If I were to ask published authors here for a book blurb, where would I post?

You could start a thread asking people to give you the help you require. But please don't start sending PMs to our members asking them to do you this huge favour: that would be spamming them, and it's not appropriate.

What is the protocol with this? Do you offer to give someone the book and say "if you like it I'd love a blurb but no pressure if you don't like it enough?" Is that what you say? I have been too shy to do this with people I know though oddly I asked someone I didn't know when I needed quotes for the inside of my print book as my publisher wanted me to get some.

When I did it I approached authors I admired personally through their contact form, really politely. Plenty didn't respond and that was fine. But I ended up getting a few through, including Malinda Lo and Robin Hobb. Others were friends who were also authors.

When people approach me they have to be in a similar-ish genre, and ideally I'll know them at least a little through social media. I tell them what date I'll get back to them with a blurb. If I don't make that date, it means I didn't have the time, or I didn't feel comfortable for whatever reason.

My requests followed this sort of format:

Dear [author name],

I hope you don't mind me dropping you a line, but I was wondering if I could ask a favour.

[Bit about who my publisher is, when I signed, etc]

[short pitch:] Pantomime is a YA fantasy. It’s about a daughter of a noble family, Gene, who doesn’t fit into a life of tea parties, corsets, and crinoline. After discovering secrets about her past, she runs away and joins R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic as a boy named Micah Grey, but the past refuses to stay in the past. Micah/Gene was born both male and female, with neither gender fitting completely. I also have several other GLBTQ characters in my book.

[why I approached them specifically - read and liked their book, follow their blogs on X subject, etc]. I understand you have many calls on your time, but if you could fit reading Pantomime into your busy schedule, I would be so honoured.

I've included a few links before for more information if you're interested.

[links to press release and the product page]

Thanks for your time and consideration, and please let me know.

Kindest regards,

Laura Lam

I've only ever asked people who I already know a bit, mostly through twitter. I ask people who write in a similar genre and I tell them why I've asked them specifically. For instance, for my book featuring a French footballer, I asked Laura Florand whose books almost all have French heroes. I explain when I would need the quote, how long the book is and ask if they would be willing and able to help. I think everyone I've asked has agreed to do it, which has been amazing.

It's usually the publisher's job to collect cover-quotes prior to publication.

Many authors are wary of reading unpublished books sent to them by writers, rather than publishers, because there have been instances where the writers of those unpublished books later made plagiarism claims against the authors who had agreed to read their unpublished books--most of which turned out to be completely unsubstantiated.

For someone who was a solid part of the AW community, with lots of friends here, I can see asking for help here working. But for a new member, with very few posts and little involvement in the community, I suspect that such a request isn't going to receive much attention. It takes a lot of time to read and review a book, and it's a big favour to ask of anyone: why would someone do it for a stranger, when there are real risks involved?

I don't know if blurbs really help sales for new authors. What you could do is publish your book, wait until you get some reviews, and then ask the reviewers for permission to use excerpts as blurbs.

WriterBN said:

I don't know if blurbs really help sales for new authors. What you could do is publish your book, wait until you get some reviews, and then ask the reviewers for permission to use excerpts as blurbs.

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This is probably what I would do also.

Lauralam, I really like your example letter!

WriterBN said:

I don't know if blurbs really help sales for new authors.

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The most useful thing, though you can't make it happen, is if one of your blurbers likes the book well enough to start telling other people about it. I had that happen once and it was great. Because she's a much more well-known author than I am, it was a fabulous way to reach a lot of authors who might otherwise never have tried my book. So I would definitely say it's worth asking, just in case you strike that sort of gold. But think hard about who to ask and why, and don't try a scattergun approach.

girlyswot said:

The most useful thing, though you can't make it happen, is if one of your blurbers likes the book well enough to start telling other people about it.

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Seconded. It's great when it happens--free publicity! But, on average, I haven't really seen a correlation between blurbs and sales.