How to Get a Blurb For Your Book
A book blurb is an endorsement from a famous author or well-known expert. It’s shocking how a quote from the right person can lure an agent, editor, or reader. Here’s HOW to get blurbs and WHEN you need them.
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BLURBS: WHAT WE COVER
📘 WHAT IS A BOOK BLURB?
📘 Why book blurbs matter
📘 How to get book blurbs
📘 When to get book blurbs
RELATED VIDEOS
Query Letter Webinar & Critique with The Book Doctors https://youtu.be/IIOzBjV72o0
Take a look at our BOOK PROMOTION & MARKETING PLAYLIST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1tST…
Check out our QUERY LETTER PLAYLIST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Ncx…
Literary Agent Explains Why You Haven’t Received a Response to Your Query
Just because an agent hasn’t responded to your query letter doesn’t mean she’s not interested. Arielle (a literary agent) and David (author) explain why agents are silent and what authors can do about it.
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RELATED VIDEOS
How to Follow Up with a Literary Agent https://youtu.be/HP_6RkTbXNs
Check out our QUERY LETTER PLAYLIST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Ncx…
Stay Home. Stay Healthy. Keep Writing. | Working During COVID-19 pandemic
Times are hard. The Book Doctors share how to keep writing while you’re home during the COVID-19 pandemic. How are you handling changes due to coronavirus? Tell us in the comments.
WHAT WE COVER
0:05 Checking in with The Book Doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic
0:48 Our tips for working from home
1:08 Use your commute time for projects you love, such as writing
1:36 How to use this time well and train your brain to focus on things you can control
2:46 Tips for using this time for your writing
3:32 Put your writing on your calendar so you’re more likely to do it
3:44 Get a writing buddy to hold you accountable for your goals
4:11 Read in your genre to figure out your comparative titles
4:42 Train your brain to be in the moment and stop destructive thoughts quickly
5:45 Switch your anxious thoughts to a productive focus on your book and create a plan
6:30 Learn how to raise the stakes in your writing by observing current events
6:45 Observe reactions to crisis and troubles, study the people around you and in the news, then use those observations to improve your fictional characters or memoir
7:58 Use your cooking time to think about what you’re writing
9:24 Support your local independent bookstore
RELATED LINKS & FURTHER READING
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) information from the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-…
Support your local independent bookstore by shopping online while staying home. Find your local bookstore using https://www.indiebound.org/
SUBSCRIBE to our channel for tips on how to successfully publish your book.
Beat The Stay-At-Home Blues Webinar
Ask us any question about publishing in this free one-hour workshop. Make the most of your time at home and get your work ready to get out into the world!
UPDATE: Click here to view the recording of this webinar.
Join us
Click this link to view the webinar live on YouTube and ask us anything.
Ask questions
Sign in using a YouTube/Google account to chat with us and ask questions.
Tech trouble?
If you have any trouble, email our web guru at kristi@thebookdoctors.com.
Beat The Stay-At-Home Blues Webinar
March 19, 2020
8PM EDT / 5PM PDT
How Long Will It Take to Publish My Book?
Writers always ask, “How long will it take to publish my book?” Learn the hard truth in this week’s video. Then position yourself for success.
WHAT WE COVER
0:13 How long does it take to publish a book? How long does it take to get a book deal? How long does traditional publishing take?
1:17 How long does it take to publish a book on Amazon?
1:24 What’s the least helpful question to ask about publishing?
1:46 What should writers ask instead?
1:57 How can I tell if I’m ready to publish my book?
2:53 What else impacts how long it takes to publish a book?
3:52 What should writers do to help their book get published?
RELATED VIDEOS
My Book Was Rejected. How I’m Dealing With It. https://youtu.be/mq4q7ja4N9M
Beta Read Your Way to Better Writing https://youtu.be/n_PaLZjNNYU
Should You Self-Publish? https://youtu.be/7_mV1-1023Y
Principles of Successful Publishing: Persevere https://youtu.be/rr_gQJ29L-Q
Publishing Secrets Revealed https://youtu.be/AcCDISjFHc8
Get Published by Banishing Fear of Failure & Rejection https://youtu.be/owSbbKo2QFg
THE BOOK DOCTORS
We’re Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Between us, we have almost half a century’s worth of experience turning talented writers into published authors. Arielle is an author and agent-at-large at the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. David is an author and before writing professionally, he was a comic and actor. We’re dedicated to helping writers get their books published. Successfully!
SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for tips on how to successfully publish your book.
AMERICAN DIRT + Barnes & Noble | Why Publishers Are Stupid: Part 2
We’ve said before that publishers can make BIG mistakes. Then came AMERICAN DIRT. Here’s our take on controversies rocking publishing in 2020. Links mentioned in the video are below.
WHAT WE COVER – REASONS PUBLISHERS ARE STUPID
0:49 An overview of the AMERICAN DIRT controversy.
4:22 There are many books by Latinx authors. So why aren’t Latinx authors being supported? Why is the money going to white authors?
04:54 Lee & Low Books released the Diversity in Publishing 2019 report earlier this year. The survey reveals the alarming lack of diversity in the the publishing industry hasn’t changed significantly in editorial since their 2015 report. The exception to this trend was among interns, who are now more diverse than the rest of publishing.
05:27 What was the fallout for publishers and Oprah after AMERICAN DIRT?
06:10 The defensive reaction from some white writers and why it’s problematic. Instead, write responsibly and learn when it’s better for someone else to tell a story.
7:50 Controversy #2: The Barnes & Noble tried to launch a line of classic novels with new covers featuring people of color. Instead of supporting authors of color, they put blackface on the covers.
08:26 The Barnes & Noble covers were cancelled when their bottom line was impacted.
08:55 What do we do? 1) Support people who write great books by buying their books. 2) Buy a book by someone who doesn’t look like you or share your experiences. 3) Make your voice heard. 4) Share information from other authors. Amplify their voices. 5) Start your own collective. 6) Start your own publishing house to publish, serve, and reach people who are often ignored by New York publishing.
11:52 Controversy #3: The reaction to the 2020 Newbery and Caldecott winners.
14:26 We share some GOOD NEWS.
RELATED LINKS & FURTHER READING
Myriam Gurba’s review of AMERICAN DIRT https://tropicsofmeta.com/2019/12/12/…
USA Today’s critique of AMERICAN DIRT and the author’s note https://www.usatoday.com/story/entert…
Diversity Baseline Survey by Lee & Low Books https://blog.leeandlow.com/2020/01/28…
Carlos Greaves’s article in McSweeney’s https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a…
Barnes & Nobel cancels “diverse” editions https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b…
The 2020 American Library Association awards http://www.ala.org/news/press-release…
The Wall Street Journal reaction to the ALA awards https://www.wsj.com/articles/children…
Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” https://scenicregional.org/wp-content…
In Praise of a Scholarly Force: Rudine Sims Bishop https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEF…
RELATED VIDEOS
Why Publishers Are STUPID https://youtu.be/ZiW-bYk4Spg
We Need Diverse Books and Voices https://youtu.be/cGxi37TEdzA
Cheryl Willis Hudson, Author & Co-founder of Just Us Books, on Children’s Books https://youtu.be/ftHI8DB1SVI
THE BOOK DOCTORS
We’re Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Between us, we have almost half a century’s worth of experience turning talented writers into published authors. Arielle is an author and agent-at-large at the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. David is an author and before writing professionally, he was a comic and actor. We’re dedicated to helping writers get their books published. Successfully!
SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for tips on how to successfully publish your book.
TENTH ANNUAL NANOWRIMO PITCHAPALOOZA
You wrote your 50,000 words (or got pretty close!). You’re a winner. You felt the high. Now what are you going to do with your precious manuscript? That’s where we, The Book Doctors, come in.
For those of you not familiar with Pitchapalooza, here’s the skinny: You get 250 words to pitch your book. Twenty pitches will be randomly selected from all submissions. We will then critique the pitches during a live webinar on March 14, 12PM PT, so you get to see what makes a great pitch. At the end of the webinar, we will choose one winner from the group.
The winner will receive an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for his/her manuscript.
Beginning February 1, 2020, you can email your pitch to nanowrimo@thebookdoctors.com. PLEASE DO NOT ATTACH YOUR PITCH, JUST EMBED IT IN THE EMAIL. Include your title and your name at the top of your pitch. All pitches must be received by 11:59PM PT on February 29, 2020.
We will also crown a fan favorite who will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250). On March 15, 2020, the 20 random pitches will be posted on our website, www.thebookdoctors.com. Anyone can vote for a fan favorite, so get your social media engine running as soon as the pitches go up! Connecting with your future readers is a vital part of being a successfully published author today. And this is a great way to get some practice. Voting closes at 11:59PM PT on March 31, 2020. The fan favorite will be announced on April 1, 2020.
If you purchase a new copy of our book, The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published, by April 2, 2020, we’re offering an exclusive one-hour webinar where you’ll get the chance to pitch your book. Just attach a copy of your sales receipt to your email and we’ll send the link to the webinar dates.
NANOWRIMO PITCHAPALOOZA SUCCESS STORIES
It’s been a great year for past NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza winners. Gloria Chao won the 2015 NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza with the novel that would become her critically-acclaimed debut American Panda. Her second novel, Our Wayward Fate, came out in 2019 from Simon Pulse. Gloria also sold the rights to her next novel Rent a Boyfriend with publication planned for fall 2020. Read Gloria’s winning NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza pitch.
In 2016, May Cobb ran away with NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza. She’s been capturing attention ever since. This time it was a “heated six-publisher auction” that ended with Berkley winning the rights to publish her latest thriller The Hunting Wives, which was pitched as In a Dark, Dark Wood meets Mean Girls. Berkley plans an early 2021 release. Read May’s winning pitch.
“Having my pitch selected as the 2016 winner for Pitchapalooza was such a boost! Of course it was wonderful to win, but even more than that, having the Book Doctor’s feedback on my pitch was instrumental.”
–May Cobb
Stacy McAnulty has been on fire since she won our third NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza. Her latest middle grade novel, The World Ends in April, is out now from Random House Books for Young Readers. Shelf Awareness gave it a starred review and called it “a smart, funny and emotionally candid book.” Stacy also signed a deal with Random House to publish another middle grade novel, A Penny Doubled, pitched as How to Steal a Dog meets Brewster’s Millions. Look for it in spring 2021. Read Stacy’s winning pitch.
Cari Noga was one of our first NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza winners. Her winning novel, Sparrow Migrations, went on to be a semi-finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, then she received an acquisition offer from Lake Union Publishing. Her latest novel, The Orphan Daughter (Lake Union Publishing), released last year. Read Cari’s winning pitch.
“Winning Pitchapalooza gave me confidence and the courage to keep fighting. It also helped bring my manuscript to the next level.”
–Gloria Chao
Are you feeling a little unsure about exactly how to craft your pitch? We’ve got you covered.
10 tips for pitching your novel
- A great pitch is like a poem. Every word counts.
- Make us fall in love with your hero. Whether you’re writing a novel or memoir, you have to make us root for your flawed but lovable hero.
- Make us hate your villain. Show us someone unique and dastardly whom we can’t wait to hiss at.
- Just because your kids love to hear your story at bedtime doesn’t mean you’re automatically qualified to get a publishing deal. So make sure not to include this information in your pitch.
- If you have any particular expertise that relates to your novel, tell us. Establishing your credentials will help us trust you.
- Your pitch is your audition to show us what a brilliant writer you are, so it has to be the very best of your writing.
- Don’t make your pitch a book report. Make it sing and soar and amaze.
- A pitch is like a movie trailer. You start with an incredibly exciting/funny/sexy/romantic/etc. close-up with intense specificity, then you pull back to show the big picture and tell us the themes and broad strokes that build to a climax.
- Leave us with a cliffhanger. The ideal reaction to a pitch is, “Oh my God, what happens next?”
- Show us what’s unique, exciting, valuable, awesome, unexpected, about your project, and why it’s comfortable, familiar and proven.
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NANOWRIMO PITCHAPALOOZA FAQS
Q: May I submit more than one pitch?
A: Yes, you may submit multiple pitches. Please include your book’s title and your name at the top of each pitch.
Q: How are the 20 pitches selected?
A: The 20 pitches are randomly selected; however, we read all the pitches.
Q: Are the choices for fan favorite also randomly selected?
A: Yes. They are the same 20 pitches that we read during the webinar.
Q: If I buy a copy of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, how does the one-hour webinar work?
A: We limit each webinar to 20 people, which gives everyone the chance to pitch and get feedback. To be eligible, purchase of a new copy of The Essential Guide is required.
Q: Where can I learn more about writing my pitch?
A: We offer resources on our YouTube channel. We recommend that you watch “The Art of the Book Pitch”, last year’s NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza, and our Pitch Tips playlist. Hungry for more examples? Check out our Pitchapalooza playlist.
IMPORTANT NANOWRIMO PITCHAPALOOZA DATES
Saturday, February 1, 2020–Pitch submission opens
Saturday, February 29, 2020–Final day to submit pitches
Saturday, March 14, 2020–NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza live on YouTube
Sunday, March 15, 2020–Voting for fan favorite begins
Tuesday, March 31, 2020–Final day to vote for fan favorite
Wednesday, April 1, 2020–Fan favorite announced
The Book Doctors Holiday Gift Packages
Are you, a relative, or a loved one dreaming of a White Christmas, a Kool Kwanza, a Happy Hanukkah or a Festivus Miracle that involves getting a book successfully published? Luckily for you, the Book Doctors have put together a stocking stuffer for the naughty and the nice.
The Book Doctors Holiday Gift Packages come in three sizes depending on your budget and how much you like the person you’re buying it for.
Elf Special: A signed copy of our book, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, and a pitch critique webinar: $20.
Yuletide Delight: Signed copy of our book, half-hour consultation: $150
Mistletoe Magic: Signed copy of our book, read first 25 pages, one hour consultation: $300 (A $525 value!)
Offer good through January 1st but if you want it before the holidays, ORDER NOW! The holiday packages are only available here at our website.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE BOOK DOCTORS
See ya at the bookstore!
100th YouTube Video = Giveaway Time
UPDATE: Our winner is Michelle Reynoso! Thank you to everyone who participated. Keep watching to learn how to write your book, sell it, and market it successfully. We look forward to chatting with you in the YouTube comments.
After months of tutorials and interviews, vlogs and voice-overs, we’ve reached a milestone on The Book Doctors’ YouTube channel:
We shared our 100th video!
To celebrate, we’re running a giveaway, and one lucky winner will get a free 30-minute consultation with us (a $150 value). Here’s how to enter:
- Head over to YouTube to watch our interview with mega-bestseller Mark Kurlansky.
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
- Comment on the video.
You can get a full rundown of the official rules here.
You have until December 1, 2019 at 11:59 PM PST to enter. We’ll randomly select one winner, and we’ll announce that winner on our YouTube channel on December 2, 2019.
What could we cover during a 30-minute consultation?
Between us, we have almost half a century’s worth of experience turning talented writers into published authors. Whether your book suffers from Titleitis, has no spine or needs a chapterectomy, we will help you fix it so that you can write it, sell it, and market it. Not to mention have fun while doing it.
Here are a few of the topics we could discuss during your call:
- Choosing the right idea
- Coming up with a great title
- Formulating and perfecting your pitch
- Deciding if you need an agent or if you should go directly to a publisher or explore self-publishing
- Constructing a query letter that will actually get read
- Finding an agent/publisher that’s right for you
- Figuring out the best way to self-publish
- Making and selling an ebook
- Understanding and assessing contract issues and questions
- Creating a social media plan
- Creating an online marketing strategy
- Creating a publicity and marketing plan
- Becoming TV and radio friendly via media training
- Formulating your event-planning strategy
- Setting up a schedule
The Book Doctors Present at Kauai Writers Conference
Aloha! The Book Doctors are headed to Hawaii.
Pack your swimsuits and manuscripts and join us at the Kauai Writers Conference, November 4 – 10, 2019, where we’ll be presenting with a cavalcade of world-class writers, agents and editors. Do yourself and your book a favor and come to the Garden Island, where bestselling and award-winning writers will help you get your manuscript ready for the world; where top agents and publishers (not the typical young and inexperienced publishing folks who normally show up at these conferences) will be ready and waiting to hear your pitch; where four-day master classes on how to build a platform (with us!) and how to turn life into art, among many others, will be served up with mai tais with little umbrellas in them.
Because this is such a rare and wonderful opportunity, we asked if our readers could receive a 10% discount. And the kind folks at the Kauai Writers Conference have said YES! The code is bookdr789. Enter it on the checkout page.
We hope you’ll move fast because they are almost out of rooms at the hotel (great conferences sell out super fast). The conference hotel is the place to be. While you can stay anywhere on the island, the conference hotel is where you may run into the agent or editor of your dreams one night in the Tiki Lounge! This is how careers get made.
Featured Authors
In addition to yours truly, Kauai Writers Conference has a lineup of rockstar authors, agents, and publishing insiders.
- Paula McLain
- Greg Iles
- Meg Wolitzer
- Christina Baker Kline
- Téa Obreht
- Lisa Wingate
- And more!
Where It’s Located
Kauai, the oldest of the Hawaiian islands, has waterfalls, rainforests, rare habitats, sculpted cliffs, and more beaches than the other islands. The conference is held at an exquisite resort nestled in a cove, a perfect spot for novice surfers.
What It Includes
- Four days of master classes (November 4 – 7)
- A three-day conference (November 8 – 10)
- Talks by beloved authors
- Intimate small group discussions
- Individual sessions with literary agents
- Group and individual consultations with leading experts on alternatives to traditional publishing
- An immersive Hawaiian experience
Who Should Attend
Any writer looking to get successfully published will benefit immensely from coming to this conference. And frankly, any human will benefit immensely from coming to Kauai. Whether it’s in-depth writing instruction with some of the best authors and teachers in the world, or learning about the publishing business from industry insiders, or actually meeting an agent who could take you on as a client, the Kauai Writers Conference will be a boon for writers at all stages in their careers.
The conference sheds light on the ever-changing landscape of the modern book business. Traditional publishing, self-publishing, hybrid models: the faculty roster boasts experts who’ll help you realize what’s right for you and how to achieve your dreams.
See you in Kauai! Aloha.
Check out our upcoming events for Pitchapaloozas, conferences, and more.