Need endorsements for nonfiction any advice?

I just have the worse time asking people for endorsements.
Reviews yes, but not endorsements. Any suggestions? Any contacts?

“The Making of a Bestseller:
Success Stories from Authors and the
Editors, Agents, Booksellers Behind Them”
By Brian Hill and Dee Power
Dearborn Trade Publishing, ISBN 0793193087
Trade Paperback, $19.95 March 1, 2005

“The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories From Authors,
Editors, Agents and the Booksellers Behind Them.” The
exciting journey to the top of the bestseller lists, as
seen through the eyes of celebrated authors, editors and
literary agents. While there are many books on how to write,
publish, or market a book, there hasn't been a book that
pulls together a comprehensive look at the entire publishing
process from the bestseller prospective. “The Making of a
Bestseller” provides a positive, but realistic look at the
publishing industry and how bestsellers are born. Who better
to tell the story than those who are involved at the very
frontlines of publishing?

Fifty eight authors, publishers, editors, agents, book
reviewers and experts were interviewed and their insights
interwoven throughout the book. One might think of “The
Making of a Bestseller” as a giant panel discussion
(fortunately not everyone talks at once). When the reader
finishes this book, he or she will really understand what
separates a bestselling book from all the others that are
published. Avid readers of fiction and nonfiction will find
fascinating stories behind some of their favorite authors'
works.

Thanks for any help.

Dee

www.BrianHillandDeePower.com

Hi Dee,

Here's a link to a radio show where an author discusses endoresments at length.

www.worldtalkradio.com/ar...sp?aid=185

Good Luck!

:thumbs

Wow!

Wow, Dee. I can't help you because I've only ever gotten endorsements from fellow mag writers, but I do want to read your book when it comes out! Congrats!

--
The Renegade Writer: www.renegadewriter.com

Re: Wow!

Hi Dee,
I generally have a lot of luck getting endorsements out of people, ususally because I always ask our authors to give me a list of potential (relevant) endorsers--it's surprising how many people know people who know people. Have you solicited names from any of the people in your book? I'm thinking that a lot of the editors will have friends at other publishing houses or magazines that would be willing to take a look if they have been referred by someone else.

I would definitely go with editors at publishing houses and a couple of "best selling" authors--and I bet some of the people in your book have contacts you can use.

good luck!
Lauri

Thanks

For the good advice.

Dee
www.BrianHillAndDeePower.com

Dee,

I would suggest you "aim high" and contact people who would be on your wish list of endorsers. Compile a list of top-name authors, editors, agents, etc. You may also want to try authors of similar books to yours. If you wanted to be really bold, you could even create a list of possible quotes they could check off or write in their own.

Don't be afraid to ask for endorsements. After all, the people you get to endorse your book have the benefit of keeping their name circulating in the public eye--always a good publicity tool.

Good luck!
Lauren Hidden
The Hidden Helper
www.hiddenhelper.com

endorsements

As far as endorsements; I think it's much better for the author to send out multiple queries to as many sources as possible--kind of a shotgun approach. Then you can pick what you like from whomever. I had a nasty, expensive experience with my second non-fic book. The publisher took it upon himself to solicit Ralph Nader to do the book forward and the fee was $2000.00.
That money wast to be taken from my advance. A month later the publisher informed me that Ralph changed his mind and now wanted twice that amount.
This was supposedly a clerical error made by his Representative. So I lost $4000.00 in the deal, or more to the point, most of my advance. This happened after the galleys were finished. Just be polite in your query, you're sure to get some response.

Re: endorsements

I'm not sure what kind of publisher you're dealing with, but it's not ethical to charge the author for acquiring endorsement quotes. It's part of a publisher's job to solicit quotes for its books. While it's very important for the author to participate in the book promotion process, publishers don't charge them to promote the book. I've never heard of a publisher charging an author for an endorsement. With whom did you publish?

Re: endorsements

The Publisher was PRICE STERN & SLOAN, Los Angeles,
who has since been gobbled up by the Penguin Group. My,
editor and marketing director told me (in person no less) that
Nadar charged endorsement fees because he was a "High
Profile Celebrity." And he also had to read the book all they way through before he would put his stamp on it. I asked if this was really neccessary to sell the book and they assured me that it would make all the difference in the world.
What really irritated me was when the endorsement fee was doubled--let's say I was infurriated!
The sales results, which I discovered later, were nothing spectacular, in fact, they were norm for a quality trade, midlist title.
Although rare, it's not uncommon for a high profile celeb: actors, literary giants, politicians (especially) to require an endorsement fee. Sometimes these fees are enourmous.
And the Publisher ALWAYS deals with the manager/agent of the celeb (hense their desire to get a percentage fee from the contract.) Since Ralph Nader was a Washington D.C consumer advocate, and his experience was with automotive
consumerism, my publisher felt he was the one and only professional with enough clout to get mainstream recognition.
I took the plunge, okayed the deal and the rest is history.
I'm the minority. Most Publishers can get ink simply because they know the source or are owed favors. Also, my deal was not for a blurb--it was for a full length forward (introduction). There is definetly a difference
A sneaking suspicion: This could have been a blantant ripoff. I was young and eager.

Triceratops

Re: endorsements

Oh, I didn't understand that Nader had been asked to contribute a foreword to the book--I had thought you said he was paid to write an endorsement. I guess I can see why they took his fee out of your advance, if you okayed it. If our authors want to ask a celeb to contribute a foreword, we think it's great but we wouldn't pay to have it, either (well, maybe in a special circumstance). We've had a couple of cases where the author has managed to get a well-known, relevant person to contribute a foreword, and we have been happy to include it but haven't been part of the negotiations.

If your book was on consumer issues and Ralph Nader wrote a foreword for it, I'm sure it was beneficial in some way--whether you've seen the benefits yet or not. Good luck!
Lauri

Write your own

Make it as easy for them as possible. Dan Poynter ("The Self-Publishing Manual") suggests writing one yourself, put it on a sample form that he provides, but also leave space for them to change it should they desire. Then you send it to the movers and shakers. Apparently, more often than not, they choose what you wrote for them. Of course, you would want it to say something based on what this person actually would say.

It goes without saying (and yet I just did) that you need a signature from the person allowing you to use it.



Tom Nixon
--
The SmallPress Blog

Re: Write your own

Can you provide an example for the query, or the forms?

How do you approach an author for a quote? Through their agent/publicist/manager? Can you give them a time frame (obviously they need to be willing to spend some time reading the book, and many of these authors are ultra-busy)? And how do you come up with the list, and does it include both "positive" and "negative" quotes, or just positive?