Get an Endorsement!
There are millions and millions of books for readers to choose from. Many times, they will stick with authors they know and like rather than risking wasting their money and time on an author they may not like. To help the convince the reader that your book is worthy of their money and time, you need an endorsement.
An endorsement is positive statement written about your book and/or you as the author. It is a way for readers to connect the reputation of the endorser to you, the endorsee. The idea is, "Well if Mr. X really likes the book, and I really like Mr. X, then by association, I will really like this book he endorsed!".
Works like a charm.
Choose Your Endorser Wisely
An endorsement is not a testimonial. A testimonial is usually associated with an average reader, or, if possible, your ideal readers. An endorsement has it's power by the status of the person behind it. This is why who you choose is very important.
For example, if writing a book on professional golf, Tiger Woods would be a great person to endorse the book. However, if writing a book on family values,... not so much.
You want to make sure this person will not take your book down. The endorsee has a much greater connection to the endorser. That is, using the example above, if you as the author end up in prison, Tiger's reputation really won't that tarnished, but if Tiger starts to really suck at golf, your golf book will start to really suck as well.
How to Get a Great Endorsement
For my first book, Year To Success, I went through the expense of printing 1000 initial copies, just so I could send out a professional-looking book to those from whom I was seeking endorsements. Of course, today that is not necessary -- with the advent of print on demand. I chose about 10 people would be ideal. I wrote an individual letter to each person, stroking their ego a bit saying how much they influenced me and my book (which was all 100% true). While I don't have the letters still, I can give you an example of these letters.
Dear Ms. Idol,
I wanted to start out by thanking you for being such a great inspiration to me and millions of others. Your accomplishments have pushed me to realize that I can do much more than I have been doing. This idea has led me to great success as well. Thank you.
I wrote a book detailing my journey in hopes that I can help other as you have helped me. I would be honored if you can take a look at it, and if you feel it is something that will help others, write a brief endorsement for the book. This would really help get this message out to as many people as possible.
The endorsement can be sent to my e-mail address above or mailed to my physical address below.
Once again, thank you for all you do!
All the Best,
Bo Bennett
There you have it. Simple, brief, and a definite call to action. Unlike most letters, I choose not to start off with the call to action, but the stroke of the ego. This is one of those exceptions to the old rule.
Does it work? It does for me. My book on success is endorsed by Mr. Donald Trump.
What to Do with the Endorsement
Once you have the endorsement, and you believe that it really will help with your credibility and the credibility of your book, then you need to decide where you want the endorsement to appear. Here are some options:
- Your front cover. If the endorsement is brief and powerful, put it on the front cover!
- Your back cover. If the endorsement is longer, it may work better on the back cover.
- An endorsement page. If you have many powerful, and perhaps longer, endorsements, create a page at the beginning of your book specifically for those endorsements.
- PR kit
- Press Release
- Introductory letters
- Letters to bookstore owners
The bottom line, use the endorsement as often as you need to and don't be shy with it. Someone that you admire has taken the time to say something nice about your book -- be proud.