Tag: self publishing

How to Ask Someone to Review or Blurb Your Book

Every self-publisher or indie author dreams of getting an amazing review or blurb that will sell your book. Maybe it’s an endorsement from a famous author you admire or a positive review on a website or in a publication in your field. Something like that brings visibility to your book and can help it spread by word of mouth! But how do you get Stephen King, Stephen Colbert, or the Sci-fi Toronto Expert Virtual Electronic Network to write a blurb? First, you have to have a quality book, both in content and presentation. If you’re sure your book is worthy of a big endorsement, then the next step is to ask. In this post, I’ll discuss the basic principles for writing a successful pitch letter to get reviews or blurbs and share a template of a sample letter for reviews you can use.

I have gotten endorsements from all sorts of influential people for my books and I have a simple method that has worked very well. First and foremost, you need to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Would you like to receive a book in the mail by surprise and a demand to read and review it on a deadline? Me neither. Even if it’s an ebook, it still feels pushy to send it on without reaching out first. So the first rule of getting good blurbs and endorsements for your book is: Never send your book without writing first.

The second rule is to show why you are writing this person. What makes you think this person is interested in reading and endorsing your book? If you’re just writing to a bunch of famous people, then that’s not much motivation for them to take their valuable time to help you out and all they get back is a free book. And remember that celebrities and influencers receive a ton of requests to endorse things. You have to make your request personal and targeted.

In the same vein, give the endorser an out. You are asking someone to take their time to read your book (or at least skim it) and write a short blurb for you. They have other things they could be doing. Or they may not like your book. They may not want to endorse it, for a variety of reasons. Some public figures have blanket policies that they never endorse anything. It never hurts to acknowledge that. Start by asking them to take a look at the book first and thinking about endorsing it. You can’t ask them to endorse it out of the gate. Thank them in advance for their time. No one likes having more demands on their time and energy, particularly when it comes from a stranger.

Finally, talk about your book and what is so good about it, but avoid the hype. You need to sell your book to the person you are writing. Talk about what’s special or interesting or unique about it. Talk about why you wrote this book and any expertise you might have. This is a marketing effort. But avoid hyperbole and overstatement. This is something that applies to any marketing effort—saying your book is the only one on the market, or better than anything ever written is going to come off as phony. Clearly and realistically explain why this person should read and endorse your book, and make sure it’s targeted to the interests of the person you are writing (See rule #2).

Look at this influential book blogger or subject expert reading your book and getting read to blurb it!

Sample Letter for Reviews

Here’s my sample letter that I use to write people to ask for reviews or blurbs. I’ve interspersed the letter with notes to help you understand the approach. Remember that for the first contact, do not send your book along. This is a cold call, so keep it as light and unimposing as possible!

Dear Professor Burns

I am a big fan of your blog on teaching academic writing with the genre-based method. Your post on analyzing source materials was very helpful and I frequently use it with my students.

I open the letter by making it clear that I am writing to them personally and I am familiar with their work. I am also bringing up something that connects to my book, which I will mention in the next paragraph.

I’m writing because I am publishing an academic writing book this year that uses a simplified version of the genre-based method for high-school students and I hoped you might take a look with an eye to writing a short blurb or review. As you know, most of the books in the US are aimed at college or graduate students. High school students aren’t required to write at the same complexity and don’t have the same access to sample texts, so I’ve created a shorter more manageable process for writing in the genre method. I’ve been using this method for five years and it’s improved my students’ writing immeasurably. It’s very highly influenced by your work so I thought it might be something you would be interested in seeing and potentially endorsing

I tell them exactly what I want, asking them to take a look first and maybe endorse it. I also make it clear why I think they might be interested in reading it. Note that experts in an area are often interested in knowing what else is out there, so they are more likely to say they will take a look. Also note that even if they don’t endorse the book, getting it into their hands might lead to them showing it to someone else doing something similar. You never know where things may go. 

I know that you are extremely busy and no doubt inundated by requests of this kind. However, I would be pleased if you did take a look and see if they were something you would be interested in endorsing. In fact, we’d be grateful for any feedback, good or bad, from you.

I acknowledge that they are busy and that they may not want to endorse the book.

I’m happy to send a electronic copy of the plays now or a proper printed paperback once the books are published. That way you can see if it’s a good fit or not.

I really prefer to send an ebook because it’s cheaper and faster. So I will tend to offer that first. But if they ask for a print copy, send it! And be sure to send them a print copy once the book is published, with a nice thank you note! First, it’s a nice way to say thanks and second, there’s always a chance they will do something with it later on, or show it to someone and you might make other connections that way,.

Hope that was helpful. Feel free to leave any questions, comments, or your strategies for getting blurbs in the comments!

Should You Hire an Editor for Your Self-Published Book?

One of the biggest debates in the self-publishing world these days is: do self-publishers really need editors? The answer is yes, yes, and yes. You need an editor, or rather you need editing services. There are (basically) 3  kinds of editing and you need to go through all three steps. However, you may or may not need a professional editor for all three! So why do so many self-publishers think they don’t need an editor?

One of the main motivations for self-publishing is keeping creative control, as I mentioned an earlier post in my  series on how to self-publish teaching materials. That means self-publishers sometimes avoid editors. They may view the editing process as a loss of control, with editors are imposing their will on the writer. In fact, a lot of self-publishers in this group are trying to avoid conventional or mainstream approaches, and may feel (rightly or wrongly) that the editor is obstructing that vision.

amazed students or people looking at a book
These are your readers when they see that typo that you missed because you didn’t edit!

I think it helps to remember that editors are there to make the work better. Editors do have a different point of view, but it never hurts to consider other ideas and perspectives. It is true that editors may well have a more conventional point of view, but then your readers and customers may also be more conventional. It’s not giving up creative control to get advice from professionals who have worked with a lot of teaching materials. Finally, one of the joys of being a self-publisher is that the editor works for you. So if you really don’t agree with their suggestions, you don’t have to take them.

 

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Self Publishing Books for Teachers: Everything to Know

I’m working on a series of posts on everything you need to know about self publishing. My experience is in education so much of what I write will be best for teachers or non-fiction. However, self publishing is self publishing and a book is a book, so there should be something here for every author. I’m covering  resources you need and where to get them. What can you do yourself and what are the advantages of hiring a professional editor or book designer? What should you expect when hiring a professional and how can you spot scams? Do you need a self publishing services company?

I also talk about topics that first time self-publishers may not be familiar with such as meta-data and ISBNs. I also discuss copyright issues for indie publishers. And I discuss where to sell your book, with a focus on print-on-demand services like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, IngramSpark from Ingram Content Group and more.

I’m hoping to turn this into a comprehensive guide for all educators looking to self-publish, so feel free to leave comments with your own advice. Or send in questions in comments or by email and let me know what else you’d like to learn about.

Posts about Self-Publishing

Reviews of Author Tools

We are available as publishing consultants to demystify the publishing process and provide quality services at an affordable price. We can help you at any point in your publishing career: refining an idea, editing, book design, cover design, distribution, marketing, sales accounting, and more. Check out our design portfolio or get in touch to let us know how we might help you.

Getting Ideas for Educational Materials to Publish

As a publishing consultant and editor, I am constantly asked how to self-publish teaching materials. How do you self-publish? What content should I self-publish? Self-publishing in English Language Teaching has been around for a surprisingly long time and is still going strong. For that reason, I’m going to publish this series of articles on self-publishing materials for teachers and educators, starting with what kinds of teaching materials work well for self-publishing.

A moody looking man with long curly hair, staring into space as if thinking, while holding a pen to a piece of parchment paper.
What I think I look like when I’m working

There are a lot of things to think about and it can be quite daunting. But it can also be a fun and exciting journey! I recommend every first-time authors get some help, whether it be paid professionals, joining an authors group, and/or reading as many books and blog posts as you can on how to self-publish teaching materials, starting with this one, perhaps!

What to Self-Publish?

So let’s talk about what kind of content works well for self-publishing. And it’s actually simple to articulate: (more…)