Author Blurbs: Do They Matter?
An author review quote is often perceived as the holy grail of cover candy - second in line to a bestseller label or that coveted Oprah or Reese book club seal. But do author blurbs really matter? And how would you go about getting one?
Do author blurbs help you sell books?
Author review blurbs are fancy… but do they actually sway the reader to purchase a book?
I asked 500 readers if an author blurb ever sways them to buy a book. 81% of them said no.
Here is some of their more detailed feedback:
“Most of the time I honestly don’t even notice them.” Linda D
“It doesn’t necessarily sway me to see a quote on the cover of a book but if an author I know and love recommends a book and I see it on social media or in a group then yes I will add it to my TBR list.” Samantha L
“The combination of the book description and reviews definitely sway me sometimes. Author reviews on their own, not so much.” Jacqueline S
“Nope, I pretty much ignore them. It always seems likes friends supporting friends.” Sara K
Here’s my takeaway - if your time/energy is low, I wouldn’t waste my time trying to get an author review quote. I’d focus that energy instead on courting book bloggers, who are in the business of reading/reviewing, and who are pretty much guaranteed to promote the book at release, and at key moments in the future. My list of tips below are applicable to book bloggers as well as authors.
Now, if you’re still interested in having your favorite authors read your novel, keep reading.
How do you get author blurbs?
There’s no easy shortcut to collecting blurbs. It requires individual emails to authors, asking/begging for them to read and review your book. It’s not a simple request. It can take an author 4-8 hours to read a book, and most of us didn’t have time to brush our teeth this morning. That being said, there are some things you can do to increase your likelihood of receiving a blurb quote.
Reach out early. Ideally, you’d give an author at least a month to read your book.
Cast a WIDE net. I’d suggest reaching out to 20 high-profile authors, 20 mid-level authors, and 20 lesser-known authors.
Attach the ebook file to the email. It’s offensive to request that an author to purchase your book and I wouldn’t ask them to add you to their approved list and send it to their e-reader. These are reputable authors and aren’t going to steal your manuscript or upload it to a piracy site. Convert your manuscript to an epub or mobi file (I like to have both) and attach it directly to the email, so they can access and read it as easily as possible.
Offer to mail them a paperback. This is a nice gesture, and comes with an added bonus - they’re much more likely to post on social media if they have a paperback handy. And hey - a social media shoutout is just as good (sometimes better) than a review blurb.
Include everything they need to make their decision in your email. The goal is to make things easy for them!
Don’t be afraid to follow up. Send an initial request, then follow up five days later if they haven’t responded. If they don’t respond after two emails, I’d cross them off the list. If they accept, send a polite reminder one week prior to your deadline, in case they haven’t started the book yet. Then follow up again on the final day.
Give them some helpful hints. In your follow-up and reminder emails, it’s nice to help them along and give them some snackable content they can use for inspiration. You can include a list of review snippets from bloggers that you already have, or provide some keywords they can use in their blurb.
Send a follow-up “thank you” on release day. This will serve two purposes. It is a nice gesture, and also might trigger them to post about your release. Don’t ask them to share the release, but thank them for taking the time to read and blurb it, and say how proud you are of their review quote. Some authors send a thank you gift (a small Starbucks gift card or a signed copy of the book), but that’s certainly not expected, so don’t stress if it’s out of your budget.
No matter which path you take, don’t get discouraged if you don’t get any takers or only hear crickets when you send out your queries. Authors are busy and disorganized and can’t fold a fitted sheet, much less answer an email (okay, maybe that’s just me).
If you have any tips I haven’t shared, or an opinion on whether author blurbs move the sales needle - please chime into the comments section below. I’d love to hear from you.
Want more book marketing advice? Check out my online course: A Fearless Way to Sell More Novels. Available now.
