A boost of self confidence for indie/self-pub authors - Bell, Book, and Erotica blog

Here's a grateful shout-out to Bell, Book, and Erotica, a new blog site that promotes and reviews indie and self-published authors of erotica. No, they haven't reviewed any of my books - not yet. The reason for the shout-out... They actually responded to my email.

Check out their clean, elegant site - they've posted a couple of great reviews. And the evocative candle flame rating system is a wonderful nod to the site title.

As an indie/self-pub author, who is trying to do it all - write, edit, promote, improve my writing, get involved with author communities, work a "real" job to pay bills - it's the pearl-in-the-oyster-irritant to get my work noticed.

I'm talking about promotion.

Yes, it pays to promote. In the sea of new books, one must find ways to get one's own book noticed. But I'm hesitant to spend money, not knowing what's reputable, what's not, and how to get a good return.

Review blogs are a "free" promotional method. I say "free" because it can take a lot of time just to submit the request in the proper format. I don't begrudge the time: review bloggers are inundated with requests from eager authors. Anything that helps a reviewer quickly spot a book worth considering is good.

Here's the thing. Most times, I don't hear back at all. Similar to an HR department that gets hundreds of applications for a posting, only applicants invited to interview hear back. For the rest, it's null. Void. The great emptiness between stars.

I beseech you, bloggers, turn on an auto-reply. Let the pitifully grateful author know the email was received. You know, something like this:

"Thank you for your review request. We usually respond within six weeks if interested. If you don't hear back, take the hint. Sincerely, The Reviewers"

Since we're wishing (and that's also free), how about a form reply, a check box that indicates why my book was NOT selected for review:

"Thank you for your review request. Your book will not be reviewed because:
___ No one here liked your blurb.
___ You need other reviews before we'll write one.
___ Your other reviews are negative, go away.
___ Your review request was poorly written, go away.
___ We're too swamped now, go away.
Sincerely, The Reviewers"

I know, I know. Easy for me to ask. Perhaps each reviewer gets hundreds of emails a week.

But it's an insular little world inside an author's mind. Without knowing why I don't hear back, I begin to imagine reasons. Darkly humorous, darkly paranoid, or simply dark reasons.

Imagine my delight when, responding to an invitation to submit books for review, I received a reply within hours from Bell, Book and Erotica. Not just a reply, but a welcoming response, an offer to review my book - albeit in 4-6 weeks.

Why such a long lead time? Because, despite the site being open only a week, the reviewers already have THAT MUCH backlog.

An indicator that we need many more blogs? that we need lots more guest reviewers on these blogs? that readers - and by extension, authors - place an enormous weight of credibility on bloggers' unpaid reviews?

Can't emphasize enough how lovely it was just to get a reply. Much less a courteous, encouraging one. Bell, Book and Erotica is a site run by self-published and indie authors, who understand what it's like to try and get your work noticed. Kudos to their reviewer team for starting off on such a hospitable footing.

Wishing you joy in (good)reading,
~Devi