I get a lot of requests from other authors these days. It would be nearly impossible for me to read the books people want me to read, hang out with my daughter and actually do my writing too.
So I’m sending you this to
Can I send you my book?
Sure, but only EPUBs right now.
I’m living in Asia right now and so if you really want to send me a physical book, it will be a bit costly. Also, I am nomadic for the foreseeable future so I’ll likely gift the book when I move. So perhaps don’t personalize it.
Please don’t send me a PDF. If you send me a PDF, there is probably a 20% chance it makes it into my reading queue. I can’t read books on my device, and mostly read on my phone or on a Kindle. If you are working with a traditional publisher, please tell them to stop doing this.
If you send me an EPUB, I will definitely take a peek. You can email an EPUB to paul at pathlesspath.com. I read 99% of my books on my Kindle and if you send it in this form, I will almost undoubtedly forward it to my device.
Will you blurb or endorse my book before it launches?
I think your work is awesome. I am glad you decided to write a book. I love writing them too.
But I can’t give you a blurb or endorsement. If I read your book and love it, I will promote it after it is released. I do this with most things that delight me. If I do so, feel free to take my words and do whatever you’d like with them. Slap them on a billboard, make t-shirts, or even turn them into a blurb for your book.
I’ve given blurbs to two books:
- Brennan Dunn’s book on marketing, This is Personal
- Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s book Tiny Experiments
Both Brennan and Anne-Laure’s work is top-notch, and they are both amazing people in their own right. No regrets.
But I’ve decided to stop doing them until further notice.
My reasoning is simple:
- I don’t ask for them for my books
- I don’t think they matter. They mostly seem to be about hyping up pre-sales, but I’ve never personally been inspired to buy a book because of an endorsement or blurb, mostly because I am aware it’s a game and I suspect most people don’t read the books they endorse. I don’t like games; I played enough in my twenties. Seth Godin agrees, saying “blurbs don’t sell books,” and Austin Kleon goes further, saying, “I hate blurbs and think they should be outlawed.”
- I only recommend books I’ve read. Every book I’ve ever recommended, I’ve read in full and actually enjoyed. If I did endorse or blurb books, I’d want to read the book fully to endorse it, and I can’t balance that with being a father and all the books I am already reading.
More broadly, it doesn’t fit with how I approach my own writing and sharing of my work, which is more focused on deeper engagement with real readers after a book is launched. Every endorsement I’ve shared has come from real readers of my book, unprompted by me. I suspect there is some magic karma generated from the fact that I didn’t play any games on this front, though it’s too hard to prove.
Is this annoying? Maybe.
Am I missing out on networking with top Authors and getting more eyes on my work? Maybe.
But my goal isn’t to maximize my potential or success. If you are curious about how I approach book marketing, including my stubborn commitment to my principles, I’ve laid bare all my thoughts in this massive post:
Despite this, I am here to help others and share good work
I do think genuine sharing of people’s books can inspire people to read their work. I spend a lot of time going out of my way to read others’ work and share it when I find it inspiring. This is something I love doing and go out of my way to do.
I’ve been supported by many people who have read and shared my work. I’ve even highlighted some of their unprompted endorsements on my site and book marketing pages. But I don’t do blurbs. Nor do I spend much time on pre-sales campaigns. Neither feels good for me and I struggle to separate engaging in these kinds of things as one-off favors from how I do everything.
So no blurbs or endorsements until further notice.