The Right Endorsers to Promote Your Book

by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting

Endorsers can make a big difference for marketing a book, but too often authors lazily just ask other authors to endorse. Those authors tend to be busy promoting their own books so they can affirm your message but may not help promote it. Look beyond for real influencers who can impact sales.

Finding Credible Influencers

Know your readers and the issues in your book. find will help sales, influencers your audience relates to and who have the authority to endorse your book. This can begin with organizations that address the issues. The best people are ones who will boost sales and lend credibility to the book. Look at a few examples.

• For natural disasters look for relief organization leaders and first responders in the related disaster areas such as the Coast Guard in hurricane devastated areas.

• For various illnesses and disabilities look for medical experts, support groups, and organizations that provide information to patients.

• For historical based books find authorities in history including renowned professors and speakers, historic archeologists.

• For emotional trauma look for family counselors, professions who treat people suffering trauma, and pastors who also have experience responding to such situations.

• For peace, seek out law enforcement people, diplomats, and others who work toward peace.

• For Bible studies, archeology, and political activism, look for people in apologetics, theologians, and political leaders. These can be from both sides of the issue.

• Prominent people in the area or topic the book covers are also good candidates.

• Best-selling authors in the same genre can lend authority to your book.

• Check out who endorsed books similar to yours and seek them out.

• If you're an expert who helped people on the target of your book consider a few testimonials to use as endorsements. Successful customers add to the validity of your solutions.

• For fiction books, it does help to get endorsers from high profile authors in your genre as well as media reviewers. Also look for experts on issues within the book.

The above people are shakers and movers who tend to network well, have the authority to endorse a book, and will share the book with groups they think may benefit from it.

Ask Your Readers

Who do your readers trust and follow? Those people make great endorsers. Get to know them by following them and interacting with their posts.

Ask readers if they know someone who would make a good endorser and will they connect you to those people? Ask them if they are in a network that includes the person. A recommendation from a personal friend can make it easier to secure the endorsement.

Building these types of connections is vital to moving a book forward and making it more visible.

While you are developing connections make a list of your dream endorsers and ones you think would be great candidates. Ask people if they have a connection to anyone on your list.

Create an Endorser Package

Put together information about the book. If it is not completed and has no cover use the concepts in the proposal to describe the book, need for the material, and the benefits the book will provide.

Include a sample of the book, the table of contents, and as well as your bio and past experience as an author, speaker, and relationship to the topic. This will add authority to you as the author to help attract endorsers.

Create a letter and/or a short video to send possible endorsers along with the deadline for getting it to you. This should have the above information attached and include a note about why you are writing the book and how you hope readers will benefit from it.

When to Start Gathering Endorsers

As soon as you have a book concept and general idea of what you'll write, start creating a list of potential endorsers. Once you have the proposal you can approach some of the candidates, mainly ones you know personally. When you attend conferences, even lectures, be prepared to approach potential endorsers. A speaker or someone you meet may be part of an organization, a community or national leader, or someone else who would make a great influencer.

When you have a contract or a completed manuscript contact others on the list and start asking for the endorsements. Remember to thank the endorsers and put them on a list to receive a free copy.

Follow up with encouragement to send in the endorsement and an idea of the release date once you have it.

Make the Most of Endorsements

Choose the best for the front and back cover of the book. Use others inside the book, on your website, on a bookmark, social media posts, and your author pages online.

Reuse any endorsements in posts, advertising your speaking, and on your website.

Remember the endorsers when you write articles related to your book. They may be great to quote or interview for any articles, and that's a good way to show your appreciation. It also adds to the authority of the articles.

Thank Endorsers

Remember to thank each endorser. Also send a Christmas card or other greeting at some point if the book receives and award or does well. They like to know their name is associated with a success.

TWEETABLE

The Right Endorsers to Promote Your Book: tips from @KarenHWhiting on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Karen Whiting (WWW.KARENWHITING.COM) is an international speaker, former television host of Puppets on Parade, certified writing and marketing coach, and award-winning author of twenty-seven books for women, children, and families. Her newest book, The Gift of Bread: Recipes for the Heart and the Table reflects her passion for bread and growing up helping at her grandparent’s restaurant. Check out her newest book Growing a Mother’s Heart: Devotions of Faith, Hope, and Love from Mothers Past, Present, and Future. It's full of heartwarming and teary-eyed stories of moms.

Karen has a heart to grow tomorrow’s wholesome families today. She has written more than eight hundred articles for more than sixty publications and loves to let creativity splash over the pages of what she writes. She writes for Crosswalk. Connect with Karen on Twitter @KarenHWhiting Pinterest KarenWhiting FB KarenHWhiting.