influencers.”

Who is most influential with your book’s target audience? You’ll want to ask them to endorse your book after the manuscript is polished and finished.

Begin gathering names and contact information for them now. That’s all – just figure out who they are and how to reach them, and save it all in a file.

8. Create a Facebook Page.

I’m not talking about a Facebook profile – that’s your personal account where you acquire “friends.” I’m referring to a business Page where you acquire “likes.”

You’ll need a Page to advertise on Facebook, but it’s also a good way to establish your book’s presence on this popular social network without annoying your friends.

Use it to solicit opinions on your book’s topic, share progress updates, ask fans to vote on cover options, and so on.

9. Add your book title to your e-mail signature.

It doesn’t get any easier than just typing “Author,” followed by your book title.

Which one of these will you start doing today? Will you pick the easiest or the hardest?

Do what works for you, but whatever you do, be sure to do it now.

What’s the most important thing you did before you launched your book? Please tell us in a comment. 

I like to watch television in the evening to unwind, but I find it almost impossible to just watch TV. I have to be doing something else at the same time — flip through a magazine. Knit. Promote my book.

Promote my book? Really?

Yup. And you can promote your book while watching TV, too.

If you’re a multi-tasker like me, try doing a few of these book promotion activities the next time you watch your favorite show.

1. On social media, follow the people who influence your readers.

Zeroing in on the social networks your ideal readers use, find and follow the people who influence them. An influencer is someone who is both active online and respected and followed by your target audience.

Novelists can start with the most popular authors in their genre. If you write fiction, your influencers might also include genre bloggers, prolific genre readers, and any well-known genre publishing house editors.

Nonfiction author influencers are often industry or topic experts and leaders.

While you’re at it, go to their websites and subscribe to their newsletters, too. (But do not add them to your newsletter list!)

2. Follow your influencers’ fans on social media.

After you’ve followed your influencers, go back to their profiles and begin following the people who follow them. (I do a quick profile check first before following someone.)

Over time, as you see what they share, you’ll learn more about what your readers are interested in (especially if they talk about books). And, if they follow back, you’ll add more of the “right” readers to your network.

And don’t forget to follow your own fans, too. I find it hard to stay current with connections, so I use my network TV commercial-break time to follow back the people who have recently followed me. (Streaming without commercials? Hit the pause button now and then.)

Some social networks offer recommendations for other people to follow, too. It’s a lot like when Amazon says, “If you like that product, you’ll like this one, too.” Because the suggestions are based on someone I just followed, they’re on target.

3. Schedule social media posts.

Use a free desktop or smartphone social media management tool to schedule your social network posts several days out. And do it all during commercial breaks.

You can also use your smartphone to share what others post, all without missing any of the TV action.

4. Pin to your book-specific boards on Pinterest.

You probably know what kinds of images and content you want to share on Pinterest. Wait until you’re parked in front of the TV set to pin it.

It’s a great way to add content to your boards without feeling like you should be doing something else — because you are doing something else. You’re relaxing with a good show.

5. Set up Google and Talkwalker Alerts.

Create these alerts for your name, book title, book topic, and other important book-related words or phrases. You’ll get an email with a link each time any of the phrases you’ve set alerts for show up online.

While you’re at it, create alerts for competing authors and book titles so you stay better informed about the competition, too.

If you receive alerts about news articles, add the reporter’s name to a media list so you know who to contact when you’ve got an article idea that could lead to book publicity.

6. Create social media images with quotes from your books.

I’ll confess: Creating quote graphics is my favorite thing to do while watching TV. I use either the WordSwag or Canva apps on my phone, but there are many other options, too.

Admittedly, I am more likely to create images with inspirational or funny quotes than I am to pull a pithy statement from one of my books, but if I add my website URL to the image, it still helps build awareness.

Here’s one I created for a recent blog post.

Create these for your books by pulling key messages or brief, but compelling quotes from your manuscripts.

The image you’ll place the text on will depend on your book, its personality, and your audience. You can use a different background each time, or you can support your author brand by using the same background each time.

7. Make sure you’re using the right keywords and categories on Amazon.

Amazon is a search engine where keywords rule. Make sure your book’s set-up includes keywords that people will search for to find it.

I use Publisher Rocket for this. It’s easy to do the searching while I’m watching TV, but I prefer to make any necessary changes when I can focus more. I just save and export my search results to work with later.

Publisher Rocket also explores categories so you know you’ve selected the best ones for your book. Use the search results to validate your choices or change what you’ve been using based on the tool’s recommendation.

I don’t recommend changing both keywords and categories at the same time, though. Instead, make one change, then monitor sales to see if it made a difference. After a few weeks, make the next change and watch for results.

Select just one of these to work on tonight and see how much progress you make while watching TV. Doing even just a little to promote your book every night will add up and eventually make a difference that you will feel good about.

How do you promote your book while watching TV? Add to the list of ideas by commenting!

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2015. It has been updated and expanded.)

Because many of her friends have influence with people the course is designed to help, I suggested she start by asking those friends to help spread the word. It’s a quick and easy way to begin moving forward.

But piggybacking onto someone else’s platform can – and should – involve far more than asking friends for support. The process is all about cross-promotion and collaboration.

How to leverage someone else’s network

It’s a smart strategy if you want to sell more books or other products, build an email list, or increase your social media follower count.

Here are eight ways to use the power of someone else’s network to reach your book marketing goals.

1. Do an Instagram takeover.

With an Instagram takeover, you literally take over someone’s Instagram account, posting your content instead of theirs. Create Instagram Stories and posts, or go live.

Keep in mind that this needs to be a mutually beneficial opportunity. Your host – perhaps another author in your genre – wants to know that you:

• Have an engaged audience that you’ll bring with you
• Will deliver quality, relevant content
• Will promote the takeover to your network

Keep the momentum going by arranging for your host to take over your account the following week.

2. Propose a newsletter swap.

A newsletter swap is a smart way to leverage someone else’s network while building relationships with others who reach your ideal readers.

With a newsletter swap, you and the influencer agree to promote each other’s books, programs, or products in your email newsletters.

I’ve got the how-to details in “How to do an author newsletter swap.”

3. Be a podcast guest.

Being any kind of guest is a great way to expand your reach, but I consider a podcast interview to be one of the easiest. Just show up and talk about something you know a lot about.

You’ll want to be thoughtful about what you say, of course. I always recommend working to communicate two or three key messages when you’re interviewed. Write them down ahead of time, and find ways to work each in at least once during the conversation.

Be sure to read “Message development: Know what you want to say and how to say it” first.

Support the podcast by promoting your appearance to your network so this is a win-win for all – you reach the podcast’s audience, but you also introduce your connections to the podcaster and their show.

4. Guest blog.

If you been hanging around here with me for a while, you know I’m a fan of guest blogging for several reasons.

When you write an article for someone else’s site, you’re providing an opportunity for your ideal readers to sample your writing.

via GIPHY

In addition, your host will most likely include a link to your book on Amazon or another retail site as part of your short guest blogger bio. (Learn the other reasons I love guest blogging in “4 reasons to embrace guest blogging.”)

Be careful to deliver a quality article that you’ve edited and carefully proofread. This isn’t an opportunity to “phone it in.” This should be a showpiece, not something you did so you could cross it off a list.

Get tips for being the best guest blogger ever in my free Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet.

5. Speak at a virtual or in-person summit.

via GIPHY

I do this once or twice a year, and I’m increasingly particular about the events I speak at so that I can maximize my time and reach.

I like to speak at events featuring other presenters who I’m fairly confident will promote the event to their networks.

When all speakers share summit news with their followers, everyone benefits. When they don’t, people in their networks aren’t exposed to helpful presentations and speakers, and other presenters don’t expand their reach and influence.

Speaking at a summit and offering free downloadable tips to attendees is one of the best ways I have for building my email list.

I usually create a new advice-packed “lead magnet” related to my presentation topic and require people to provide their email address to download it. They get bonus how-to information and my free, weekly, book marketing newsletter, and I can help more authors with articles like this one.

(Get fiction lead magnet ideas here and nonfiction ideas here.)

6. Bring well-connected people to your audience.

Do you have a blog or a podcast? Do you love using Facebook or Instagram Live? Invite influencers and others who share your audience to be your guest.

This helps you create quality content your followers will appreciate while your guest brings their audience to you, even while they’re connecting with yours.

Expand the impact by providing your guests with event text and images they can use to promote their guest appearances both before and after the events.

7. Get publicity.

Publicity – news media exposure – is the OG of audience leveraging.

Pre-social media, using publicity strategies to reach news outlets’ readers, viewers, and listeners was one of the only ways you could piggyback onto another’s platform.

Why should you work to reach audiences served by newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations, and content sites? Publicity will help you:

• Get discovered
• Be seen as an authority and expert
• Sell more books
• Appeal to libraries and bookstores
• Expand your platform

Because I’m a national award-winning former publicist, I’ve written about publicity quite a bit on this site. Scroll through the articles here, and be sure to register for my author publicity course, “Get Quoted: A Journalist’s Strategies for Using HARO to Snag Book Publicity.”

8. Propose a joint venture.

The dictionary defines a joint venture as “a commercial enterprise undertaken jointly by two or more parties which otherwise retain their distinct identities.”

For us, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement where you partner equally with someone else to achieve a common goal.

Let’s go back to my friend’s situation. If her course is designed for people like you – my audience – she could propose that I host a free training with her that teaches something helpful and previews the course.

We agree that in exchange for access to my audience, we will split the income she earns from course registrations generated by our joint event. She expands her reach, I provide you with useful free training, and we’ve both earned something in the process.

That’s a solid joint venture.

Which of these options works for you?

You’re better suited to some of these than others, right? If you don’t have a blog or podcast, you won’t be inviting people to write for you and you won’t be interviewing them on air.

But if you’re killing it on Instagram, a takeover there might become your new best tactic. Love talking about the writing craft or your book’s topic? Look into being a podcast guest.

It doesn’t matter how many of these you’re willing to explore. What matters is that you pick at least one – just one – and learn how to make it happen. You’ll move in the right direction – forward!

Which of these works best for you already? Which one are you going to try now? Please tell us in a comment.

You add blurbs to the cover, online sales pages, and several other places where your target audience will see them.

Like reader reviews, they’re social proof that tells us that the book we’re thinking about buying is a safe purchase.

The “right” person is key

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.

Let’s say that you think you can secure an endorsement from someone you admire and respect but who has no connection to your topic and won’t be recognized by your ideal readers.

Should you ask that person to endorse your book?

I vote “no.”

An inappropriate endorsement:

1. Won’t help sales
2. Will confuse people
3. Takes up back cover space you can use for the book description

The reader reaction you want

You want meaningful testimonials from people your ideal readers admire and respect.

That means that when people in your target audience see your blurber’s name and credential (book title, job title, employer, etc.), they:

• Recognize the person’s name, or
• Recognize the organization the person works for, or
• Recognize the individual’s book title when the person is an author, or
• Respect the endorser’s credentials even if they don’t know their name, and
• Are impressed

The person you ask to endorse your book if it’s fiction isn’t the same as someone you’d ask for a nonfiction testimonial. Let’s break it down.

Fiction endorsers

The best fiction testimonial sources include:

• Well-known authors in your genre
• Lesser-known authors in your genre
• Trade/literary/media reviewers

If you write historical fiction, for example, your dream blurber might be Anita Diamant, author of The Red Tent or Lisa Wingate, who wrote Before We Were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends. Genre fans will most likely recognize their names.

You certainly know the names of authors in your genre who are not as successful or well-known, too. You want them on your list of potential blurbers because they will be more accessible than the genre stars.

Your list can include published fiction authors you know, as well.

Excerpts from editorial reviews generated by advance review copies sent to professional reviewers at magazines, newspapers, and respected online sites also qualify as influential blurbs.

Nonfiction endorsers

You have more options with nonfiction, but that doesn’t make it easier. Possibilities include:

• 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

It’s never too early to think about who these people might be, so start a file for them no matter where you are in the publishing process.

It’s a numbers game

How many people should you contact?

The answer depends on how many endorsements you want. Determine a reasonable and realistic number, then multiply that goal number by three.

You want to contact plenty of people because some won’t respond while others will decline.

What if you have a high goal and you hit it? No problem! Add them to the “Editorial Reviews” section of your Amazon sales page and the book’s inside front pages.

And don’t be concerned about the opposite – a less-than-thrilling response to your request. You only need one really good testimonial for the front or back cover.

Worst case scenario

What if nobody says “yes” and you’re left without any blurbs, endorsements, or testimonials?

That’s okay.

You won’t get the extra juice that comes with an endorsement, but there are worse things that can happen to your book.

They include doing nothing to promote it. Your book deserves marketing support, with or without endorsements. Keep working to make sure the people you wrote it for know about it.

Get your questions answered

Not sure how to research potential blurbers or ask for an endorsement? My popular training program, “Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book,” includes everything you need to get the best book endorsement possible from important and respected people that your book’s readers like and admire.

Thanks to detailed instructions with examples, sample requests that worked, tracking files, and more, you’ll discover that getting a testimonial from people your readers respect is easier than you think! Learn more here.

Who’s your dream endorser? Tell us in a comment!