WHO SHOULD YOU ASK FOR BLURBS? Blurbs are ideal to request from people in your network who are well known, important, or have important jobs. The key consideration here is to focus on asking people who fit two criteria: 1. They are known to the audience you’re trying to reach, or have jobs or titles that sound credible to that audience. 2. You already know them enough to reach out to them. To decide who to reach out to, start with a big list—the more names, the more likely you are to get a yes. These should be specific people, not a list of famous people you’ve never met. If you do not have some connection to them in your network, do not put them on your list. If you don’t know the person or have a credible connection that is already established, then you aren’t getting a blurb. Ask someone who has a strong connection with both your audience and the material. It’s much better to get a quote from a person that your audience knows well but is anonymous outside that niche, than someone who is very famous but has nothing to do with your book. For example, if you write a book about pop-up retail, and you happen to be friends with a famous politician who has nothing to do with retail or any connection, a blurb from her won’t resonate with your audience. Whereas if you can get the VP of Macy’s to blurb your book—even though no one outside of retail has any idea who she is—that quote will be a powerful signal to the audience for your book (people who care about retail). 228 · ThE SCriBE METhOD