People put a lot of weight on book reviews and endorsements because they’re a signal to readers that a book is worth taking a chance on. However, a good review or endorsement only works if people see them! Yes, readers may go out of their way to read reviews or consider the Amazon rating before buying. If they have your book in their hands, they’ll see your endorsements too. But to use the power of these reviews and endorsements to their full potential, you want them to be as highly visible as possible.
So, You Have Some Good Book Reviews and Endorsements! Now What?
So, you have some good book reviews and ensdorsements. But how much do they really help sell your book? Well, the word of others can give a big boost to your book marketing power. This social proof builds trust with your audience. A ringing endorsement from a relevant source, or fellow author, can sway the opinion of your potential buyers. Even reviews from other readers signal that your book is worth reading. Ratings and reviews and the quality of them really do matter! But by integrating them into your marketing strategy, you can use them to their full potential.
Integrate Book Reviews and Endorsements into Your Cover Design
You can add your best book reviews and endorsements to your book cover—the back or the front. This is the most obvious place to use them, and it’s standard at this point. Where you place them and your available word count will depend on your cover design and the space available. But review snippets are often added to the front cover and endorsements traditionally follow the book description on the back. Many well-known authors now use endorsements in place of any book description at all. Though that’s likely not the best strategy for a lesser-known author.
Wondering how you get book reviews? Read Jeniffer Thompson’s post on the topic.
What about endorsements? Does asking seem intimidating? Discover how that’s not really the case here.
Include Them in Your Amazon Marketing Copy
Another great place to use your book reviews and endorsements is in your Amazon marketing copy. Because you can use a higher word count here than on your back cover, and keyword placement is significant to discoverability on Amazon, it’s a great place to include them.
Learn about the difference between your book description and your Amazon marketing copy here.
Add Them to Your Website’s Book Page
Your website is your most powerful author marketing tool and it’s an asset you have total control over. The content of your website has a permanent home and its visibility is not determined by algorithms. Not only will having a great book description here boost your SEO and GEO, your positive book reviews and endorsements will be available to any readers who visit your site. So, wow them with great marketing copy, including endorsements and reviews.
Your One-Sheet is Another Great Place to Use Your Best Book Reviews and Endorsements
Monkey C Media’s co-founder and director, Jeniffer, explains one-sheets here: “An author one-sheet or sell-sheet is an essential piece of print marketing material for your book. It’s simply one sheet of paper(though it can be double sided if needed) containing all the important information about you and your book for promotional purposes.” And yes, you can include snippets of book reviews and endorsements here too! There’s an example of what this looks like in Jeniffer’s blog post on the topic.
And of Course, Definitely Use Them in Your Social Promos and Paid Ads Too!
Your promos on social media and your paid ads will really stand out if you include great book reviews and endorsements in your marketing copy. You can overlay the text onto a captivating image and turn this into an attention-grabbing graphic or video. These testimonials from other readers are a fast, reliable way to convince your audience that they too need to read your book!
Want to know what type of social promos and ads grab attention and drive engagement? You can read our post about it here.
Editing Your Book Reviews and Endorsements to Use in Your Marketing Materials
Of course, to make use of your book reviews and endorsements in your marketing copy you’ll need to edit them for the most impact. No one expects to read the full review in an ad, and sometimes endorsements run a bit long. That’s why you just keep the best parts! Yes, you can do that.
Those endorsements you see on the back of books? They were almost always cut from a longer (and sometimes less snappy) statement. The punchy quotations you see in ads and promos praising the book? They’re cut from whole paragraphs or even full-page reviews.
So, What Does this Look Like and How Can You Put Them to Use?
Editing your book reviews and endorsements to use as your marketing copy can be done in a variety of ways. It will depend on what packs the most punch in the most succinct way and it will also depend on how much space you have available. One-sheets and book covers may fit a few full sentences. An ad may need just one or two power words.
Yes, you can pull clipped quotes from paragraphs or you can pull one single word to overlay on a graphic for an ad. You can even piece together parts of multiple reviews and endorsements to form a powerful statement about your book. What you don’t want to do is include the less relevant stuff.
How to Boost Impact with Snippets of Your Book Reviews and Endorsement
- Maybe ten reviews on Amazon are all you have available? Reviews like these are from readers who are not recognized, and often anonymous. In this case, you don’t need to include their name like you would in a formal review or endorsement. You can take a general consensus and turn it into marketing copy for ads or promos on social media.
Turn it into something like this: Readers have called it “refreshing, entertaining” and, “their favorite fantasy book of the year”.
- Perhaps a fellow author or a known expert in your field gave an endorsement. They were kind enough to write a lengthy paragraph on their impressions of your book, but there’s not much of it that’s impactful. Don’t worry about offending them. They expect these endorsements will be used for marketing purposes and the permission to use any or all parts is implicit. You can take the best part and leave the rest.
It may look like this: “Jane Doe’s writing is clear and concise… it will open your eyes to the many overlooked facets of microeconomics that make a macro impact…” -Jim White, Professor of Economics, Whitmore College
- Now, imagine you’ve managed to score a professional review that is generally positive, but it’s not exactly overflowing with praise. Perhaps it reads something like this: “Historical fiction novel, The High Plains was riveting at times, although the midpoint lagged and it suffered from overwrought prose. Overall, the book was imaginative and compelling, and piqued my interest in a time I previously had very little knowledge of. I think the strong characters really brought the struggles of Dustbowl era Americans to life…”
Here’s how you could make this a more impactful and punchy marketing quote: Simply: “… imaginative and compelling…[it ]brought the struggles of Dustbowl era Americans to life”- Diane Lawson, Kirkus Reviews. Or maybe choose just one, high-impact word: “…riveting…”
Get Ready to Make Use of These Powerful Marketing Assets!
Keep in mind, you’ll need to credit the recognized and relevant authors of these formal book reviews and endorsements. Otherwise, you can use the first example listed.
Also remember to use space wisely and format correctly. If you’re lucky enough to have garnered a lot of praise, choose the best and the most succinct quotes to achieve maximum impact in a minimal space.
Overall, book reviews and endorsements are always a positive because they signal your book is significant and worth reading. But if you really want to take advantage of the power they hold, use them to your advantage everywhere you can. Get creative! Experiment. Ask for help if you need it. Just don’t be shy about showing off the endorsements and reviews you do get!
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