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.)

According to the website, the company’s mission “is to create the most personalized and authentic fan experiences in the world.”

You are probably seeing already how you might use celebrities for book promotion. Imagine a celebrity saying something positive about your book. It’s a fun and intriguing idea, isn’t it?

Who influences your ideal readers?

Before using it, though, give careful thought to the type of personality you hire to read your message. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who influences my target audience – my ideal readers?
• What well-known personality represents what I want to communicate about my book?
• Who might alienate my target audience?

If you don’t select just the right celeb to represent your work, you could harm both the book and your brand.

Be thoughtful about who you hire

Prolific author Laura Lippman (not her real name) used a CAMEO video to  promote one of her books online.The quasi-celeb she paid, and another she was considering hiring, are well-known in large part because of their polarizing personalities.

In an online discussion, an author noted that the celebrity Lippman paid, and the other she was thinking about hiring, could alienate potential readers.

It makes sense — imagine seeing a book promoted by a celebrity whose values are the opposite of yours. Would you be inclined to buy the book? Probably not.

And that was the unintended beauty of this author’s celebrity choices.

The people she thought best represented the book helped readers decide if they should read it. The outcome might have been the opposite of what she wanted, though, which is why it’s important to be thoughtful about who you hire to represent your book.

How to use CAMEO

Once you know which types of personalities will help, not harm, your book, search for them in the CAMEO database. (CAMEO refers to them as “talent.”) Search for a name, or scroll through categories ranging from actors and athletes to reality TV stars and YouTubers.

Each person’s fee for a personal video is in the upper right of the person’s head shot. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried charges $150; Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte’s fee is $100. Lesser-known influencers such as YouTuber Chris Dodd charge as little as $5.

Promotional videos can cost more. Learn more about promotional videos on the FAQ page. See who offers them in this list on the site.

Click on the headshot; on their profile page, select “book now” and fill out the form. CAMEO doesn’t charge your credit card until your video is done.

The personalities, I mean, “talent,” have seven days to do the job. If they don’t, your request expires and you aren’t charged.

The frequently asked questions page on the service website will answer most of your questions.

How to use your video

You can request a generic promotional video that says all the right things about your book and share it widely.

Or – and I think this would be really fun – you could use a pesonal video to thank your top fan or fans. Select your biggest fan (or two or three) and address your video to that person by name, thanking them for always supporting your books.

There’s lots of potential here. The videos are novel enough to get your audience’s attention.

Know your audience

Because of that, it’s important to be careful about who you hire. That individual has the potential to either delight or dismay your target readers.

The more you know about your target audience, the more likely you are to pick a winner. If you need help with that, our video training program, “Who Will Buy Your Book? How to Figure Out and Find Your Target Audience,” walks you through the process of learning as much as possible about your ideal readers.

Have fun exploring the possibilities with this unusual resource. And be sure to tell us if you give it a try!

What other ways would you use CAMEO to market your book? Please tell us in a comment!

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 my new, free, downloadable “Platform Building for Authors Cheat Sheet.”

In book publishing, “platform” is that built-in audience waiting to buy your book.

Think of it as the seat of a stool. You need at least three legs to hold up that stool, but the more you have, the more solid and strong that seat will be.

This free PDF download gives you 13 platform elements to consider as you build your stool author platform. Download your cheat sheet immediately!