You know those things they stick on the cover, or the first few pages of a book by other writers or magazines or reviewers or what not that say "Funniest thing this year!" and "A non-stop read." And stuffages like that?

Anyone have any opinions or experience with such things, from both a readers and a marketing viewpoint?

Obviously none of us are likely to have our work reviewed by the New York Times but are there small press alternatives that are beneficial? (Indie authors helping each other sort of thing...)

From a reader's perspective, I don't pay attention to them. They don't mean anything to me, and they generally don't tell me much about the book itself (what it's about, what it's like, the content) except that the person liked it. They can also take up valuable space on a product description page or cover design that would be better filled with an excerpt or summary.

That being said, as I writer I would take one if I got it. I think an endorsement needs to come from a reputable source to be valid. They don't have to be famous, but their opinion needs to have klout to your readership. Therefore, I think endorsements are most effective when they come from someone who appeals to your interest group. For example, a review from another Christian author would mean more to my readership than a review by an editor of a secular publishing house. Also, just guessing here, but I imagine people who have ties to your target demographic are more likely to review your book (and do so favorably)!

I do use testimonies from people I've written on commission for - I have a few posted on my portfolio page - because I think they would be of interest to someone who is thinking of hiring me. Those testimonies are valid because those people have worked for me, so regardless of their position in the general market, their opinion has weight.

I think a lot of times it's to get the name of a successful author on your book to get their readership interested. For example: if I got an endorsement from you then your readers would be likely to think: "Well, Aubrey liked this book, and I like Aubrey's books, so maybe I'll like this book too."

Also, if one could get an endorsement from a more established yet still askable indie author that could potentially be a marketing boost that won't cost the author much (we're not asking for a full review) while still having that nice connection.

What about introductions? Now that I've finally read enough to notice I've discovered that one famous author usually introduces another famous author's work. Neil Gaiman introducing Douglas Adams, and so forth. Is this similar to endorsements? Is this usually something the publisher arranges or is it more a result of writers being personal friends and/or requesting favors?

That is a good point, and I agree, it's more the name on the endorsement than the actual endorsement. (I sometimes skim the names of the endorsements to see if there's anyone I know. If there's not, it means nothing and I don't bother reading what they actually said.)

Practically speaking I myself would be wary about writing an endorsement for someone until I've got a bit more of a track record. Yes, I've got an established readership, but until it's a little larger I think putting my name on someone else's books is ostentatious at best. I would still pull the "Aubrey likes it, so I'll probably like it too" card through blog posts and things, but I wouldn't consider my name worthy for an endorsement just yet. I have been asked and declined for the above reasons, plus I don't think new self-published authors necessarily need endorsements on their books.

I did write an endorsement for Jordan's logline book on request, that was to be used on the website. I actually think I have enough klout to make that worthwhile because it's more of a testimonial. I'm a professional author and I can truthfully claim that I rely on Jordan's help for my loglines. That means something, more than "I'm another young indie author that likes this other young indie author's book."

I don't know how it happens in the real world... but introductions are a bit different in my mind. I don't have much experience with them, except with the poetry book and your Sanctity of Life series. For the former the introduction was partly to get Jay's name on it, which was important not only for marketing but also for a sense of ownership/unity since he's the founder of Holy Worlds. It was like getting his stamp of approval. For Sanctity of Life, the introduction was originally more of a practical thing, to literally introduce and explain the series rather than just endorse. I think it helps round out the series by giving a kind of "Here's what this is" before diving into the posts. You could have easily written such an introduction yourself, but I do think in this case having another author write it had a nice effect. It distances the introduction a bit since it's coming from someone who is not presenting the deeper, impassioned material of the main posts, and when it was on the blog it afforded some sense of completeness because I was the blog admin. Overall it just felt very suitable for the book. But in both cases, the writer of the introduction had some kind of personal ties to the work, rather than just "I read it and liked it." To me an introduction has more meaning if the writer has some kind of personal experience with the work and isn't just writing an "I love this!" piece. Even "I know the author and have watched this book develop for years" is more personal and meaningful to me.

And I'm kind of just thinking out loud here. It seems to me that introductions are more for nonfic, and I don't always read them. (I don't always read the author's foreword, either. )

What are your thoughts?

Introductions are also used a lot more if it is the fourth or fifth edition of a particular book or a compilation of a certain series (like a compilation of Tolkien's or Lewis' books).

I wasn't calling you out, just using you as a handy name to examplify with.

I usually write my own introductions for my blog series, but with Sanctity of Life it seems.... redundant, which is why I asked you to do it. I knew and liked you, I knew you knew the material almost as well as I did, that you understood why I wrote it (being one of the reasons I wrote it,) etc. I guess what I'm trying to figure out here is why people do write introductions for fictional works? Astronomer has a point - they tend to be more common on re-released works than new shiny ones.

*laughs* I figured, but I have actually been asked to write an endorsement and declined, so I figured I could ramble about why.

*nods* I haven't studied it, but I don't see introductions on new fiction a lot. It makes sense why compilations and old/republished works use them. An introduction for a compilation would explain the collection, and an introduction for an old/republished work usually explains the changes/history to the work. So what purpose would an introduction have on a piece of new fiction? What would it add? Why would the target audience want to read it?

Has anyone read any new fiction with an introduction lately? What was the subject matter and tone of the introduction? Who wrote it?