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Booksprout - any info?
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Pam
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Oct 11, 2020 07:51AM
As someone who is useless at getting reviews - have had people say they enjoyed my book and would do one but have never got round to it - I was interested to hear about this site on another Goodreads group where someone said she was using them to get reviews pre-publication. I would be delighted with post frankly! So would be interested if anyone has used them or had heard anything about them - https://booksprout.co/.
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Pam wrote: "As someone who is useless at getting reviews - have had people say they enjoyed my book and would do one but have never got round to it - I was interested to hear about this site on another Goodrea..."Just created an author account and put up my debut novel, first in the Pride's Children trilogy.
I have zero expectations, and would love to be pleasantly surprised.
Most of my 47 reviews were obtained by personally approaching reviewers I thought would enjoy PC. Some I found on their own sites, others through Goodreads. Each request email takes me a long time to produce, but I have about a 50% success rate getting reviews, and some of them are breathtaking. I especially like reviews on Amazon from older guys who often state they don't read this kind of book (mainstream contemporary literary fiction).
Alicia wrote: "Pam wrote: "As someone who is useless at getting reviews - have had people say they enjoyed my book and would do one but have never got round to it - I was interested to hear about this site on ano..."Oh that is good news, Alicia. Creating an author account will surely be helpful and interesting for you to watch.
I put up 'the' book; didn't realize they want you to do a limited time participation, but ended up signing for two weeks, starting now.So I should know fairly soon.
They don't even really have the right category, so it's unlikely they have many reviewers, but miracles happen sometimes, and it's free to try.
I'm not sure what their paid memberships do - it's all about the reviewers they have available, and that wasn't obvious.
Jim wrote: "I've not had any experience but google threw up thishttps://www.reddit.com/r/eroticauthor..."
Thanks Jim! I found that interesting. Seems there is a paid and a free subscription.
Alicia wrote: "I put up 'the' book; didn't realize they want you to do a limited time participation, but ended up signing for two weeks, starting now.So I should know fairly soon.
They don't even really have t..."
Thanks for being a guinea pig Alicia. Really interested to learn how you get on.
Pam wrote: "Jim wrote: "I've not had any experience but google threw up thishttps://www.reddit.com/r/eroticauthor..."
Thanks Jim! I found that interesting. Se..."
my gut feeling is that the free subscription won't produce much otherwise they'd never sell the paid :-)
Jim wrote: "Pam wrote: "Jim wrote: "I've not had any experience but google threw up thishttps://www.reddit.com/r/eroticauthor..."
Thanks Jim! I found that int..."
I'm sure you're right!
If the free subscription produces nothing, why would I want to pay?It's the worst loss-leader I've ever heard of!
I may just be cynical. It's just that I tend to judge the success of these outfits by the way the Amazon sales figures improve of the book (by which I mean, does the Amazon best sellers rank change)
I confess I tend to stand aside from the fuss about reviews. Unless they're posted on blogs, facebook or in newspapers and magazines Reviews only count if people see your Amazon page.As far as I can see, the big problem isn't getting the reviews, it's getting people to see your amazon page.
You do well - you should post those even more on your blog.I'm done with not blowing my own horn. It can be done tastefully, and as long as you link to the source, you can mention the good bits. Each Amazon review has its own separate URL.
I ask people who write these for permission - and am allowed to quote as much as I like of some of the really good ones - but you don't always know who they are.
These are not friends, but people I've met, persuaded to read, and then been blown away by when they review. I could never come up with some of the things they've said!
Yes my reviews seem to happen 'organically' as well :-)
Alicia, did you ever get any results with this?
Pam wrote: "Alicia, did you ever get any results with this?"I think the good reviews - ones written with some passion - ARE helpful in the long run. Getting them can be hard - I've put days into a single email to entice someone whose reviews I like to read Purgatory, only to be told some version of 'no.'
A good review is a gift of someone else's intellectual property.
Having good quotes to use means you're not praising yourself (something indies come up against all the time). I have all 50 so far stored in a Scrivener project, and use them where it seems appropriate (As a reviewer said, "...").
That way it's not just me. I prefer that, which is also why I started serializing the first book on Wattpad. In 2013, I believe, back when Wattpad had more grownups and let us talk to each other. My initial contacts led to comments on the serialized scenes, and people I later asked to give me my first reviews (or asked if I could us their comments).
So yes, I've gotten results. But it takes work.
Sorry - didn't go far back enough in the stream. Booksprout use to require you bring your own reviewers. They only managed them for you, from the ARC to nagging.Now, supposedly, they are going to let writers use their reviewers.
But I found the website and the FB group completely confusing - I don't know if they have enough reviewers of their own in my category to be worth aiming at them.
There's supposed to be March release of the 2.0 version that includes this - maybe wait? They're probably under time pressure.
Alicia wrote: "Sorry - didn't go far back enough in the stream. Booksprout use to require you bring your own reviewers. They only managed them for you, from the ARC to nagging.Now, supposedly, they are going to..."
Thanks Alicia. I haven't sorted out marketing yet, have to write a reader magnet before starting a newsletter, but I do keep seeing references to Booksprout being a place to get reviews (once I've done the foregoing) as unfortunately the small number of sales of my first published book haven't yet lead to reviews.
