A book review is a literary criticism that expresses the reader’s opinion about the book’s content. It might be flattering; it might be unflattering.

An endorsement, also known as a book blurb or testimonial, is short, advance praise for your book from someone who influences your book’s target audience. They key word here is “praise.”

Two forms of book reviews

While endorsements are (nearly) always solicited, reviews aren’t always. They can happen organically when any random reader decides to critique your book.

Before Amazon, book reviews were written by professional reviewers — people whose job it is to read and critique books. Since Amazon initiated “customer reviews,” book reviews now come in two forms:

1. Professional media/editorial/literary/trade reviews (they go by many names)
2. Reader reviews

Professional reviews (media/editorial/literary/trade) are written by professional book reviewers. Their goal is to provide objective commentary that will help people decide if they want to read the book.

They can come from reviewers who work for publishing industry publications (such as Kirkus Reviews or Publisher’s Weekly), trade magazines, newspapers, or certain blogs or websites.

Publishers and authors solicit them in advance of publication for two reasons. First, so that they can pull excerpts to use as blurbs. And second, so that the reviews will be published around the time the book is released.

You solicit them from monthly, printed publications three to four months in advance of publication date. Newspapers, bloggers, online publications, and websites have shorter lead times, so you can contact them closer to your release date.

Reader reviews are exactly that — reviews from your book’s target audience. They’re reviews from the people you wrote the book for.

You can secure them before publication by giving away pre-publication review copies. Unlike literary reviews and blurbs, however, they can’t be posted on your Amazon sales page until the book’s publication date.

Still, if you’ve got a well-organized review campaign in place, it’s possible to get honest reviews posted and shared on or near your publication date so that people see honest reader feedback as soon as they visit the book’s sales page.

Book endorsements

Endorsements/blurbs/testimonials are secured pre-publication so that they can be featured:

• On the book’s front or back cover
• Inside the front pages
• On the book’s Amazon and other retail sales pages in the “Editorial Reviews” sections
• In your book’s Amazon A+ Content on your detail page
• In your marketing materials
• On your website

They might be from media/editorial/literary/trade reviewers, but more often than not, they’re from influential people in your book’s niche or category. The people you ask for a blurb are those your target readers like, trust, and respect.

You control endorsement visibility

You (or your publisher) control whether endorsements are or aren’t used and seen.

The expectation is that any influencer who takes the time to endorse your book will truly endorse it by saying something positive. If you get negative feedback from an endorser, you might be able to learn from the comments, but you won’t use any of them publicly.

That said, a professional reviewer — as opposed to an influencer — can write and publish a less-than-flattering review. If that happens, you simply won’t pull an excerpt from that for your book marketing.

Endorsements in action

How will you use endorsements or excerpts from early reviews? Here are three ways a publisher of a thriller I just read (and loved), 56 Days, is using early endorsements from both professional reviewers and influencers.

Back cover

Editorial Reviews (click on the image to enlarge it)

Amazon A+ Content

Why should you care?

via GIPHY

Blurbs/endorsements/testimonials from influential people give your book credibility while reassuring your target audience that the book will deliver on its promise.

Honest reviews, whether they’re from media outlets or readers, help readers decide if your book is what they’re looking for in fiction or nonfiction. Even negative reviews are important, since what one reader didn’t like about your book might be exactly what another reader is looking for.

Make sure you’ve got strategies for soliciting both reviews and endorsements in your book marketing plan. They’re essential to your book’s long-term and ongoing success.

Resources that will help

Need help? I have two resources for you. The Build Book Buzz multi-media training program, “Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book,” provides everything you need to secure pre-publication blurbs from influential individuals.

And, my Reader Book Review Forms — one each for fiction and nonfiction — help you get more reader reviews by taking the mystery out of the review-writing process for your fans.

It’s important to note that you can always solicit both endorsements and reviews. Work with your publisher (or do it yourself if you’re self-published) to update your Editorial Reviews section and cover as you acquire more endorsements.

You can never have too many reader reviews, too, so continue to pursue them as much as you can.

What’s keeping you from going after an endorsement from your dream book blurber? Tell us why you haven’t done it yet, and maybe we can get you past the obstacles. 

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

COVID-19’s impact on most industries is stunning. On the book publishing side, publishers have furloughed or laid off staff. Printers have struggled to print and ship books according to pre-COVID timelines. Authors who rely on in-person promotion had to re-think their book marketing strategies.

And yet, as an author, you’ve kept moving forward, haven’t you?

I have, too. This past year, I’ve published dozens of book marketing articles designed to help you rise above the chaos and confusion so you continue to sell books.

Which Build Book Buzz articles made the most difference for you? Here are your favorite book marketing articles according to blog traffic reports.

1. 2020 literary calendar with 122 occasions for book fans

This month-by-month list of occasions that celebrate all things books during the year we’re leaving behind makes it easy to find opportunities you can work into your book marketing plans. It includes information on how to use the 122 special days and holidays for year-round book marketing.

2. Book cover re-designs: A pro offers 7 before and after examples

This guest post by cover designer Alexander von Ness explains the thought process behind makeovers of seven fiction and nonfiction book covers. Each example includes the original cover and Alexander’s redesigned version, along with a link to a more detailed examination on his site.

3. “I wish I had known that before I self-published.” 25 authors share what they’ve learned

I asked self-published authors, “What do you know now about self-publishing that you wish you had known when you started?” This article showcases their responses on everything from where to learn what you need to know to whether you should publish on Amazon exclusively and the importance of a book marketing plan.

4. TikTok demographics for authors

TikTok was the fastest growing social network in 2019. This 2020 article digs into the video platform’s demographics so you can see if it’s a good fit for your target readers.

5. 3 Amazon secrets every author needs to know

In this guest post, book marketer Rob Eagar explains how to use Amazon’s power to your advantage. He presents three little-known Amazon secrets that can make a big difference, including how to use the platform to build your author email list.

6. The shy author’s guide to book promotion

While some authors embrace book marketing and promotion with enthusiasm, many just wish it would go away. In this article, I detail five “I can’t do this” obstacles I see the most from shy authors. It includes ideas for getting around them.

7. 2021 literary calendar with 137 occasions for book lovers

This December update to the popular 2020 list published last January takes things up a notch with more holidays and a “download and save this calendar” option designed to make it even more useful.

8. Trade book reviews: Behind the scenes with a professional reviewer

Rose Fox, director of BookLife Reviews, Publishers Weekly‘s paid review service for indie authors, explains trade reviews (also known as media and literary reviews) and how to get them. She walks us through exactly what happens on the publication review side. She also explains why getting a book reviewed can take a lot longer than you’d think.

9. How to get awesome book cover blurbs

Many self-published authors refer to their book description as a blurb, but the publishing industry uses that word for pre-publication endorsements and testimonials. This article addresses who to approach for endorsements and presents nine steps for snagging blurbs your mother would be proud of.

10. 4 steps to new book marketing habits

This article breaks down the habit-making recommendations of B.J. Fogg, author of Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything. It’s a must-read if you’re serious about improving your life by replacing habits that don’t work for you anymore with those that will do the job.

I was happy to see that three of the top 10 book marketing articles here were written by guest bloggers.

It’s a reminder that guest blogging in reverse — bringing top authorities and experts to your site instead of going to theirs — helps provide your readers with useful content that matters to them.

Help me create content that will hit the top 10 list next year! Please add a comment telling me what you’d like to learn more about in 2021.

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month, it’s Blogging Bistro’s 2021 Content Calendar Template.

People use content calendars to plan their blog posts and social media posts in advance. They help you become more thoughtful and organized, with the end result being a more consistent and strategic social media presence.

I love this particular calendar because it’s a Word document, not a PDF file, so you can type in it. You can even change the theme colors to reflect your author branding.

It’s the perfect companion to my popular 2021 Literary Calendar (and be sure to download the PDF version of that, too, here). Laura Christianson, the calendar’s creator, even linked to that list and pre-loaded the calendar with some of its writerly occasions.

I’ve downloaded the 2021 Content Calendar Template and have started adding the literary holidays that I’d like to promote in coming months. Give it a try yourself.

Then what do you do?

If you’re like most, you turn it over to read the book’s description on the back and look for the cover blurbs.

Similarly, when you’ve discovered a book on Amazon that looks interesting, what do you do after reading the description? You probably scroll down to see if there are any blurbs – testimonials – offered under “Editorial Reviews.” You might even use the “inside the book” feature to find them on the back cover or the first few inside pages.

Cover blurbs reassure readers

Cover blurbs – testimonials and endorsements – from relevant, influential, or important people tell us that the book we’re thinking about buying is a safe purchase. Favorable comments from people we already trust tell us the book is a low-risk investment.

They reassure us.

Testimonials from  people who are well-known and respected in the field or genre can clinch the sale for someone who’s not sure if your book is what they need.

If you’re traditionally published, they can also help get the publisher’s sales and marketing team excited about the book.

What happens if you don’t have one?

Does this mean that a printed back cover without these glowing recommendations will hurt book sales? Or that an e-book without one on the cover is sunk?

Nope.

Without comments from others, you’ve got more room on that back cover of a printed book for the description. That’s not a bad thing.

Your best combination, though, is a compelling book description plus one, two, or three pithy testimonials about the value your book brings to the reader. You want that book buyer to think that yours is the book that will help them experience the promise of your book. That promise might be fiction’s  entertainment or escapism or nonfiction’s discovery and learning.

How to get them

Cover blurbs are essentially what marketers refer to as “social proof.” They tell us that someone has read the book and liked it.

Isn’t that a message you want to send to readers?

If you need to learn how to get compelling cover blurbs, you’ll want to enroll in my online course, “Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book.” It will show you how even an unknown author can get a dream endorsement with the right approach. Get all course details here.

Do you have a question about how to find and reach the right “blurbers?” Leave them here.