Over the last couple of weeks I've received a ton of requests for cover quotes, so as a public service I'd like to clarify some things:
I cannot make your book an instant bestseller. I wish I could, because I'd have a lot more friends in the industry. To be honest, no one can, and anyone who tells you differently is lying to you. Do right by your readers by writing the absolute best book you can, and you'll have the same shot as anyone else.
Cover quotes from me have ended up on some books by unknown (or relatively unknown) authors who went on to become huge bestsellers. This resulted in a lot of weird rumors. Whatever you've heard, these successes had absolutely nothing to do with me. I have zero book magic, and no fairy dust to sprinkle on your work. Anything that I've quoted in the past is a book that wowed me, plain and simple. If they went on to go platinum, that's on the publishers and authors, not me. Me ordinary non-magical writer chick.
If I don't know you, sending me your manuscript attached to your e-mail will have one result: your e-mail will be deleted unread. This is not me being hateful and part of the worldwide conspiracy to prevent you from embracing your much-deserved fame and fortune; this is me thinking you're some jerk trying to infect my computer with another virus.
Having your editor or agent or writer pal who knows me ask me to read your manuscript will not improve your chances of getting a read or a quote out of me. Nothing will. Unless you have a million dollars you want to pay me as an upfront reading fee; then we can probably work out something. Only I don't want to burn in hell so never mind.
And finally:
I put up this notice on the About PBW page a couple of months back, but since no one seems to be reading it I'll repeat it here: at present I am not reading any manuscripts from anyone for cover quotes.
Again, this is not because I'm mean, or heartless, or I'm trying to hoard all the fairy dust. Aside from the fact that I have no fairy dust, I can't. I admit, I'm very picky about what I quote because my readers do pay attention to what I endorse, and I don't want them wasting their money on a ho-hum read. Also, reading manuscripts for quotes takes up time when I could be taking care of my family, writing, having a life, etc. so I have a preset limit of how many manuscripts I'll read in one year. Unfortunately this year I reached that limit in April.
I apologize for any inconvenience this causes, and thank you in advance for understanding my situation.
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I, for one, am extremely glad that you don't wily nily endorse books. I'm not easily swayed by cover quotes anyway, and it wouldn't make me buy a book I didn't want to read, but some people are. Every book I've read which you recommended on pbw has been an enjoyable read. Some authors you've recommended have become "must reads", Linda Howard, Sarah Addison Allen, Sofie Kelly, Shiloh Walker, L J Cohen. Other books I've read and enjoyed but never felt the need to read back catalogues or new books. So as a reader, thank you for being so discerning.
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