By the time my first book was contracted, I had several endorsers willing to come on board. The same with my second novel.  Endorsements are an additional encouragement to readers that your book is well-written and worth reading.

Who should you ask for endorsements

Endorsements however lose value if it is your mother or any other family member. They need to be from other authors or people in the field you are writing about.  My second book has an endorsement from a women’s life coach, Darlene Larson. She helps wounded women begin afresh. My heroine Isabella is healing from an abusive marriage. Darlene’s endorsement was crucial.

I write for women, but I got male endorsements for both novels. That extra atta-girl from the male gender lets prospective readers know the storyline will appeal to men.

Where does one get endorsements?

I am going to assume you attend writers’ conferences, critique groups and other writing classes. You have found friends and kindred spirits in these places. I review lots of books for many authors as well.  I emailed a lot of these friends to get the half-dozen I have in each book. Many turned me down for various reasons: they were too busy at the moment or because of their affiliation with my publisher, they couldn’t.

Don’t be afraid to ask

It’s like getting published. If you never submit, you’ll never get a contract. If you never ask, you’ll never find yeses. The more you ask the more chances of getting more than one. Send out twenty or so requests, and if you get four you’re doing well. Be sure the twenty aren’t all best-selling strangers, but people you’ve spent time getting to know. Especially those who’ve read portions of your book or critiqued it. They will give you a glowing endorsement. Perhaps they can’t endorse but might be willing to do a review when it comes out. That’s golden.

Some authors ask busy people for endorsements by giving them three or four prewritten endorsements to choose from. I personally have never done this.  I won’t endorse something until I’ve read it. Prewritten endorsements are permissible in writing circles, if you can get more endorsers that way go for it. Some people want to read the synopsis and the back cover and then a bit of the book before they write an endorsement.

Be sure these are people who read your genre, have some credibility as an author or in their field of expertise before you ask them.

When do you ask?

As soon as you finish your book. You can tell them you’ll send a copy once it’s edited and you receive a contract. That way you can add who has agreed to endorse your book in the proposal. But after the contract is signed is also good.  You’ll have plenty of time before it is published to secure them. And your ARC copy will be available to send out once you get a yes.

Now, go forth and get endorsements.

Share what you do to get endorsements.

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