First Sunday Q&A: Getting Reviews of Your New Book
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Photo by Ben White on UnsplashQ: I'm getting into the post-publishing world and see the value of online reviews. Have you addressed how to get reviews on Amazon or other online bookstores? Or on Goodreads? Any tips on getting friends to review?
A: Although some publishing professionals believe that reader reviews don’t really influence book sales, as a reader I do scan the posted reviews when I am considering a book. I’m mostly influenced by blurbs from other writers, but reader reviews do count. All of the others who loved a book make my decision to try it out easier.
In my own experience, then, reviews contribute to more people reading my books.
Most reviews are timed to coincide with the launch of your book, when you have the best chance of getting noticed by other reviewers or ranking higher in the site’s algorithm. But it’s never too late to solicit reviews. It just takes some knowledge of what kind of reviews you want and some bravery and a system for asking for them.
I’ll share details from past posts as well as new information below.
Main review sitesWhen I was planning the launch for my second novel, back in 2023, I spent a lot of time researching the review sites and choosing which I’d work towards. Book reviews range wide in the publishing industry.
Here are the basic groups I found.
Trade reviews (Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Foreword/Clarion, Independent Book Review, American Book Review, Library Journal, and others)
Media reviews (New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, “Best of” lists, and others)
Celebrity book clubs (Oprah’s, Reese’s, #ReadwithJenna, Belletrist, Shondaland, and others)
Reader review sites (Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub, LibraryThing, Book Riot, Reedsy, Net Galley, and others)
Social media groups reviews (Facebook groups, Bookstagrammers, BookTok reviews, and influencers)
Not all are available post-publication, of course. But there are many you can still work with after your book comes out. And those of you who have published, feel free to comment about other review sites/reviewers you know, have experience with, use as a reader, or are interested in as an author, so we can fill in gaps.
It’s work to get reviews. But I’ve found it quite worth it. The more “presence” my books have online, which is, like it or not, where many readers find their next read, the more likely they’ll consider my book. Also, the greater number of reviews on Amazon and some of the other sites, the more likely the algorithm will feature your book.
Eight benefits of getting reviews for your bookThis list is not complete, but it shows eight reasons I learned about the reason to work towards reviews.
To get an accurate sense of why readers like your book. This can help you understand your audience. See #2 to learn why this matters.
To use any keywords that repeat, for marketing. Savvy marketers collect keywords (those repeated in reader or trade reviews) and use them to edit their online book description to reach that audience more accurately. This is gold.
To boost your book’s presence on review sites so browsers will take the leap to buy. Like I said above, more reviews puts you higher in the algorithm. Amazon, for instance, has different levels, or so I’ve heard from many authors: at 50 posted reviews, you get a certain boost; at 100, another; at 200, another, etc.
To qualify as a featured author on BookBub. A friend got this bonus for her book and it mattered in sales.
To have quotes to use on your book’s back cover and your website and author profile pages on social media sites. Again, gold. Use them!
To have quotes to share on social media posts. Same.
To bolster your bio if you’re pitching to podcasts or other interviews. I found this made a difference in the podcasts and interviews. Some hosts read my reviews aloud before my interview started, plus posted them on their show’s website.
To just help you feel great about what you’ve created! Best reason, right?
How and when to get reviews (pre-pub)Blurbs come first—these are reviews from other authors, which are key to your marketing pre-publication. But they can also be useful post-pub.
Ideally, though, before your book is even accepted for publication, even before you get signed with an agent, you get blurbs. You can approach your beta readers, those peers who give you ongoing feedback, taking note of what words they use as they describe your book.
Then consider the published authors you will ask to read and write a pre-publication blurb for you. These blurbs help you sell your manuscript to agent and publisher. (They definitely attract attention.) I took about two years to do this stage.
Then you begin soliciting for the other kinds of reviews.
Six months before your publication date, you submit for the all-important trade reviews. Spend the bucks. Yes, you or your publisher can submit your book for free to the larger trade reviewers, but you’re not guaranteed a review. To me, it’s worth paying for at least one solid trade review. My preferred are Kirkus or Booklist. I got great reviews from both and used them extensively in my promotion, on my Amazon and other bookseller pages, on Goodreads, and to pitch podcasts. Most trade reviewers required submission six months in advance, so plan for this. If you submit early, as soon as ARCs (advance reader copies) are available, you can use the reviews on your book itself.
A few months before publication, begin working with Goodreads and BookBub. These reader-review sites hold a lot of weight for book browsers as well as Amazon (Goodreads is owned by Amazon). No self-promotion is allowed, so you need to get readers to honestly read, review, and post. Set up an account and link it to your book on the bookseller sites. I like to set up pre-orders so this can happen—although the book isn’t available yet, it does appear on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever else it’s sold. So you can set up a book page in Goodreads and BookBub to prepare for reviews.
Make a list of friends who might enjoy your book. Send them an ARC (pdf) and ask them to read it. Talk each person through the steps of posting a review on both these sites—send the link to your book page. You’re after honest reviews, of course, nothing done as a favor, since you really want to learn from what readers say. All this can be done before your book comes out as long as it’s available for pre-orders and up on booksellers’ sites. Goodreads’ website says, “Please note that we only accept honest reviews that are created of the readers’ own free will. Paid reviews are not accepted and will be removed.” Not only that, they can take down your page. So do this honestly and carefully.
The week of your launch, ask those same friends to post their review on Amazon. (Amazon used to prefer reviews by verified purchasers, so I originally asked my friends to pre-order a copy. After my book was published, I noticed that Amazon posted reviews from non-verified purchasers just as quickly. A nice change.)
As the reviews come in, consider sharing them on your social media feeds. Acknowledge and thank the reader who posted it. Let others know about the substance of your book by sharing these reviews. Comments, when I’ve done this, have been “Now I have to read it!” or “This told me a lot more about the book.” Because it’s not you, the author, talking up the book, it comes across differently.
Use the reviews in your keyword work ongoing, tweaking your book’s presence online as you learn more.
Asking friends and your street team (pre- and post-pub)It helped me (enormously!) to gather a “street team” of friends and family who were willing to read the ebook before release date. In exchange, they’d post a review when launch day happened.
I received dozens of reviews from these readers to coincide with my launch. They posted on Amazon and Goodreads and BookBub, primarily. I always said, Make sure your review is honest, and if you don’t like the book, don’t feel you have to post anything. Out of 60 team members, 45 posted.
Putting together the street team took courage on my part. Being brave enough to ask, in the first place. And figuring out how to ask, without becoming a burden to my friends.
One of my former students, Megan Lindahl Goodrich, released her memoir, Beyond Terminal, in September. She also worked with a street team of friends and family who supported her through the pre- and post-launch of her book. Even after the book was released, Megan kept in touch, writing an occasional catchup email to the team, sharing how the book was doing and introducing her new audiobook when it was available.
I loved how she approached this, reminding her team to post a review on Amazon if they hadn’t already.
Finally, a HUGE thank you to those of you who have already written a review on Amazon. If you haven’t done so, one last plug: Once I reach 50 reviews, Amazon will feature my book more prominently, and I’m just 30 reviews away from that goal! Here is the link to leave a review. Please keep in mind that Amazon can take down the review if it appears as though you know me. The stars are what matter, so no need to overthink this—it can be short and sweet!
The tone is easy and friendly. You don’t have to work hard at this, she’s saying, but it will help her a lot.
I read her book when it first came out, but I’d forgotten to post a review. So I clicked the link in her email and wrote one immediately. Totally easy.
If you want to ask friends and family to post reviews, you need to (1) be brave enough and (2) make it simple and (3) give them a reason to help you. Share the steps clearly, providing a link.
Giveaways and influencersNancy Crochiere released her debut novel, Graceland, in 2023. She had great success getting reviews posted on all the sites. I asked her how she’d done this.
One of the great things my publisher (Avon/HarperCollins) did for me, pre-publication, was three 100-copy giveaways of my novel on Goodreads. These raffle-style giveaways have significant benefits in generating interest in your book. First, if someone enters the raffle, your book automatically get put in their “Want to Read” list. Second, for those who win, the publisher asks if they will post a review of the book on Goodreads. Finally, anyone who has the book on their Want to Read shelf gets a notice when the book pubs.
Over 16,000 people enter the first raffle, and 9000 in each of the other two. Since each of the 300 winners is asked to consider writing a review, I got a lot of pre-pub reviews on Goodreads.
HarperCollins and my publicist also sent books to maybe a hundred or more book influencers and “bookstagrammers.” Bookstagrammers post photos of the book on Instagram with either a review or a quick plot summary.
After publication, I did ask some family and friends to write reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. And when I did a book event or spoke to a book group, I usually mentioned how important reviews are for authors and said I’d be grateful if anyone who read Graceland would consider a quick rating or review. Usually, people did.
Never too lateThe ideal timing for getting reviews is pre-publication. But some authors are way too swamped with the actual process of publishing to do this. No worries! You’ve missed the most important window for reviews, but books have long life spans.
You can still ask for reviews from your readers, set up a Goodreads account, learn about the other online sites that might make sense from the list above.
And reviews can be posted anytime. I was surprised to see a review posted by an old college friend, who I haven’t talked with in many years. It appeared on my Amazon site this week. Proving to me that if you have a book out there and haven’t gotten the reviews you hoped for, it’s never too late.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, what you might try from this, what you’ve learned in your own writing life.
“First Sunday” Q&A is where we dissect and discuss your most gnarly writing and publishing questions. You can send them to me via message on Substack or to my email at mary@marycarrollmoore.com. Your subscription supports me continuing to write my free newsletter each Friday since 2008. I’m grateful!
