Answer for ProReach
Are reviews, endorsements, awards, or sales enough to make my work more likely to be recommended?
No. Reviews, endorsements, awards, and sales can make people pay attention. But they do not explain why your work is the right answer to a specific question.
“Bestseller” can open the door
It can tell a reader that many people bought the book.
An award can show that someone respected it. A strong review can build trust.
But none of those facts tells the reader what idea the book adds to the question in front of him.
The work still has to show up
If someone asks a question your book was written to answer, the public needs enough substance to connect your work to that question.
That can come from interviews, essays, explanations, reviews that discuss the ideas, talks, excerpts, or other useful material.
Praise and substance are different
- “Brilliant book” is praise
- “This book explains why X happens and gives a new way to think about Y” is substance
- Both can help, but they do different jobs
The strongest proof
The best outside recognition does more than say people liked the book.
It helps a new reader understand why the work matters.
Where this answer came from
Sources we checked
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