Soliciting an Editorial Review

Every now and then, Google offers up an article that is really relevant to my needs. For the most part, though, they offer bits about celebrities with whom I am not even familiar, or sports news. And of course there is the constant barrage of Covid-19 based articles.

But the other night, there was an article about editorial reviews. You know, those blurbs by famous people or institutions that appear on the covers of books. Sometimes they are on the inside and several pages long.

I don’t know how I thought those came about. Actually, I never really thought about it until the other night.

The author of the article said you should just ask for them. I was a bit stunned, to be honest. I’d never considered it. I thought you had to pay companies for that sort of thing. And we have very little money for that sort of thing. Just consider our lack of professional editing and proof reading as an example of the lack of such discretionary funds. Sigh.

Most sources agree that there are six basic steps: (But this list comes from selfpublishingadvice.org)

1. Decide Who You Want on Your Cover. It’s dream time! …
2. Find Those Who’ve Endorsed Similar Books. …
3. Identify Influencers Related to Your Genre, Book, Industry, or Subject. …
4. Get All Information Into a Spreadsheet. …
5. Write Your Template Email. …
6. Send Away!

Those people/institutions will either say yes or say no. What have you got to lose?

It was eye-opening.

The author (“From out of the Bex,” by Bex) of another article had some recommendations for how to put together a nice letter requesting the endorsement. It runs along like this

Paragraph 1 should include:

1. Why you’ve chosen this blogger [or author or institution] to review your work. What is it about this particular blogger that caught your interest? Be complementary yet sincere.
2. Your book title. Make sure you’ve hyperlinked the title to its listing on Amazon, Goodreads, or your publisher’s website.
3. Your book’s genre, publisher, and release date.
4. Any accolades your book has already received (optional).

Paragraph 2 should include:

A brief description of the book. And I mean brief! Don’t write an 800 word essay. Just give a clear, concise description of your work.

Paragraph 3 should include:

A clear outline of your request. Are you looking for a blog site review? Posts on instagram [Sic]? Inclusion in a youtube [Sic] video? Be as clear and definitive about your request as possible.

Your preferred timeline. When are you looking for posts to be made active? Around your release date? During a promotion you’re running? Be clear, but flexible.

Paragraph 4 should include:

A sincere thank you for their consideration. Thank them for their time and consideration. Remind them what it is about their unique book blog [or opinion] that makes your book a good fit.

Don’t forget to include an image! The modern world is driven by visual stimuli. Reviewers want to, quite literally, judge your book by it’s [Sic] cover.

There were some ideas about how to get the book to the intended endorser as well.

So, I’m putting together my list of authors. If even one of them says “yes” I’d be so thrilled. But I’m prepared for all of them to say “no.”

But you never know. It could happen.