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How to generate reviews.
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The idea is you want to promote and launch your book before you publish it. Waiting to get reviews after your book is published isn't the best thing to do. The idea is you want to build interest and get reviews. You do this by telling people on your e-mail lists, social media and write blog posts on your progress with the book. If people are interested then chances are they will want to read the book.It's all about reviews and the best ones are the ones you get before you publish your book. You want to let people in on the book early so you establish a fan base. This fan base may translate and lead to early reviews which is great for your book going forward and even before you release it.
-Get reviews before you launch the book
-You can then use these reviews to get even more reviews.
-Use reviews on your book's description on Amazon as a testimonial, usually 4-5 good ones.
-Add them to your book trailers to draw interest
You can get reviews in several different places as well:
-Kindle Boards
-Goodreads
-Author Marketing Club
-Amazon Forums
-Social Media Groups
-Create a Private Facebook Group and invite specific people who you know are interested.
-Contests
-Giveaways(Say you will give away 20 copies to anyone interested if they agree to leave a review)
-Send out copies if you went with a POD(Print On Demand)
Last but not least be kind and polite when asking for a review. No one wants to feel pushed so something simple along the lines of "If you liked this book please feel free to leave a review as it helps me sell more books and I would be very grateful".
Justin wrote: "The idea is you want to promote and launch your book before you publish it. Waiting to get reviews after your book is published isn't the best thing to do. The idea is you want to build interest an..."Great post, Justin. Are you an author? Has this worked for you?
I work as a freelance Publicist, I have a database of hundreds of reviewers carefully selected and screened. When an author comes to me specifically for review generation I can match the book to readers of that genre in my list. I get requests for anything from 10 reviews to 500 reviews. The reviews do and are leading to book sales. My reviewers must review on both Amazon and Goodreads as a minimum.
I also have access to a book loving audience in different Facebook groups of over 8,000.
I must read and be 100% behind any book I promote.
I live for review generation for authors who need it.
Maxine
Booklover Catlady Publicity
https://www.facebook.com/BookloverCat...
How do you "get reviews before launching"? Seems to me that Amazon won't accept reviews until the book is up in the store and waiting for purchases and reviews. This has been like pulling teeth with a spoon. A lot of people reading but not leaving reviews.I don't like spamming my book (and don't) nor do I like spamming forums or other places for reviews. So what to do?
This happens to just about all authors, C.J.; you ask for honest reviews in exchange for a free copy. I think I've given away at least 25 free copies for a review. Out of the 25, only about 2 or 3 even bothered. So, I don't give away free copies anymore (except to the 2 or 3 that were honest enough to keep their word) I find that those who buy the books are more than willing to give their honest opinion without being asked.IMHO--don't give away your hard work for free. The reviews will come with sales.
Groovy, no I don't like giving out freebies because, 1) yes they don't return the favor by reviewing 2) Too tempting for people to pirate.Seems as though it's just playing the waiting game for sales, and hope the buyers take the time to review. /stillwaiting
I give out free copies all the time, the key is I give a timeframe for the review to be published. If I can give some advice choose carefully, look at their profile, if they read a lot and review a lot and seem to take reviewing seriously (like me) they will honour being sent a book. There is a difference between a non committed reader just looking for a free book and a reviewer who genuinely wants to help authors.Check their profiles. When approaching a reviewer that you think might like your book don't assume they want to read it or be aggressive in asking. I get up to ten requests a day and rudeness puts me off. I'm so busy that I will only take on books I think I can review well and only if the author is respectful. I love reviewing Indie authors.
A review on Goodreads and maybe a blog is what you will get before publication. But proper reviewers schedule dates to ensure the review is then also on Amazon day of publication. I've reviewed 600 books in the last twelve months and half were not published yet.
Build
Oops...build relationships with some good reviewers, they will recommend you then to other reviewers. I'm good friends now with many authors I reviewed, I've also helped them get noticed. I've beta read their next book and suggested improvements. It's a two way thing.Don't just give to people who want a free book and don't even review regularly. They won't serve you well. Look at their last ten reviews. I put an hour into writing, recommending and posting a review all over the Internet. That's what you need. Committed reviewers. I have hundreds of them on my database that I use for publicity clients when they want a review generation campaign. Good luck!
I guess it works if you are a genre writer. I even paid into a reviewer matching service and it was a waste of $60 because either the coder monkey or the algorithm were smart as bricks becaguse I got nothing.(unless you count a form generated rejection stating no such reviewer exists.) for the content you produce. I did it 3 more times with other companies and got more static so I gave up. It's random when I sell and more so when a review pops up.
I need a pen and paper to write down all these good ideas. In my day job - you know the one that pays the bills - I help companies bring their word of mouth reputations online in the form of reviews.... Here's what I tell them.
Ask every way you can think of. In their case they actually do work for their clients and see them face to face so they know who to ask. It's a bit harder when you don't know who reads your book.
Tell people that they matter to you and why.
It's hard, one of the hardest things you'll do in your business, but if it weren't hard to get, reviews wouldn't be valuable.
Write reviews for others you hire and they may return the favour, but if they don't - Don't get upset about it.
C.J. wrote: "Groovy, no I don't like giving out freebies because, 1) yes they don't return the favor by reviewing 2) Too tempting for people to pirate."Don't look at them as 'freebies' but as 'loss-leaders'. I have three novellas that I use as loss-leaders, to lower the threshold for readers to take a chance on an unknown author.
I also give away review copies, especially ARC, to anyone who offers to write a review.
Like here: https://amsterdamassassin.wordpress.c...
To encourage readers to leave a review, I post a message at the end of each publication:
Thank you for reading the Amsterdam Assassin Series.
For an independent author, gaining exposure relies on readers spreading the word, so if you have the time and inclination, please consider leaving a short review wherever you can.
Most authors report a review ratio of 1:1000 books, my review ratio is 1:200-400 books.
re: piracy
Don't worry about piracy. People who download from pirate sites are not the same people who would pay for a book, so you don't lose any sales.
re: DRM
Don't be fooled by Digital Rights Management - DRM only frustrates legitimate buyers of your books, who cannot read the books they bought across their devices. Any pirate can strip DRM like peeling an apple, so DRM will not protect you from getting pirated.
I second what Martin V said. Yes, there are some people who will take your book and not write a review, but such is life. Tell me what you're losing? They wouldn't have bought the book anyway. It's not like you're giving away a print book that cost actual money to produce. Once it's up on Amazon or B&N, it's just gathering virtual dust. If your book is ranked above 1 million, i.e. it's never selling, then what do you have to lose?
Before the book is published, you can put it on Goodreads and have reviews posted. You can put it for pre-order on Amazon and let reviewers know when it will go live. A half-dozen reviews appearing in the first week when you're promoting it will help.
I send copies of the finished book to all of my beta readers and ask them to post reviews. Post on Facebook groups that host authors.
Don't discount reviews. Many of the promo companies won't accept your ads unless you have a certain number of reviews.
For each release, I send letters to a couple of hundred book blog reviewers in the genre I write. I also get on the schedules for the various Goodreads groups that host reviews. A blog tour offering reviews is worth the money.
These are some good points to work on. I always try to let my readers know I appreciate the time they took to buy and read my work. I'm also going to add at the end from now on, what Martyn writes, worded differently of course. Don't want Martyn to think I'm copying:)I can't believe DRM doesn't work, though. That's unsettling. I guess if piracy was a successful way to steal our work, we would really feel it. I don't see a dent it's putting in the industry.
Groovy wrote: "These are some good points to work on. I always try to let my readers know I appreciate the time they took to buy and read my work. I'm also going to add at the end from now on, what Martyn writes, worded differently of course. Don't want Martyn to think I'm copying:)"I'm not the first to put this request at the end of my books, although the version I put up there has been polished by me. You can re-word that suggestion anyway you like it, just make sure you don't make the reader feel obligated to review your work.
Groovy wrote: "I can't believe DRM doesn't work, though. That's unsettling. I guess if piracy was a successful way to steal our work, we would really feel it. I don't see a dent it's putting in the industry."
I'm sorry to unsettle you, but it's quite easy to strip DRM from e-books. You don't need to be at some 'hacker' level. The main problem with the current DRM software is that it hinders the wrong people. You want to give your readers the ability to read an e-book they bought on any device they want.
And, yes, if you don't DRM your work, it can be easily pirated, but at least you won't piss off your paying customers. And you will get pirated anyway. Google 'Reprobate Martyn Halm' and you'll find free downloads of my novel on several pirate sites on the first five pages.
Main problem is that the file might be loaded with viruses, and might be an old file (a lot of the pirated versions still have the old cover). And it's pretty senseless - anyone who wants a free copy, can send me an email and they can receive a review copy in epub and mobi, with the request (not a stipulation) to review the book.
Plus, if you like my work, buying it ensures that I can afford to spend time on writing - I have a young family, so I have to squirrel away time to write. If my writing goes some way to paying the bills, it's easier to account for the time spend writing, editing, marketing, promoting, et cetera...
Martin,I hear you on the writing as I do the stay-at-home parent, chambermaid, chef, tailor, and so on. No time to actively promote / market, as well as sporadic time to edit or write means fewer sales.
Regarding free book files downloaded from pirate sites, the majority do have viruses, trojans, or other malware attached. As a rule I have less than no sympathy for those who download and wind up taking a loss financially from taking a file I too would give away if asked (as the kind of malicious code attached to those free books can lead to bank accounts being looted).
I tried the cease and desist thing with the first couple sites I found listing my work. The quick proliferation of new pirated listings showed it was a waste of time, as checking the back-trail showed most of the sites being run out of the PRC or Russia, and trying to enforce IPR in those jurisdictions would be an exercise in futility.
R.F.G. wrote: "I tried the cease and desist thing with the first couple sites I found listing my work. The quick proliferation of new pirated listings showed it was a waste of time, as checking the back-trail showed most of the sites being run out of the PRC or Russia, and trying to enforce IPR in those jurisdictions would be an exercise in futility."Oh, I agree totally. Pirates wouldn't be impressed by cease and desist letters. They're willfully engaging in illegal endeavours - it's not like they accidentally published your book as a free download.
(It's Martyn, by the way.)
I thought it was about reviews, but it's about Somali pirates
B.R. wrote: "I second what Martin V said. Yes, there are some people who will take your book and not write a review, but such is life. Tell me what you're losing? They wouldn't have bought the book anyway. It..."
Hey B.R., where do you take these 200 bloggers from?
Apologies Martyn, as twenty-month-old 0.8636M / 14.515Kilo demon swinging on me while I type means I screw up at times.In the PRC IPR is seen as a joke as imitation, plagiarism, and such are seen as good business practices.
If their download stats are at all reliable, as an unknown author my books have been downloaded over 20,000 times.
And no, those who knowingly engage in illegal activities usually won't respect anything short of incarceration at the least, and possibly not even that.
I've found the best way to generate reviews is to sell books. Then they come in organically. Guess I've been doing it wrong...?
Most avid readers may occasionally recommend a book to an acquaintance, but choose to never post a formal rating or review. Those that do like to rate and review some of the books they have read do so to share their personal opinion with other readers, not the author.A.W.'s observation is valid. The more copies of a book that are sold, the more reviews are likely to follow.
I agree with you Martyn and R.F.G., instead of going to all the trouble of downloading viruses and such just for a free book by an unknown author, all they have to do in most cases is ask. Thanks for helping me to understand that, Martyn, and not get worried about it.I would gladly give someone a free book if they asked. Even Bestselling authors would do it for a fan.
And I also find what A.W. stated to be true: that the more copies you sell, the more reviews you get.
Nik wrote: Hey B.R., where do you take these 200 bloggers from? There are thousands of book bloggers. They're all over Twitter, facebook and Goodreads. Find those who review Indie books in your genre and either fill out their form or send them a nice letter asking them if they will please read and review your book. It's very time consuming, and you'll get a lot of no answers and rejections. But the bloggers have street-cred. They'll not only post on Amazon and GR, but on their blog.
Sitting back passively may get you reviews. But if you want to get a lot of reviews, you need to be proactive. With 30,000 books published every month, you need to tell people you're there.
Groovy wrote: "I agree with you Martyn and R.F.G., instead of going to all the trouble of downloading viruses and such just for a free book by an unknown author, all they have to do in most cases is ask. Thanks for helping me to understand that, Martyn, and not get worried about it."I'm glad to have eased your mind about that issue.
B.R. wrote: "Nik wrote: Hey B.R., where do you take these 200 bloggers from? There are thousands of book bloggers. They're all over Twitter, facebook and Goodreads. Find those who review Indie books in your g..."
Thanks, B.R., I know there are many and I search and offer them my humble masterpiece proactively -:), I just thought you'd found some hidden resource where you they are all grouped together...
Nik, you might consider checking out the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages to find bloggers to review your book. Many of them accept digital copies (no cost to you to send), and there's a huge range of what people will accept. Some sites accept all genres in all formats, while some only read books that heavily feature cats. But there is something for everybody, and that's just one resource with hundreds of opportunities.
Hey Thomas, thanks a lot, great tip. I took a quick glance on the phone and it looks like excellent resource, which may save hours of search on the web
I'm a fellow indie author.I have a handful of reviews on each of my books.
I started off approaching hundreds of reviewers.
If you Google it, you'll find a couple of helpful links to review site lists. Carefully select the ones which review you genre!!
I sat for hours completing many many online forms (each seem to have their own version) and sent many emails. We're talking literally hundreds of very polite applications, offering a free mobi or pdf version of my book.
And yes, I have received some reviews.
If a new author has 'too many' reviews all at 5* I suspect foul play. There are groups around who will 'review' each others books, but only summarise from others' reviews and leave 5*. Or you can purchase them. Some very disreptuable folk out there sadly.
But I refuse to lower myself to that.
I genuinely want to hear what people think of my work.
If it could be improved I want to know how, so I can grow as an author (or if it's truly crap then at least I'd know to give up now!?). But fortunately, the reviews I've been lucky enough to get are lovely, so I'm hopeful I'm not completely wasting my time. ;-)
Hi T.L.,Thanks for sharing your point of view and the link. Unfortunately, I don't have hours to search for myself, so all those listings help saving a lot of time.
The reviews are important to some degree, but I wouldn't overestimate their value. And there is also this "verified purchase" thing, which importance I also rate low. But maybe it's just me.
Here is a website listing Amazon reviewers that I have been contacting by email. http://www.amazon.com/review/top-revi.... It was provided by Sandra Beckwith in her newsletter, Build Book Buzz.Check out the ones that review books not products and in your genre. Probably best to avoid the first 500 and start at around 501 as they are too busy or are not accepting books for review any longer.
I see first-time authors with hundreds of reviews. How? Why? Is there some publicity machine behind them? Do they know something the rest of us don't?
I know if there was some magic answer we would all be doing it, but is any interesting question. Any theories?