5 reasons book endorsements and testimonials are essential for every author

Think twice before you decide not to pursue book endorsements and testimonials. Here are 5 reasons to make them part of your publishing plan.

You’re browsing in a bookstore or at the library and a book catches your eye.

You pick it up and study the front cover.

Then what do you do?

If you’re like most, you turn it over to read the book’s description on the back.

And you look on both covers for the “blurbs” – endorsements and testimonials – that reassure you the book is good.

Those reassuring blurbs

Similarly, when you’ve discovered a book on Amazon that looks interesting, what do you do after reading the description?

You might scroll down to look for those reassuring blurbs in the “Editorial Reviews” section or the Amazon A+ graphics.

You might even use the “read sample” feature to find them on the back cover or the first few inside pages.

Blurbs, endorsements, and testimonials defined

You’re looking for the social proof that the mainstream publishing industry calls “book blurbs.” These are testimonials and endorsements from people who influence target readers.

Soliciting “blurbs”* from influencers is part of the publishing process. It’s so established that agents and editors often want a book proposal to include who the author will contact about blurbing the proposed book.

*Not to be confused with the term many who offer self-publishing advice use for a book’s definition.

If pursuing book endorsements and testimonials is important for traditionally published books, it’s important for indie books, too.

If pursuing book endorsements and testimonials is important for traditionally published books, it’s important for indie books, too. Here are 5 reasons why.Click to tweet

5 reasons you want cover blurbs

Here are five reasons why.

1. Book endorsements and testimonials reassure readers.

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.

People who aren’t well-known, but have credentials that tell us they know what they’re talking about, do the same.

If you’re traditionally published, blurbs, endorsements, and testimonials can help get the publisher’s sales and marketing team excited about the book, too.

2. They’re one form of “social proof.”

Social proof refers to how other people influence our decision making. With marketing, it indicates that something is popular or that people agree with something.  

With books specifically, reader reviews are usually the social proof that that your book is a safe investment.

Endorsements are elevated reader reviews because they’re from:

• Other subject matter experts for nonfiction
• Authors who also publish in the book’s fiction genre

They’re concrete evidence from people who know more about the topic or genre than we do that we won’t be wasting our money if we buy the book.

3. Book endorsements and testimonials help build credibility and trust.

In everyday life, who we hang around with tells others quite a bit about us, doesn’t it? You might have heard the statement “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

Just the fact that you have blurbs – even just one – suggests that you know the “right” people for your book.

This reinforces your credibility as the book’s author. It also tells your ideal readers that they can trust you to instruct, enlighten, or entertain them.

via GIPHY

4. They help differentiate your book in a crowded market.

When I’m looking at similar books in a store or online, the dealbreaker for me is endorsements.

If it’s between Book A and Book B, and A has testimonials but B doesn’t, I’m buying the one with the testimonials.

Does it work that way with you, too?

Even if it’s just one blurb, that extra bit of information tells us that:

• The author is immersed in their genre or topic. They are well-placed enough to connect with influential people.
• The author understands traditional publishing norms. This is especially important with indie books. No matter what publishing path you use, I’m not spending my money on a book that doesn’t look and read like it made it past the quality checkpoints that are inherent in traditional publishing.

Book endorsements from influencers are concrete evidence from people who know more about the topic or genre than we do that we won’t be wasting our money if we buy the book.Click to tweet

5. They give you marketing muscle.

Because you secure blurbs, endorsements, and testimonials pre-publication, they help fuel the hype before your publication date.

Each time you receive an endorsement that’s going on the book cover, retail sales page, or inside front pages, you can share the endorsements in your newsletters and on social media.

You’ll add them to the Editorial Reviews and Amazon A+ Content on your sales page, too.

Just as importantly, though, you can leverage your endorsers’ influence.

When you send a copy of your finished book to endorsers with a sincere thank you note, you have the potential to expand your reach by gently encouraging them to share their recommendation with their networks. (Want to make it easy for them? Provide a shareable graphic with their quote.)  

It’s never too late to solicit book endorsements and testimonials

Is your book published? You might be thinking that you missed this opportunity to add a little extra gravitas to your book.

That’s not true.

Just as you can solicit reader reviews long after your book is published, you can pursue blurbs post-publication, too.

But what if you don’t want to?

That’s okay, too. The world won’t stop spinning if your book doesn’t have this influential form of social proof.

It does give you a competitive advantage, though. So, no matter where you are in the publishing cycle, consider soliciting book endorsements and testimonials.

They might be what spurs the purchase when it’s a choice between your book and the one that’s a little too similar for comfort.

Not sure how to get compelling cover blurbs? You’ll love my affordable, $39 multi-media program, “Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book.” The step-by-step instruction details how any author can get a dream endorsement with the right approach. Get the details here.

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What’s your best tip for getting book endorsements? Please tell us what has worked for you in a comment!