Author Endorsements

I'd like to make a public admission: I hate asking other people for anything.

I know, I've talked about this on here before. Where it's okay to reach out to others, and the worst that can happen is they say no, and yada yada.

But here's the thing. I have super tough skin. In fact, I'm almost looking forward to my first 1-star review so I can wear it like a membership badge. I'm not at all concerned about feeling the pain of rejection if authors turn me down.

My reluctance comes from not wanting to be a pain in the arse. I realize just how busy authors are. There are no free minutes. At least not for any of the authors I know.

But I also know these truths:
1. Authors are generally nice people.
2. If someone asked me for a blurb, I'd be honored, and would accept if it worked in my schedule.
3. Authors are still readers. Not just because they like it, but because they need to stay up to date with the market, too.

Armed with these truths, I have set forth to solicit author blurbs. The good news is this has been a friendly blog for authors for quite a while. I did a quick scan of my archives and came up with a pretty nice list of authors I have featured right here.

Not all of them are a good match, and I think this is important for authors to recognize. Yes, there is something to be said for having a line from someone who has "author of X" after their name. It gives you instant credibility thanks to their status as an author. However, if none of the authors you quote are writing for your audience, these are not going to be the most helpful to you.

So, I'm not asking for blurbs from anyone I don't feel has an overlapping market with mine. We might not write in the exact same space, but I'm only asking for blurbs from authors whose audience is similar to my own.

But, there's no need to waste a good connection. For the authors who don't match my audience, I'm checking out their platforms to see if there is a way we can continue working together.

I'm also going to reach out to a handful of authors who I have not featured here, but that I know better than a casual hi on the internet (gulp). This makes me nervous, as some of these folks are big names. If they can't do it, I won't be hurt or offended, but if they can...Let's just say you will absolutely hear about it. :)

Now, a word on blurbs. For this first book, there won't be any mention of these blurbs on the actual book. Maybe if I adjust the ebook backmatter at some point I will add them in, but for now they won't be there. So what am I going to do with them? For now, these will go on my Amazon listing.

Did you know there is a place on Amazon for editorial reviews. This is where people add the nice things said by place like Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly. But I don't have those, because they cost money if you self-publish and I don't feel like that's a good use of my limited funds. But you can put anything you want there. So that's where I'll put author blurbs.

Like reviews, this is just one more piece of social validation that hopefully convinces readers that my book is worth their hard earned cash and time.