February 2020: What has gone wrong with LTER?

LibraryThing Early Reviewers used to provide an invaluable service to publishers, especially to indie publishers like Seventh Rainbow. When we first signed up to it in 2013, it was managed by a guy named Jeremy. Here’s how it worked. We’d offer, say, 50 review copies of the new book. Over the course of a month readers could request a copy. If more than 50 requests were made, then LibraryThing’s algorithm would kick in and choose the 50 candidates most likely to enjoy it based on a handful of books that we’d said it was like. 50 names would arrive complete with email addresses, and we’d send them out. When we started using Smashwords to distribute the copies, we noticed an unexpected—and rather wonderful—effect. Since Smashwords counts giveaways as sales, within days the book became very visible on their site. It tended to stay fairly visible too because of the relatively high number of sales it clocked up.

So, 50 reviews, right? Well, no, not exactly. Some people would realize it just wasn’t for them and would swiftly give up. Some people just wanted a free book to add to their collection. Some people’s circumstances had changed in the interim and they no longer had the time or space in their lives for reading. There was even the occasional person who simply wanted to win a prize and had no intention of downloading their copy (approximately 3 per cent, believe it or not). In fact only 30-35 per cent of winners would end up writing a review and, of these, some were bound to be unfavourable. Which means that, from a single giveaway of 50 copies, we could expect about 12 decent reviews, reviews that could be used to publicize the book—which, after all, was the purpose of doing it.

Then, somewhere around 2016, Jeremy moved on to a different position with LibraryThing. From memory, his post was taken over by two women. It is now held by Kate. Here is what happened with our latest promotion—for Oh, No, Octavius!, which was released last month. We offered 50 copies. 55 people requested it. The list arrived…but there were only 10 names on it! Malane sought an explanation; surely there must be some mistake? Kate replied:

Hi Malane,

There was no error: there were only 10 winners for your entry this month. Although there were many more requests for the title, we only give each participating member of Early Reviewers 1-2 books and each member requests many more than 1-2 titles. Additionally. we have an algorithm that matches readers with books they’ll enjoy and be more likely to review.

I'm sorry if you're disappointed by the numbers, but I can assure you that the winners that receive the book will enjoy it and hopefully generate reviews.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Kate

10 names. Even if giving members only 1-2 books each encourages more reviews, the maximum we can look forward to is 5 reviews, of which maybe 3 or 4 might be positive. Forget the knock-on effect at Smashwords. That was based on the high volume of downloads. It’s simple maths; despite being a free service to publishers (and one hell of a good idea) it’s no longer worth it in our estimation. We shan’t be participating in any future giveaways.

Thank you to the reviewers who have already posted a review of my book, and a huge thank you to the LibraryThing Early Reviewers who have supported me over the years. I’ve made some good friends there and I shall keep in touch. If and when a new book is released, I promise you will have first dibs.

This month’s special offer is for The Scarab Heart. The Valley of the Kings, 1885. Lizzie is about to meet a young woman named Merit, and her life will never be the same again. Offer ends on February 29th 2020. You’ll find links and details on my website.

“This is not my usual type of read! *However*…this is a fantastic book! Beautifully written, brilliantly conceived, utterly enthralling, exciting and moving.”—Al Muckersie, Goodreads Reviewer (5 stars)



Happy reading!
Michael

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