How important are reviews?
The short answer to this questions is VERY. As a writer, it’s great to know what your readers think, but as a buyer of books and a reader, it is often a critical part of the decision making process. Get a high level of good reviews, and people believe that your book is worth buying. No reviews, and they may just wait a while.
But you’re a new author! You’ve just published your book, and you have no reviews (except, perhaps, for one from your mum!). What can you do about it? Once your book is selling, the reviews will come – but it seems like a vicious circle, doesn’t it? People won’t buy if there are no reviews, and if people don’t buy, you won’t get any reviews.
There is only one answer, and that is put in a bit of hard work and find people to review your book for you. There are literally thousands of websites and blogs where people offer to review books (I read somewhere that there are 15 million book blogs – I can’t actually verify this fact!). The trick is in finding the sites that will review your type of book. And you don’t have to pay for reviews, although there are some sites that offer reviews in return for money. But it really isn’t necessary, so don’t panic if you don’t have a marketing budget.
There are three phases to this activity.
PHASE 1 – Prepare a really good review request document
This is one of the most important pieces of paper you will ever create, so make it look good. The worst review request that I ever received was an email that said :
Review request
Name of book (hyperlinked to Amazon)
Thanks
Name of author
That was it. So anything that I wanted to know about the book in order to decide if it was one that I felt qualified to review or in fact wanted to review, I had to find out for myself. I asked for more information, and I got no response. I think this is extremely rude.
Then there are the written requests that are full of typos, with no thought to formatting or the ease of reading by the reviewer. I already have an opinion of this author before I start to read!
So the first thing you need to do is to put together a professional document – you only have to do it once, with maybe a few amendments as things change. If you have the facilities to save it as a PDF, that’s even better, but if not it’s best saved as a .doc file, rather than .docx to avoid having to resend if somebody can’t open it.
Here’s what you need to tell the reviewer.
Name of book
Author
Book blurb
Image of the cover
About the author
Book details, to include : genre, word count, ISBN or ASIN, where to buy it – with links
Your details, to include : email address, Twitter handle, website, Facebook, blog, etc. – all with links
Additional information: extracts from any existing reviews, number of stars, any interviews you may have done (with links) – anything that might be of interest to the reviewer.
Here’s what my review request looks like:
href=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-m-SDARJOpZY/T1NfEH3q4dI/AAAAAAAADwA/zj_0ATV0UIA/s1600-h/clip_image002154.jpg”>
I know that this may be hard to read, but if you click here, it will open up a PDF.
I’m not suggesting that this is the best, or the only format – but hopefully it will provide some ideas. And I do know that on more than one occasion I have been accepted by reviewers who were ‘closed for reviews’ simply because it looks professional and they assumed before starting that my book would be good.
I also use the same document when I am requesting an interview on a blog.
PHASE 2 : finding the reviewers
This is the bit that takes the time, but Google is pretty impressive at finding this sort of information! And I recently came across an incredibly helpful author who has produced a huge list of sites where reviews are offered. He has very kindly put the list on his website at http://www.gregscowen.com/2012/02/a-few-indie-book-reviewers/ – I’m sure he’d be happy if you check out his book whilst visiting the site too! He deserves some kudos for offering all his hard work to the rest of the indie author population!
But don’t just send requests to anybody and everybody. Most of these people have quite strict submission guidelines – they will be clear about the genres that they are interested in, and about the way in which they operate. Although I am very clear about what I read and review, it doesn’t seem to stop people sending me just anything – whether it’s appropriate or not. So check what the reviewer has to say, and if you like the look of them, then construct a carefully worded email, and accompany that with your review request.
Your email should be brief – all the information is in your review request document and you don’t need to repeat it. You simply need to say where you found their details, how much you would like them to review your book, and that you have attached a formal review request for their consideration.
You can end this by saying that should they decide to review your book, you would be happy to send them a mobi, epub, paperback – whatever formats you have. Some will be very specific in their requirements. For example, I say that I will accept mobi versions. So if somebody offers me a Word document or a PDF, that’s just another email that I have to send saying “no”.
It’s very important that you keep a note of people that you’ve asked to review your book. They don’t want to receive a second request – and you need to follow it up if you don’t get a response. If it comes to that (which is rarely the case) you simply need to say that you requested a review, and wondered if they have considered it. Give them a week or so to decide – don’t follow it up the next day.
PHASE 3 – sending the book
This sounds like the easy bit – but there are a few things that can be irritating to reviewers. If they are only going to review on Amazon, then it’s not an issue. They should already have the link via your PDF (make sure they are active links!). But if they want to post a review on their blog, you need to have a little pack of materials to send to them.
As soon as they inform you that they would like to review your book, you need to send them :
– an email to say “thank you” and to explain what you are attaching
– an attached copy of the book in whatever format they have requested, or you have agreed (unless, of course, it’s a paperback)
– a photo of you
– a jpeg of your book cover
– a list of links to where people can buy the book
– a list of your online contacts – twitter, website, blog etc.
Explain in the email that you don’t know what – if any – additional information they require, but you have sent them everything that you think they may need. What you are doing, in fact, is making it easy for them when the time comes to write your review. If you have only sent the book, they have to do all the work by cutting and pasting from Amazon. If they don’t feel like it, they may write the review, but without an image of the book cover, without links to where to buy the book, and without any way really of turning this review into a potential sales channel.
There is, of course, a phase 4. It’s called sitting and waiting. It could be months – literally – before you hear back. It’s not a good idea to chase! I personally wouldn’t mind being chased after, say, two months. But not before. Some reviewers wouldn’t like it even then, and I have never chased a review.
And then – when the review is posted – the last thing you have to do is write and say thank you. Even if you hate the review, you still need to say thank you.
But it’s worth the effort. Enjoy it – you get to meet some really good people and if they like your book, they will talk about it. And that’s what you want.
Rachel Abbott is the author of “Only the Innocent” – currently the number one book in the UK Kindle Store. As an indie author herself, she is now blogging and writing guest posts about her experience, with the intention of helping other indie authors to maximize their chance of success.
Thanks for an informative post Elizabeth/Rachel. There really is a lot to this indie publishing lark. It’s so easy to convince yourself ‘it’s just about the work’, but if no one knows about it, you’re writing in a vacuum. Thanks again for sharing.
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Rachel.
Rachel – Thanks for offering your wisdom. It really is important to plan ways to get your book reviewed (hopefully positively :-) ). One thing that I’ve found helps immeasurably is to be an active part of the blogging world even when you aren’t asking for reviews. That is, blog, comment on other blogs, tweet, etc., and develop online connections. That way, when you do have a book, you’ve already got a network.
I’ve not been nearly as energetic about looking for reviews. I think a lot of it’s because when I request them and give free copies, only a very small percentage of the people who say they want a review copy actually post a review. I seem to have run into the ‘free book trollers.’
I’ve got a new book coming out very soon. I guess I’ll need to try your very professional and organized system.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Rachel–Thanks so much for guest posting today! I love these ideas for asking for reviews. I think they’re important for everyone to know–indie and traditionally published alike. Writers can be reticent sometimes about asking for reviews…this is a nice guideline for all of us.
Totally wonderful, you two. Wish I’d known this stuff when my memoir came out.
Karen
What a great post and so much to learn. I’ve just RT this one and will have to FB it too. A lot of useful info. and having done so much of this myself for my debut novel… i know how hard and tiring it can be.
Thanks again!
Regards
Anju Gattani
Rachel, thanks for taking the time to put together this excellent post. It would certainly make life easier to have one made-to-go review query. As an indie author, I know I’ve got to pursue reviews more energetically, especially with the kind of thing I write–contemporary realistic fiction. Thanks for the good advice and push, and good luck to you with your own work.
Phase one reminds me of creating a sell sheet.
Another place to find reviewers is Book Connector – http://www.bookconnector.com/
Rachel, this is great information. Another one I need to keep on file. Awesomeness, I say.
Teresa
This is a great post as a reviewer/blogger of all published books, i have of late been reviewing a lot of indie work, and for this i am grateful and excited about finding new authors. I do get some very confusing and ill structured requests. It is great to see blog posts out there helping out indie authors with their request systems
A good place to meet and greet book bloggers is this online conference starting on Wed (March 7, 2012).
http://pacomediagroup.com/
I haven’t had to send out my book for reviews but I have contacted some book bloggers and sent their information to my publisher.
This is extremely helpful! I am just starting this process for a book that comes out in June and so I needed exactly this to get me going!
This is an excellent post!
I have found a review service that is much more affordable than the others and returns the review as quickly as the expedited services of the others, so I am going to give it a try. I just cannot wait months and months for a review. The one I found is http://aliquantreview.com/
Very helpful posting. There is a lot of useful information in this post. I’ve bookmarked this site for future reference.
It’s great to see such positive feedback. I do know that getting reviews is only one part of the story – and there is so much more to do when it comes to marketing your book. But I found that having this to hand, ready to send out, makes the whole business of requesting reviews simple – but professional.
My own blog – which can be accessed here is being developed with a range of recommendations and suggestions for marketing indie books, and I’d love you to check it out.
So glad this was useful, and thanks to Elizabeth for allowing me to post here.
I’m definitely changing things up. Thanks for this info.
Re: “marketing budget”, it should be noted that paying for customer reviews goes against Amazon’s terms of service. You can *only* exchange a free copy of the book for a customer review.
Paid review services have had their reviews removed.
In a note to Galleycat, Amazon said:
“Paid reviews are welcome in the ‘Editorial Reviews’ section of a book’s detail page. Reviews written for any form of compensation other than a free copy of the product are not allowed in the Customer Reviews section.”
I found this article really useful – taking my first faltering steps into the world of self-publishing, so happy to take all the advice I can get!
For examples of my work, including scifi short stories and author interviews, visit http://themusingsofsamuelj.blogspot.com/
Very helpful. Thanks for posting this information.
Thank you for the excellent advice, Rachel. You’ve provided excellent detail. I’ve been doing some of what you suggested but will now “up my game.” I was also unsure what others were doing – or how they were approaching it. Nice to know I’m not the only one out there asking for reviews.
Congrats on your #1 book. I only sell about 2 books a month in the UK so feel free to share your secrets with this writer across the pond!
I just recently reviewed Rachel’s book, Only the Innocent, and I can say that she knows her stuff when it comes to doing the work required to get reviews, use social media, and ultimately sell books.
Congratulations Rachel for your recent accomplishments and thank you for sharing your “secrets” with the world.
Elizabeth, you have a great blog here and some interesting book titles. Thank you for sharing Rachel with your readers.
My review of Rachel’s book can be read in The Indie Times digital magazine on page 45. http://www.theindietimes.com/Magazine/March-2012 (click image on page to load magazine pdf)
For information on how you can submit a book for review, see pages 54-55 of the same magazine or visit http://www.theindietimes.com/submission-guidelines
Michele Jennae
Editor In Chief, The Indie Times
This is such a helpful post! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks, Rachel. I’m a self-publishing author and I found your description of the book review process helpful. I have taken on board some of your tips and bookmarked the article for future reference!
Thanks for the great advice Rachel. I found it really helpful as I have been trying to split my time between trying to sell my book and writing the second one. Unfortunately almost all the reviewers on Greg Scowen’s list that I have looked at so far are inundated and are not accepting new submissions. It seems the whole world is taking your advice.
This was tremendously helpful. Especially the .pdf download and link to the reviewer’s list. Thanks for posting. :)
I love the look of your review request letter, but do you email as it an attachment? I would think most people don’t like getting an attachment.
I am always impressed at the generous help and assistance indie authors give to one another.
Thank you, Rachel!
Brilliant advice here for all authors looking to get their book in the hands of the right reader through reviews and thanks Rachel for sharing such a comprehensive overview of what can actually be a very tricky thing to do.