
A note to my friends at Writer Unboxed:
As a Type-A to-the-max sort of person, I prepared this essay weeks ago, when the world was different. Now, an essay about how to solicit praise for one’s book seems frivolous, irrelevant, and downright offensive—and yet I do want to offer it to you.
Rather than retracting the essay, I’ve decided to offer it in the hope that you will save it for when it may be useful.
Is there any writer who actually likes asking for blurbs? I suppose there is, but most of us wish we didn’t have to do it. We understand that it’s necessary—and we all like praise—but we cringe at having to ask for it. The challenge is how to do that sensitively and intelligently.
Let’s start with a few truths.
Truth #1: Endorsements matter. If we trust the person who recommends a product, especially when there are countless other options that could meet the same need, we’re much more likely to choose that particular shoe or car or coffee maker—or novel—from among the alternatives competing for our attention.
Truth #2: All blurbs aren’t necessarily equal. The question is whether a fantastic blurb (Best book I ever read) by someone relatively unknown is more or less “valuable” than a generic blurb (A well-crafted exploration) by someone famous. To a degree, it depends on an author’s goals; it may also be a matter of what’s realistically attainable. In general, the more authority the blurber is perceived to have, the more others are likely to be swayed by what she has to say.
Truth #3: Unless you’ve been pegged as a rising star by a major publisher who will get the blurbs for you, you have to ask—even if it’s terrifying.
Truth #4: Everyone agrees that it’s important to be polite, start early, make it easy for the person to say yes—and to thank the person afterward. Not just privately, but publicly. As Sonja Yoerg suggests in her 2017 essay: “When I have all my endorsements in hand, I publicly thank the author on Facebook. This post is not about the blurb (i.e. me and my book) but about the author and his or her generosity. As part of my thanks, I tout their most recent book.”
So far, so good.
I started to reflect on all the advice I’d read about securing blurbs and to wonder how well it mapped onto real experience. I thought about my own experience, and I asked other people.
Turning to myself, first, I was reminded of what I discovered, years ago, when my then-husband and I set out to adopt our first child. My thinking, when we started out, went something like this: “You, pregnant person, have something I want. What do I have to do to convince you to give me this thing I want?”
It didn’t take long for me to feel the absolute wrongness of that attitude. Since we were going to be adopting privately, it meant (back then) that potential birth mothers would see our ads and call a special phone number we’d set up. Reality quickly smacked me in the face when I spoke with the first woman who called.
She was a person. This wasn’t about being clever enough to impress and persuade her. We were two women, each in a situation we hadn’t expected and hadn’t chosen. Could we connect, trust each other, find our common humanity?
I think asking for blurbs is like that. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of a potential blurber and ask ourselves:
- Why would she want to this for me?
- What might prevent her from saying yes?
- What might inspire her to say yes?
Obviously it’s not a perfect analogy because, unlike a woman seeking an adoptive family for her child, a well-known author isn’t seeking manuscripts to endorse! However, many of these authors do, in fact, want to help new authors, just as they were helped when they were starting out. So if a Famous Author says she wishes she could help but is truly swamped right now—believe her. Thank her and let it go. “Following up” (i.e., pestering her) won’t bring a different answer. Trust me. I’ve tried it.
What works best—as with adoption—is to abandon the notion of oneself as a salesperson in favor of an appreciation of our common humanity.
Three principles can help.
First, remember that you’re asking someone you don’t know for a huge favor.
You have nothing to offer in return that would be an equivalent favor. Own that, without apologizing for it. Besides, the Famous Author already knows.
Acknowledge the favor you’re hoping for, without groveling. Let her know your time frame—and make sure you’re giving her a reasonable amount of time. Give her options: a PDF, a spiral-bound copy, an ARC, sample chapters plus a detailed synopsis. But do not suggest what she might write or say, “I’m sure you won’t have time to read the whole thing …” Let her decide.
Second, you’re asking a favor for you, specifically.
The Famous Author may have reasons for wanting to be generous—a wish to repay the help she received, a belief in giving new authors a boost—but why should your particular book be the focus of that generosity?
Do your homework. Explain what you love about her work (be specific) and why your believe yours might resonate with her. Follow her on social media, comment on her posts—long before you ask her to do something for you. Make her know that it’s her endorsement you would love, not just any endorsement by any Famous Author. As Sonja Yoerg points out, “Dare I say that if you are asking them to read your book, you should’ve read one of theirs? I’ve been approached for an endorsement by writers who didn’t appear to know my work at all!”
Third, you’re asking a favor of her, specifically, rather than some other Famous Author.
She needs to understand why you’re asking her and not someone else.
Find the fit. Find other books she’s blurbed. That way, you can explain why you think yours is “her kind of book.” Again, it shows that you’ve paid attention and demonstrates why her blurb, in particular, would be meaningful to you. It’s worth taking the time to craft a really good appeal, heartfelt and specific. As Katrin Schumann notes (https://grubstreet.org/blog/tips-on-getting-those-dreaded-blurbs-for-your-book/): “Even though I’m just a no-name person hitting him up for a favor he doesn’t even owe me, he agreed to read because he said it was the best request he’d ever received.”
… which brings us to the relationship between getting and giving.
I was curious to talk with people who had been on both ends of the process—who had asked for blurbs and also been the one asked. I wondered if their experience as the asker affected their experience later, when they were in the other chair.
It seemed to. People told me:
I found the whole process of asking so nerve-wracking, I told myself that I’d agree to blurb for anyone who asked me.
It’s been three years since I had to write my blurb requests for my debut novel, and I can still vividly recall how sick I felt over the process.
When I get blurb requests, I can’t help but remember how vulnerable you feel when you’re sending your work out like that, hoping for an endorsement, and how much you’re hoping to land blurbs that will both pop on the cover and seem unique.
That didn’t mean they always said yes. But when they said no, it was for a reason and with respect.
I did also get a request I wasn’t able to help with. Originally I said okay, but then I realized that the book was much too steamy for my brand. I wound up saying that I unfortunately couldn’t help. But I wrote her back, because I’ve had authors agree to blurb and then disappear. I didn’t want to do that to someone else.
I replied frankly that I wasn’t involved in that world anymore and giving my name to the poet’s work would probably not have the clout any writer needs to impress prospective readers. I hated doing it, having just received my own blurbs, but thought honesty was the best policy.
I only talked with a few people, none of whom were the sort of Famous Authors who receive dozens of requests each week. But their thoughtful, sympathetic responses indicate that that there’s a common cycle of anxiety, gratitude, and the wish to give back.
And then it was my turn.
Five weeks after the launch of my debut novel, I got my first request for a blurb from a writer a didn’t know, someone whose own debut was only a few months behind my own. My first response was incredulity. Me? My second response was fear. What if I said yes and got trapped into affixing my still-fragile name to something awful? What if I said no and incurred bad blurb-karma, especially I would soon be seeking blurbs for my second novel? How could I be less generous than the people who had taken a chance by blurbing me?
So I asked again, posing the question on a writers group I belong to. The responses were sensible and reassuring.
- Ask for sample pages, with an eye to seeing if there’s a resonance. It’s not about passing a judgment, but seeking a fit. If the fit isn’t there, it’s okay.
- It’s okay to say no. Feeling honored or wanting to pay it back doesn’t obligate you to say yes to every (or any) request.
- It’s better to say no than to string someone along.
As it happened, I ended up saying yes because the synopsis and first pages the author sent, as a sample, were fantastic. She was right: her book was a perfect fit for me.
That doesn’t mean I must always say yes; my colleagues taught me that. In fact, I got a second request only days later that I ended up declining. Partly, it was the timing. Partly, it was that resonance thing.
Now I too am on both sides of the blurbing line—a milestone that arrived much sooner than I expected. The experience brought me to Truth #5: You don’t have to be a Famous Author to help someone else.
What about you? Have you ever asked for a blurb? What was that like? Have you ever been asked?
About Barbara Linn Probst
Barbara’s (she/her) debut novel QUEEN OF THE OWLS (April 2020) was a medalist in popular fiction from the Independent Publishers Association, first runner-up for the Eric Hoffer Award, and short-listed for the $2500 Grand Prize. Her second novel THE SOUND BETWEEN THE NOTES launches in April 2021. Before switching to fiction, Barbara published a book for parents of quirky kids and more scholarly articles than she cares to remember. She has a PhD in Clinical Social Work and has been a therapist, teacher, researcher, and advocate. When not writing, she’s a serious amateur pianist. Learn more on her website.
Thanks as always, Barbara, for sound, actionable advice based not only on your opinion but others you polled. This is next on my agenda this summer and I’m not looking forward to it. But I realize it’s necessary. I’ll be keeping in mind the “fit” – it’s not just about whether my book fits with what the author might like, but also whether readers who enjoy their books would enjoy mine. That’s one of the reasons Famous Author might agree to blurb – to alert their fans to another author they might also want to read.
Thank you, Maggie. I’m so glad you found the essay useful. To have offered something “actionable” is the highest praise :-) And yes, it’s a web rather than a one-way or even a two-way connection. Amazon has figured that out when it suggests “people who liked X book might also like Y book.” Similarity, resonance, recommendations from trusted sources—it all goes into a reader’s decision about what book to pick up next.
Barbara,
This is well-presented information about how authors handle themselves and care for each other.
So I disagree with your headline note: “Now, an essay about how to solicit praise for one’s book seems frivolous, irrelevant, and downright offensive—and yet I do want to offer it to you.”
We are authors. We have much to offer. The world has not stopped needing what we bring. And blurbs are part of the process. And though I haven’t done the survey, I’ll bet many authors will be more happy than usual to be contacted, which as you say means being respected.
Thank you, Tom. Yes, I agree that the world has not stopped needing stories! Stories are, and have always been, a source of renewal, healing, and hope. I’m proud of the ones I am offering and, in fact, am in the process of soliciting blurbs for my second book … and yet there is an important context right now that I feel compelled to acknowledge, especially since I am a person of privilege. That said, I appreciate your bringing in another aspect of this enduring topic :-)
I am asked to review books fairly regularly, by writers I know locally. Only one has asked me for a blurb for her debut middle-grade novel, which I was happy to give. But the principle of giving a review to an author known to me is similar, I think. The problem comes if I don’t think it’s very good. I always warn my friends that I never give five stars to anyone I know, because Amazon finds that suspicious. (I have no idea if that’s true, but it saves some heartache.)
So I like your idea of sample pages, and will offer them when I ask other authors for blurbs.
Hi Gabi. I think you’re referring to writing a review on Amazon or Goodreads? It’s very useful that you bring that up, because I think there are three “levels” of written endorsement: a review on Amazon (where I will be one of many), a review on a personal blog (which will get buried in the archives after a month or so), and a “blurb” on the book cover (which is permanent and will be one of very few). All require, or imply, that the endorser actually spend the time reading the whole book, so they are related in that way. But to me the third level is a much bigger “ask” because it reflects back on the endorser. Such a tough question! And yes, sample pages can be very helpful and a time-saver for all :-)
Thank you for this informative article. I understand your hesitation regarding this topic and the current world climate and I agree that people need stories to entertain, distract, and encourage dialogue with each other. I am currently seeking blurbs for my second novel. It is a daunting process and I appreciate your words of advice.
Thanks,
Shawn Keller Cooper
Hi Shawn. I’m glad the article was useful to you! It is a daunting process, no matter what the context. After all, what could make one feel more vulnerable than asking someone, “Do you like what I made?” It’s like asking, “Am I good enough?” Of course, it’s not really that simplistic, but it can sure feel that way! And the second time doesn’t necessarily feel any easier :-)
I must admit I’ve never had the courage to ask anyone for a blurb. On the other hand, as a relative unknown (relative to almost anyone!) I’ve never been asked for a blurb either.
Maybe one day I’ll work up the courage.
Maybe with my next book…
Hi Deborah! You know, blurbs aren’t the be-all and end-all of why readers choose the books they choose! They are only one of the many elements that can contribute to the impression that this is a book one might be drawn to and find to be of value. Some readers rely entirely on personal recommendations and the description on the back cover. Others look to see if the book has won awards or been well-received in reader reviews. It’s not something you have to do if you don’t want to! I hope you will go forward in whatever way suits you :-)