If you have read Personality Not Included and have some thoughts about it, I want to hear from you! Until the end of 2008, I have launched an open call asking people to review the book on Amazon.com (or your local version of Amazon if you are outside the US). I am looking for two things with this effort …
- Feedback to help me become a better writer/author. To this end, your review does NOT have to be positive in nature, but could offer some criticism that I could learn from.
- A good review quote to feature on the back cover of the next printing of PNI
I realize that posting a review is a big thing to ask, so I have tried to offer a worthwhile incentive for you to do so. I agreed with my publisher that we will be taking one quote from an Amazon review posted between now and the end of 2008 and featuring it on the outside back cover of the next edition printing of Personality Not Included (McGraw-Hill makes the final call). That means anyone who picks up the book in a bookstore or searches it online will see your name and organization name or URL.
In the interests of making sure you understand the authenticity behind this request, let me clarify a few points on this idea. First of all, I am NOT in any way asking you to lie or share opinions about PNI that you don’t personally feel. If you read the book and hated it, go ahead and post your review to that effect on Amazon or anywhere else. I probably won’t use it for the back cover (obviously), but I’m not trying to stop you from doing that. Instead, my goal is to reach the many people who have read the book, but have not posted a review on Amazon because there is no tangible reason or benefit. Hopefully, this idea gives you a reason … visibility. You don’t need to be a blogger or a CMO to participate. My goal is to take a piece of REAL feedback from one of you and feature it on the back cover of the second edition, and encourage some useful book reviews on Amazon.
If you have already posted a review, don’t worry - you’ll be included in this competition. If you haven’t, but had some thoughts after reading the book, please share them on Amazon. And if you think this idea is just a cheap stunt to get more Amazon reviews, send me an email at personalitynotincluded[at]gmail.com and let’s talk about it. As an author, asking for reviews is a difficult thing because you don’t want to manipulate people, but you do want them to review the book so more people hear about it. Successful or not, I’m considering this an experiment in doing that.
Admission: For the more astute, you probably noted an assumption in this post - which is that PNI will actually get a second edition printed. All expectations from the publisher are that we will do one … but it does depend on sales of the first edition, so I don’t want to mislead anyone to thinking its a done deal. The chances are pretty good, though.