Book endorsements

This week's work has been seeking endorsements for the production book. An endorsement is a 2-4 line blurb that goes on the back cover of the book. It is also used in promotion.

We began my making a wish-list of people. We later called these folks "the notables." We chose people of outstanding integrity and accomplishments in film and journalism.

Next we asked everyone we knew if they knew anyone who could help us contact the notables. Help and answers began trickling in. We now have packages off to the notables, and with luck we shall soon have endorsements by people we respect.

A couple observations about endorsements:
- Endorsements (2-4 line reviews for the back cover of the book) are the fuel that keeps the marketing engine running. They are more important than I ever suspected.
- Celebrity endorsements are the best fuel of all.
- The hard thing about celebrity endorsements is reaching the celebrity. Getting the endorsement is easier.
- The best time to get endorsements is well before the book marketing engine starts to rev up. Getting them late in the publishing cycle is frustrating and painful.