Does thinking of asking for blurbs make you blubber?

For me, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” When I got my book contracts this year, they both came with an attached flurry of things I need to do for my marketing, and many are significantly in advance of my release date.

Some of it was fairly easy. I mean, most of us who are to a pitch stage have an elevator pitch, and maybe a 1-3 sentence back-cover-type blurb (probably a dozen versions over time). But when I read that I would need to find other authors to blurb my book, panic began to set in, especially when it said I should also have a few “suggested” blurbs that my friendly blurber could accept or edit.

If you wonder why I panicked, then think about:

1. Of all the great authors you know, how do you chose who to ask? Is it how many books they’ve published, how big a Facebook following they have, do they write in your genre, are they still alive (yes, seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised…)?
2. Do you take a leap of faith onto the invisible bridge and try to contact your favorite multi-best-seller author, and can you find a way to contact them?
3. Do you huddle into a fetal position and hope the whole thing will go away?

My method, if you can call it that, was pretty much the above in a slightly different order. I’m lucky that through Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers I’ve met a ton of amazing writers, with lots of traditionally and self-published books under their belt, and many with a bunch of awards to go with their books.

I started by making a list of known writers, and “unknown personally but heavily read” writers. Then I started checking websites to ensure they wrote in the same genre as my book was. This is where the dead writer facts popped up. After I made my list (and crossed off the no-longer-with-us group), I started stalking the writers to see what their book lists looked like. If they were active on social media. If their content would draw me, as well as people who might like my book, in. And if they had mentions in their feeds of other authors they liked, etc. Yes, mercenary, but I think that’s a bit of the whole point of marketing.

Following several weeks of item #3 above, I slowly started contacting my authors. I think the hardest part was coming up with sample blurbs. It’s hard to write something that feels so, um, audacious/braggy/cheeky, etc. But I did it (haven’t see how those worked out just yet—maybe in a later blog).

And guess what? I got some great, friendly, happy “Yes” answers—along with info on their schedules or questions about my deadlines (which I should have included), and some “I’m still waiting to hear” dead space. But, hey, it’s COVID, so I’m not pushing!

My point is, if you’re going to publish these days, traditional or self, you’re going to have to do this kind of thing. It’s hard. It’s WAAAAAAY out of my comfort zone. But so were my first several pitch appointments. My first critique group. My first (and many following) submission. So put on your big whatevers and Suck It Up Buttercup. If I can do it, so can you! And while you’re at it, WRITE ON!