How To Get Great Book Reviews
So you've published a book. It's a piece of true beauty. You've meticulously constructed your masterpiece in the snatched minutes around an unachievable schedule, poetry honed to perfection. You've authorized the most enticing of covers, hired an expert editor, and meticulously modified the internal layout to ensure the font combination is flawless. It's now or never; it is time to let the rest of the world see your work so that you can start receiving great reviews and positive comments from your adoring followers and the industry's best book reviewers.
What are the best ways to get your book reviewed (so you can sell more books, get more reviews, and sell even more books)?
Create Your "To-Do" List
It's critical to devise a strategy that will help you promote your work and your writing career as a whole.
Here's how to go about this:
Start early. Begin right now, before your book is released. Building the relationships and contacts you'll need to achieve the quality and number of reviews that will affect your sales takes time.
Think long-term. Whatever actions you do today, think of the impact they would have on your "enterprise" in the future.
This mindset forces you to pay close attention to the connections and contacts you build with readers, reviewers, and other industry professionals.
Add to your list (each time you make a reviewer connection).
Here is how you can start creating your list of possible book reviewers and getting some positive feedback on your book:
Leverage Book Bloggers' Collective Power
Book bloggers are a fantastic collection of people. They are book lovers who have selected themselves based on genre, created active, engaged communities around that genre, and have significant reading reach and influence. In addition, because of their relationships with other book bloggers and reviewers, they have access to an even bigger pool of readers in some cases. How ideal is that?
Here are a few additional pointers on how to work with book bloggers:
Make a list of bloggers who write about your genre. The shotgun technique isn't going to work in this case. Choosing a reviewer who is uninterested in (or worse, insulted by) your topic or material may result in some very negative feedback.
Provide basic information about your book, such as the title, genre, number of pages, a brief synopsis, book formats available, publisher, publication date, and a link to your website.
Make your pitches or inquiries unique. Visit their blog to see what other books they've reviewed. Make sure they're experts in your genre or target market. For similar titles, take note of the turnaround times, "to be read" lists, and review style.
Appreciate every book blogger who takes the time to leave you a positive (or negative) review. It's just good business and basic civility.
2. Have a professional editor proofread your work
Poor punctuation, misplaced commas, and incomprehensible sentence structure have caused many otherwise excellent stories to be downgraded or even dismissed.
3. Target Top Reviewers on Amazon
It's difficult to get this group's attention because of their higher profile and credibility, as well as the competition for their in-depth, high-quality reviews. However, the benefits of getting them to review your book are usually worth the effort.
4. Host a Giveaway
The more hands your book can get into, the more eyes will get to see it. If you increase the number of readers, you'll have a better chance of getting reader reviews. Here's how to get started:
Giveaways on Goodreads and Library Thing can help you get more reviews and raise publicity for your book.
Giveaways on Blog tours (A blog tour is a set amount of time, usually a week or two, in which your book will be promoted across various websites and blogs. The dates are set in advance; each blog knows what material it will be posting, and the content should be unique to each blog. — Penguin Random House) These partnerships, if well maintained, can pay off handsomely in the long run.
5. End of Book Request
What happens when you finish a fantastic book? Isn't it true that you want more? Your readers are in the same boat. They want to interact with you and learn more about you as an author and the other books you've published.
This is a fantastic opportunity to advertise your existing or upcoming books while directing readers to your website to join your email list.
Write a short letter that expresses your desire for honest feedback on your book. Add a link to your Amazon Author Page, so the process is easy for them.
Although each author's work is unique, the procedure for getting great book reviews is the same: determine your target audience, locate related blogs, pitch them, deliver your book, and don't forget to follow up! Furthermore, feel free to experiment with different tactics and remember not to take negative feedback personally.
Yes, selling a book is craziness, but the act of obtaining reviews gives that madness a direction. So go out there and get those reviews – you've earned them!