One of the critical tasks in preparing a new book for publication is finding appropriate writers to blurb your book. I have written on this subject before but this post fine tunes the process.
After the new author determines who would be ideal to provide a short written comment, the question is what if I don’t know this person who is expert on my style of writing or my subject matter (or whatever your criteria is for selecting this person)? Assuming you can find a way to reach out to this writer who you don’t know personally, I suggest that your approach might be something like this.
Dear X,
While I don’t know you personally, I have been following your work for years. Recently Publisher X has selected my full-length poetry manuscript for publication in 2021.
Would you consider writing a blurb for my forthcoming book titled X?
Enclosed are 12 poems taken from the manuscript that best represent the work as a whole. If you like what you read and want to see more, I would be happy to send the entire manuscript. I need the blurb by X date.
Thank you so much for your kind consideration. I will understand if you prefer not to write a blurb for me.
All best wishes,
Your name
It’s possible that a blurb writer has everything needed to write something based on those 12 poems. The most important part of your request is making sure you have given a reasonable time frame. 3-4 weeks is not an unreasonable ask. If the person queried asks for more time and you have that option, go for it. Three blurbs are usually enough. Good luck!
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