Seeking Celebrity Endorsements for your Books

Posted on October 24, 2016
by Erin Mackey
with 0 Comments

Good Morning! I hope you’re meeting and exceeding your writing goals for the year. If you need a push, don’t forget that November is NaNoWriMo Month!! National Novel Writer’s Month is an awesome time to push yourself to reach those goals that have been teluding you as life gets in the way.

This morning, I wanted to talk to you about celebrity book endorsements. I know that I can’t be the only writer out there that thinks that they’re not worthy of a celebrity endorsing their book. As much as I love my books that I write, I still have this nagging doubt in the back of my mind saying “Yeah, but you’re not famous. Why would a famous person endorse YOUR book?!?” The more I looked into seeking celebrity endorsements, the more that doubt started to disappear and encouragement seeped in.

I know that we seem to put celebrities on pedestals, but they are real people too. They have just a great a chance as enjoying your book and wanting to say something about it as any other person. So should you really seek celebrity endorsements for your book….absolutely! A celebrity endorsement has the opportunity to lend credibility to your work and increase your exposure exponentially so it’s always worth seeking one. You have to remember that the worst that could happen is they don’t want to endorse your book – but that’s a guaranteed result if you never ask in the first place so why not take the chance?

So let’s say I’ve convinced you to try to seek a celebrity endorsement – what now? I thought you’d never ask! After researching this I thought you’d appreciate it if I listed out the steps to take to seek a celebrity endorsement so you can start the exciting process for your book today. So here I go…..

Make a List-

The first step you want to take is to make a list of celebrities that you would like to get an endorsement from. I would start with 10-20 people in various industries: actors, authors, politicians, company presidents, or experts that you admire or follow. Don’t forget to include your “dream” celebrity on the list. Maybe you write horror and would LOVE to get Stephen King to endorse your book. You know it won’t happen if you don’t put his name on the list and try!

Finding Contact Information-

When you begin the search for contact information for your list of celebrities, you want to try to find as many solid mailing addresses as possible for the individuals as mailing your request is more personal and can be taken more seriously than a quick email or social media post. Look for street addresses or P.O. Boxes for the individual when possible instead of their agents or publishers, as sending them to third parties will make it take much longer to get to the individual. (Tip: If you send your endorsement request to another author’s publisher, address it c/o Author Mail.) You can look for their information in various places online such as their website under contact information, their social media sites, or search the internet for “mailing address” for the celebrity. You can also try sites such as www.celebritiesfans.com, www.seeing-stars.com, and www.ContactAnyCelebrity.com.

What to Send-

When preparing your endorsement request, you want to create a cover letter that will be compelling and grab their attention. Make sure to acknowledge that you know they are busy and that you admire their work, mentioning what specifically you enjoy about their work or philanthropy. You should give a clear deadline of when you would need the endorsement providing plenty of time for them to complete the rquest – I suggest at least 4-8 weeks, longer if you are requesting a foreword for your book instead of just an endorsement. You can include sample endorsements or even create an endorsement form that they can make their response faster and easier to complete. Most importantly, include a copy of your book or manuscript. If you are sending your endorsement request electronically, you could also send a PDF or ebook file instead. Finally, include a self-addressed stamped envelope for them to send you the endorsement.

Following Up-

Once you’ve sent your endorsement request, the waiting begins. You can follow up with them, but keep yourself limited to 1-2 messages to avoid becoming too annoying or creating a negative view of you and your work. When you’ve received a “yes” from one of your requests, touch base with them 1-2 weeks before the given deadline remembering to thank them for their willingness to endorse your book and asking them if they have any questions.

I hope this post encouraged you to start your list today and seek that celebrity endorsement! You never know when you’ll get a “yes” that’ll boost your book’s audience! If you have any other tips and ideas with seeking celebrity endorsements, comment below to share them with us. Don’t forget to share this post so other authors can make sure of these tips too!