Do you get testimonials for your book? What is a testimonial? It’s a positive comment from readers—a tribute to your book—a testament to the story or the quality and usefulness of the material in your book. When you get such compliments or accolades, what do you do with them? I mean, after you jump up and down, throw your arms up in the air and shout, “YES!”, how do you use the praise?
Here’s what I do: First, I thank the reader profusely and ask if I can publish his or her quote. Most are quite pleased to be acknowledged in this way. Some even fancy up the quote—add to it. Then I publish it at my website and in my blog. I might use it in promo material. I publish it in the next edition of that particular book—sometimes on the back cover.
What I don’t do is to ignore the promotional opportunity. In fact, I’d like to share with you two great comments I received over the weekend. Kevin Donnellon, an author in Chicago wrote this about my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and the accompanying workbook, “Your book is a godsend. I love its systemic, strategic approach (obviously built on great experience and expertise.) And I look forward to reading and following your book and workbook systems to accomplish my goals.”
Ruth Miller is one of a very few people who has a copy of my brand new book, Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. I am still waiting for my webmaster to post it at my site. Ruth says, “I’ve been meaning to let you know how much I’m enjoying the book. You have such a wonderful relationship with your cats. I love the way you show how they teach you. I can see this as a coffee table book with fun photos throughout.”
Actually, I hope to expand this book to include more photos sometime this year.
I also have a couple of comments from my mother about the cat book, but she doesn’t like the limelight like I do and would rather not be quoted. I can tell you that she enjoyed the book and is eager to share it with grandkids who also love cats. Yup, an admiration for cats runs in the family.
When is the last time you received a testimonial with regard to one of your books? What did you do with it? Did you just bask in the glory of the comments and then promptly forget about them? Or did you use the compliments to your advantage—share them with your potential readers in hopes of selling more books based on customer satisfaction?
If you haven’t received a testimonial in a while, why not ask for some? Sure! Just get out your customer list. (You do keep track of your customers, don’t you?) Contact them with some sort of news, information, a resource—something of value to them. In your email or letter, mention the current success of your book. Say that sales are up or your book was just reviewed by the editor of some prestigious publication or something fascinating like that. Mention that you have received many accolades, and even insert a few positive comments. And then ask the customer for a comment you can use in your promotional efforts.
You might get more response if you provide a simple questionnaire. Ask, for example,
• Did you read the book?
• Did you find it useful/entertaining?
• How would you describe the book?
• Would you (or do you) recommend the book?
• What would you (do you) tell others about this book?
Ask permission to use the quotes you like if you wish to use the customer’s name.
Think about it, what causes you to see a movie or read a book or try a certain restaurant? For most of us it is word of mouth. If someone recommends it, it must be worth trying.
For those of you with published books, how about spending this week focusing on getting testimonials. Let me know how it goes. PLFry20@yahoo.com.