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The post Getting Reviews, Finding Readers, and Creative Marketing Tips From The BookBaby Mailbag appeared first on BookBaby Blog.
By BookBaby author Steven Spatz
I have a question for the entire BookBaby community:
In my mind, the answer to this question is VERY! Writers need to know what the readers think, good or bad. As a reader and book consumer, reviews – or lack thereof – are often a big part of my buying process. A high number of good reviews may encourage me to take out the credit card. No reviews? It’s probably not going to happen.
That’s just me – I want to hear what you think! I’m inviting all authors to send me their thoughts about book reviews and how they helped – or hindered – their publishing experiences. My plan is to take the best-of-the-best ideas and report them in future BookBaby blog posts.
I’m looking for any useful information you have about your experience with book reviews so that I can share with our blog readers. Send an email to me at steven@bookbaby.com, and please be sure to include your contact information if I have any follow up questions.
Image via ShutterStock.com.
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This BookBaby blog article How important are reviews for self-published books? appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Jim Dempsey
“Writers are like prize fighters,” said Norman Mailer. “You wake up, sit down at your desk, put yourself through your paces – and wait for the critical blows to fall.”
And Mailer knew what he was talking about. Gore Vidal once likened his book The Prisoner of Sex to “three days of menstrual flow.” Some years later, Mailer saw Vidal at a party, threw a drink over him and punched him. As Vidal got up from the floor, he is said to have replied, “As usual, words fail him.”
As an independent author, working on your own, you can feel particularly vulnerable to those harsh critical blows. That’s especially true these days as critical reviews can appear not only in the established media but on book forums or even your own social network pages.
Unlike traditionally published authors, you don’t have an agent or publisher to turn to for objective advice. Instead, you can get angry, consider hitting back, worry about your writing, start thinking about changing your new book to suit the critics, or worse, consider giving up writing altogether.
So what can you do when confronted by a bad book review? Change your whole writing style because of some negative feedback, or persist in believing you know better?
You should always be open to feedback (providing it’s constructive), accepting that the novel you worked so hard on for the last three years might have some flaws, but you can still write the kinds of novels you really care about.
Easily said, but how do you go about it?
Whenever you get caught up in those thoughts of revenge, working out witty or angry retorts, or dwelling on the negative aspects of all the criticism, you use up a lot of time and energy that you could be putting into other things, such as your writing.
By going over and over the issue in your mind, you start to give the criticism more attention than it deserves, which leads to further anger and resentment. These emotions and thoughts can start to cloud your mind. You can think of little else. You then disconnect from the people around you, the people you care about, and you can become reactive.
You start acting impulsively, and that’s rarely a good idea.
The Internet is full of reports of authors who have hit back at critics, usually on Twitter these days (and often involving Brett Easton Ellis). Very few are successful in bringing public opinion back on their side, as Alice Hoffman found out, for example.
These articles bring even more publicity and the risk of even more harsh comments, and it’s easy to see how a vicious circle can start.
Also, that carefully constructed takedown might not be as perfect as you think. Few people write well when angry. “Rage impairs style,” said Zoë Heller of such matters.
Don’t give the critics a chance to think they were right. Instead, and admittedly this can be difficult, you could try to see how you can benefit from a negative book review. Try to see this as a learning opportunity. Maybe you could improve some aspects of your writing from the feedback you’ve had.
Take a moment to reflect and ask yourself if you will really benefit in the long run if you react impulsively. Do you want to let this criticism dictate your behavior? Will it help if you allow all those thoughts and emotions to consume you? Or would it be better to see it for what it is, someone else’s opinion, and get on with your writing, the one thing you really want to do?
It certainly won’t help to criticize someone who has criticized you. Don’t get defensive or demeaning. Don’t start arguing or disagreeing.
You might think that sending off an angry reply will relieve you of those uncomfortable feelings, but that relief is often temporary. You’ll more than likely start checking for a reply to your reply, looking for that apology, or some sign you’ve been vindicated, taking up even more of your precious time.
That’s not to say you should ignore those painful emotions. It’s very natural to be upset or even angry when you feel harshly judged. Acknowledge those feelings and your suffering. You’ve worked hard, put in a lot of time and effort, and a book is often a very personal work. You had expectations and it might look like those will never materialize now. It’s natural to feel the way you do.
But don’t give up. You can still use your talents to write about those feelings. What thoughts and emotions are you struggling with? Anger, frustration, resentment, sadness, fear, and rejection? Try to dig deep and work out why you feel that way. Why is this causing so much pain and anger? And write about it.
For once, don’t try to make it perfect prose, write what comes to mind, stream of consciousness style. Remember, this is not for publication! It’s for yourself, and you never know, you might find some inspiration or a few lines you can use in your next book. And then, you could take the opportunity to get even.
Take Tom Wolfe, for example. He hit back at not one but three critics, and big names too. After receiving poor reviews of his novel, A Man in Full, from John Updike, John Irving, and Norman Mailer (who really should’ve known better), Wolfe took his time and two years later published an essay in reply. It’s title pretty much says it all: “My Three Stooges.”
Image via ShutterStock.com.
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This BookBaby blog article How Writers Can Respond To Book Critics appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Steven Spatz
Excerpted from BookBaby’s latest guide, 5 Steps To Self Publishing, Part V of our series addresses why book reviews should be the cornerstone of your book marketing plan.
Book reviews should be the cornerstone of your book marketing plan. Most authors agree that reviews – good or bad – are critical to promoting your book, and here’s why:
Bottom line: More reviews equal more sales for authors and more invested readers. In addition, authors gain exposure to other book review sites, blogging communities, and book clubs.
The good news: There have never been more book reviewers available to the self-published author. But before you go hunting for reviewers, make sure you’ve got the essentials you’ll need to attract and engage with reviews. At the minimum you should have:
There are literally thousands of book reviewers and bloggers online, and most of them review books even though they aren’t paid. A quick search online can provide you with plenty of links, directories, and lists. We recommend sites like Midwest Book Review, Indie Reader, and Self-Publishing Review as a starting point.
Just as important as the “who” is the “how” of working with reviewers. Here are some ideas of how to engage and work with these very important people in your literary career:
This post was excerpted and adapted from 5 Steps To Self Publishing: All the essential information you need to go from manuscript to marketplace. Download your free copy today.
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This BookBaby blog article Book Reviews: The Ultimate Word Of Mouth Promotion appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author BookBaby
The 56-question BookBaby Self-Publishing Survey targeted two subgroups: authors who have published at least one book (either self-published, traditionally published, or both), and aspiring independent authors who have not yet published a book. The online survey was conducted between October 24, 2016 – November 28, 2016, and was completed by 7,677 aspiring and published authors.
Download your free copy
This report focuses primarily on revealing what marketing and promotional activities will enable self-publishers to increase exposure and sales of their titles. It examines the most popular marketing practices of the average author and the promotional activities employed by the most successful authors.
Today’s independent authors have a bounty of promotional and marketing tactics from which to choose, and it’s clear that very few are limiting themselves to just one or two options. Instead, to get the word out about their work, traditionally- and self-published authors alike are involved in everything from pre-sales and giveaways to launch parties and bookstore appearances.
Findings from our survey show that, on average, published authors engage in about 3.5 marketing tactics to promote their books. The research also shows that the most successful authors (those who have earned over $5,000 in sales in the past 12 months), are more active marketers than lower earners, engaging in 5.3 marketing activities per author compared to 2.2 activities respectively.
According to BookBaby President Steven Spatz, the variety of tactics authors employ may have something to do with the fact that self-published authors have more hope than ever that their efforts can blossom into a full-time career. “More self-publishers are taking their careers seriously these days,” he says. “Just as there are many different paths to fame and fortune in self-publishing, there are also many different paths to finding yourself in a traditional book deal.”
That said, a few specific tactics are especially popular with today’s authors. Soliciting book reviews stood out as the most common promotional effort among published authors. Published authors also expressed a strong predilection for social media as a marketing platform.
Given the importance of discoverability for authors who sell the majority of their print or eBooks through e-commerce platforms such as Amazon.com and its Amazon Kindle Store, it is not surprising that 51% of published authors responded that they have actively solicited reviews for their books. A good deal of those resulting reviews appear to be having the intended effect: 53% of those same published authors found their efforts to solicit reviews either “moderately effective” or “very effective.”
When soliciting book reviews, authors split their time fairly evenly among approaching book bloggers, Amazon reviewers, and beta readers. A good bit of weight is afforded to the opinions of book bloggers, who have been contacted by 42% of published authors in search of reviews. Yet there’s one group that receives book review requests with even more frequency than bloggers: friends and family. Over 61% of published authors have asked friends or family members to review their books.
To a large degree, authors who have been both traditionally- published and self-published have few qualms about earning negative book reviews, as long as the reviews continue to come in. When presented with the statement, “I would rather receive zero reviews on my book than any negative ones,” 63% disagreed or strongly disagreed with that statement.
Learn more – download your free copy of Revealed: The Methods Of Successful Independent Authors. Self-publishing’s largest survey uncovers how top-earning authors market and promote their books.
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This BookBaby blog article How Independent Authors Are Promoting Their Books appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author C. Hope Clark
Not long ago, I posted a piece on the Funds For Writers Blog about paying writers equitably. Here’s the abbreviated version I posted on Facebook:
“If you are a writer, ask to be paid for your work. If you are asking a writer to appear, pay them. If you read a book, pay for it. If you accept a free book, post a review. Anything else is eroding the careers of writers everywhere.”
I believe I touched a nerve, which is sometimes fun, but it also means I probably waded into a controversial topic that woke people up.
A lot of authors responded with rants about giving away “x” many books and not getting reviews. I can relate. I give away 100 books leading up to a new release, and less than 50 percent of the recipients stay true to their promise of a review. I get it, it’s difficult to read and review a book with your busy schedule, but it’s wrong to agree to review and not follow through. I’m always amazed by the people who DO follow through, and pained by the ones who do not.
That said, my point was really that, as writers, we tend to cannibalize our own. When you agree to act as a beta reader or reviewer, do you always follow through? As badly as we crave reviews for our own work, are we loyal to other writers by keeping up our side of the bargain?
When you receive a book, you can pay for it or review it. It’s as simple as that. If you find the hours to read a fellow author’s book, you can spare 15 minutes to review it.
What about all those generous souls giving away their books for free? My policy is to only take a free book if I intend to review it. Frankly, I prefer to pay for my books, because I prefer that people pay for mine. I also refuse to download a free book, preferring to at least pay $1.99 or more.
Yes, I give books away with the clear message that they are copies for review. And I follow up with these readers, against the advice of many in the industry. My system goes like this:
That’s it – no harassment. After a couple of months, you have the list of names of people who reviewed your work. You love these people, and you won’t mind asking them to review again in the future. They have proven they will follow through. You also know those who have not reviewed, and to not ask again.
With that frustration in mind: pay for books. If you receive one for free, feel highly obligated to review it. It’s a simple etiquette. It’s writers honoring writers.
Join Hope and a host of great presenters, speakers, and exhibitors at BookBaby’s Independent Authors Conference, November 3-5 at The Sonesta Hotel in Philadelphia! The Independent Authors Conference is the only writing conference dedicated to helping independent authors publish successfully. Register now! Don’t miss this opportunity to listen and learn from some of today’s leading self-publishing experts!
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This BookBaby blog article Do Unto Other Authors: Review A Book appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Shelley Hitz
Social proof is so important when marketing a book. I’ve launched dozens and dozens of books over the years, but it’s still a pain point trying to get reviews, and I know it’s the same for most self-published authors. Let me share a few tips on how to make getting book reviews on Amazon a little easier.
I found the easiest way to get reviews is to have my own book review team. Most authors won’t do this, even after I explain how powerful this has been for me, but for those of you who make the effort to set this up, it’s something that can help you for years to come.
Your first reaction may be, “Sounds great, but what if I’m not planning on writing more books?” Well… I wasn’t planning on writing more than one, I never thought I was going to do this full time, and here I am over 40 books later. Whatever your long-term plan is, start by setting up your book review team.
It starts with one person who says they’re willing to read and review your book. My list of 818 reviewers began with one single reviewer. You have to start somewhere.
When you find your first reviewer, ask him to sign up to your book reviewer list, and make it official by having a specific email subscriber list. Once you start building a list, follow up regularly and build your relationship. Keep these folks up-to-date with your plans for this and upcoming books. Communicate with them and let them know about future opportunities.
So many authors expect that every single person who offers to review their book will post a review. That’s just not realistic. Reset your expectations and recognize that this takes work, but it’s worth it. The key is to ask and follow up.
It’s hard to ask for reviews. It’s hard to put yourself out there and ask for help. Even though I know most of the people who follow me are generous and encouraging, it can still be uncomfortable to ask people for help. But it’s important, so I do it.
For Broken Crayons Still Color, I had 150 people on my beta team list, and another 18 who said they would review my book. As of now, I have 79 reviews posted. Following up was an important part of this success.
At first, I only had 18 people who said they were going to review, and that seems like a small number compared to the 150 in the beta group, but it was more than zero, and for that I was grateful. If you have one only review, just thank God for that reviewer and for that review!
What I usually do with the people who have agreed to post a review is to follow-up personally with a deadline. If I’m having a launch or a special promotion coming up, I usually give my reviewers two to four weeks to post the review. If they haven’t, I’ll follow-up and say, “Hey, I just wanted to reach out and see if you were able to post your review of my book. I have a special promotion coming up, so if you could post your review by this date it would mean the world to me.”
Even if they post the review after the deadline, it still means the world to me, but when you follow-up personally with a deadline, you get a lot more response.
One week I had maybe eight reviews. I followed up personally and I got to 38 posted. I knew more would come, and the number has now grown to 79.
Today, I have two book review teams that I’ve built over the last five years. These reviewers are very active: I always get responses and reviews posted when I ask them to review books.
I have my “Christian Reader” list, which is for my fiction and nonfiction Christian books. I also have an “Author” list that I use for books for authors and business books. This list is quite a bit smaller, but it’s very specialized.
So I encourage you to find reviewers, follow up, and get those honest reviews. Good luck!
Join Shelley and a host of great presenters, speakers, and exhibitors at BookBaby’s Independent Authors Conference, November 3-5 at The Sonesta Hotel in Philadelphia! The Independent Authors Conference is the only writing conference dedicated to helping independent authors publish successfully. Register now! Don’t miss this opportunity to listen and learn from some of today’s leading self-publishing experts!
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This BookBaby blog article Want reviews? Assemble a book review team. appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author BlueInk Review
Let’s face it, all book reviews are not created equal. You can ask all your friends and relatives to post book reviews on Amazon, but in a world increasingly skeptical of “fake news” and reviews, readers may regard them with suspicion. Industry players like booksellers and librarians may be even more likely to disregard these consumer reviews.
On the other hand, a professional book review from a noted source – established magazines and newspapers, trusted bloggers, review services – command credibility from the outset and can be used in ways consumer reviews cannot.
Professional reviews provide excellent content for your social media outreach. Posting a new review on your Facebook page or via Twitter lets you remind your friends and followers you have a book available. You might post, “Got a great book review from XYZ praising my ‘keen sense of character development’ … I’m honored!” and include a link to the full text. Do the same on all your social media platforms.
The more professional reviews you accumulate on your author website, the more potential readers will take your work seriously. Once you assemble enough of them, add a tab for “Book Reviews” at the top of your website and include excerpts and links to full reviews.
While self-published authors might include excerpts from friends and unknown sources on the back of their books, some readers might interpret this as an inability to find anyone else to vouch for the book. This is where a professional review can carry more weight. Post excerpts from these reviews – even reviews of older books of yours – on the front or back of your book jacket.
You should include a press release with your book when contacting mainstream press, bloggers, librarians, and bookstores. It can serve as an introduction to industry insiders so they can learn something about your book – and you – at a glance. An excerpt from a recent review at the top of the press release will catch attention, and if you’re fortunate enough to have a number of positive reviews, include excerpts on a separate page. If you’re sending out flyers or postcards to announce book signings, or making bookmarks to promote your title, include review excerpts on them as well.
One good review is terrific: three is even better. You’re more likely to get attention from a review source if you already have a glowing review on your press release and marketing materials. Use that initial positive review as leverage when reaching out to other reviewers. “My book just received a rave review from XYZ, who called me ‘the next-generation Elmore Leonard.’ Can I send you a copy?”
Amazon and Barnes & Noble both have designated spots for professional reviews, separate from those written by consumers, so readers know they come from unbiased sources. If you’re unfamiliar with how to go about posting in these spots, this blog post offers directions (at the half-way mark of the article).
Even if a book review didn’t sing your praises, it’s not a total loss. Set it aside for a little while and circle back to it after you’ve absorbed the disappointment. Try your best to consider the reviewer’s points as dispassionately as you can. The reviewer knows the genre and has read many books from a wide range of authors; his or her comments can help you when you make revisions or begin a new writing project.
At BlueInk Review, authors often tell us how a positive review gave them confidence and a sense of validation – which is no small thing. Writing is a solitary endeavor, and self-doubt can worm its way into your daily thoughts. A positive review from a professional source can turn that around and give you the confidence to submit your work to contests and other reviewers and promote with all your heart.
Patricia Moosbrugger is a literary agent and subsidiary rights specialist who co-founded BlueInk Review with Patti Thorn, former books editor of Denver’s Rocky Mountain News. BlueInk Review is a fee-based service that offers serious, unbiased reviews of self-published books. BlueInk reviews are penned by writers drawn largely from major mainstream publications, such as The New York Times and Washington Post, and editors of respected traditional publishing houses. Select reviews appear in Booklist magazine, a highly respected review publication that reaches 60,000 librarians.
If you are interested in receiving similar posts with tips on writing and book marketing, sign up for the BlueInk Review mailing list.
Join BlueInk Review and a host of great presenters, speakers, and exhibitors at BookBaby’s Independent Authors Conference, November 3-5 at The Sonesta Hotel in Philadelphia! The Independent Authors Conference is the only writing conference dedicated to helping independent authors publish successfully. Register now! Don’t miss this opportunity to listen and learn from some of today’s leading self-publishing experts!
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This BookBaby blog article How to Make the Most of a Professional Book Review appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Carl Pritzkat
A professional, independent review can validate an author’s hard work and can encourage readers to take a chance on an author they don’t know. The difficulty for independent authors is to find trusted third-parties who will review their books.
At Publishers Weekly, reviews are our core business. We receive over 25,000 submissions a year and we review almost 9,000 of them. These reviews tend to run two-to-three months in advance of the book’s release date and the primary audience for our reviews is booksellers and librarians who use our reviews to help make buying and acquisition decisions. In some library systems, a book can’t be acquired unless it has a Publishers Weekly review.
In 2010, we recognized that self-published books were becoming an important part of book publishing, so we started experimenting with reviewing them. By 2014, our bookseller and librarian readers were asking us to help determine which self-published titles were of professional quality, so we launched BookLife, which gives independent authors a FREE way to submit their books for PW review consideration.
While the BookLife program doesn’t guarantee a review — books are chosen on their editorial merit – since its launch, we’ve published thousands of reviews of self-published books. These reviews are no different than any other PW review: they run alongside other PW reviews in each issue of the magazine, they are searchable in our reviews database, and they are syndicated to PW‘s licensees like Amazon, Apple, Google, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor. And they are free.
In 2016, we launched the BookLife Prize, not only to give indie authors a chance to win a $5,000 cash grand prize but to give every author a chance to receive a guaranteed, publishable assessment from a PW reviewer. The 2019 BookLife Prize entry period is open for fiction titles until August 31, and this year we’ve added a nonfiction contest with its own $5,000 grand prize — that doesn’t open until October of this year.
This year, BookBaby has contributed nine social media ad packages (valued at $1,000 each) as a prize for all of the category finalists. Plus, BookBaby authors receive a special discounted entry fee of $75 by clicking here or using the promotional code BBABY when entering.
We encourage every independent author to take advantage of BookLife’s free Publishers Weekly review opportunity, and we also encourage you to participate in the BookLife Prize, where you have a chance to win great prizes and receive the type of feedback from an experienced, professional reviewer that can mean so much in promoting a book.
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This BookBaby blog article BookLife Offers Free Book Reviews for Independent Authors appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Scott McCormick
After taking about two weeks to incorporate the edits I received from my BookBaby editor, I was ready to take the plunge and move forward with the rest of my order. I called my Publishing Specialist, Patrick, and we had a very helpful conversation in which he explained everything I needed to do to upload my manuscript and enter all the design and distribution information. I will detail all of that in the next post, because before I moved forward with all of that, I contacted Smith Publicity for my third and final consultation.
According to Patrick and my Smith contact, Emma Boyer, most people who order the Amazon optimization consultation with Smith do so after their book is already published — probably because they are unsatisfied with their sales or their search engine ranking. There is nothing wrong with that, and if you are already published and want to boost your Amazon sales, it’s not a bad thing to do. (Like BookBaby’s other marketing consultation services, which I detailed in my second post, the Amazon optimization consult costs $399 for a one-hour phone call.)
However, a better time to have this conversation is before you upload your manuscript to BookBaby. Not only is it better to do it right the first time, so you’re firing on all cylinders right out of the gate, but it will save you the hassle of trying to fix it later on. Although Amazon is designed for authors to be able to change almost every part of their listing, if you are publishing through BookBaby, you have to ask BookBaby to make these changes for you. (My book isn’t published yet, so I can’t speak to how much of a pain this is or how long it takes. BookBaby is certainly happy to do this for you, and according to Emma, her clients who have used BookBaby have had no complaints, but I thought I would mention it.)
OK, so let’s get down to the details.
My entire phone call with Emma centered around the seemingly unexciting subject that is metadata. Metadata literally means “data about data,” but in terms of publishing, it is essentially all the information that will help readers find your book.
Obviously, Amazon is hugely important to authors. BookBaby makes your books available in many different bookstores, but Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla in the distribution room. This means you need to focus your attention on optimizing your metadata to get the best search results for Amazon’s search engine algorithm, and their rules are ever-changing and they often don’t make sense.
When you’re listing your book with Amazon, either through BookBaby or directly with Amazon, you will be asked to enter up to seven keywords. This may be the most important thing you have control over in terms of improving your search results. (A “keyword,” by the way, isn’t just one word, it is typically a two- to four-word phrase.)
According to Emma, Amazon doesn’t treat books any different than any other product. The same way you create a listing for your book is the same way someone creates a listing for selling dog treats. Knowing this, it’s good to step back and think of your book as a product, and the best way to do that is to think as an Amazon consumer would.
Go to Amazon and shop for something other than a book. As you type words in the search bar, Amazon will give you a bunch of suggestions based on popular searches by its customers, so you can see what keywords people are using to find that item. If I am looking for a pond filter, I type in the word “pond,” and these terms will pop up: “pond pump,” “pond filter,” “Ponds cold cream,” etc. Add the word “filter” and you’ll see more targeted suggestions, “pond filter media,” “pond filter for koi ponds,” etc. If you were selling pond filters, you would want to make a note of these suggestions to use them for your Amazon keywords. The same is true for your book.
I have written a humorous young adult fantasy novel. If a customer were searching for a book like mine, what would he/she type in? Well, if I type “humorous young adult,” the first thing that pops up is “young adult humorous fiction.” “Funny fantasy books” is another. My book, The Dragon Squisher, features dragons (believe it or not). If I type in “dragon,” I get a bunch of “dragon ball z” suggestions. If I add “fantasy” I get “dragon fantasy books.” That seems like a good keyword.
But there are other ways customers look for books. For example, Emma mentioned that if she were trying to buy a book for her niece, she might type in “book for five-year-old about kindness.” With that, a bunch of great-looking titles show up that seem to perfectly meet that criteria. So, rather than just focusing on the big picture, try to think about what themes may make your book different from other books of your genre and include keywords that might help readers searching for a book like yours. Maybe your book is a mystery but it also deals with LGBT issues, or perhaps you have a romance novel that also deals with addiction, or historical fiction that deals with coming-of-age issues, etc.
Lastly, think about books that are similar to yours. Try various searches and if those books are showing up, use those keywords for your book.
If you have ever struggled with a query letter, you will have a sense of how hard it is to write a good book description. Not only are you trying to craft an utterly compelling sales pitch for your book, you are also writing text that will be used for the Amazon search engine.
The best thing to do is to look at descriptions for titles similar to yours. Keep in mind that only the first 60-70 words are going to fall above the fold, or above the “Read more” link. This is the most important part of your description because people don’t usually click on that “Read more” link. So these 60-70 words need to be the right 60-70 words to sell your book.
Here’s a good description I found for Ghost Story by Jim Butcher:
Chicago wizard Harry Dresden gets a taste of the dead life in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
In his life, Harry’s been shot, stabbed, sliced, beaten, burned, crushed, and tortured. And after someone puts a bullet through his chest and leaves him to die in the waters of Lake Michigan, things really start going downhill.
Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in serious trouble. Only by finding his …
Fans of the Dresden Files series are going to buy this book anyway, but if you just happened upon this description while browsing, it would be hard to argue that those 61 words aren’t compelling.
Formatting tip: Most authors bold the first sentence of their description. Also, Emma told me to mention my book’s title in my description (to improve search results) and to make sure it appears in italics. (Amazon’s algorithm doesn’t know it’s a title unless it’s in italics.) BookBaby’s system doesn’t currently allow you to format your text in this manner, though Patrick assured me that once my listing is up, BookBaby can format that text for me.
When entering your book description on BookBaby’s website, you have the chance to write a short version (up to 2,000 characters) and a long one (up to 4,000). Amazon will include your longer description, and this is a good place to include your keywords. Experts recommend you include two or three keywords for every 100 words in your description. Honestly, I was so exhausted by writing and rewriting my description I didn’t have it in me to write a 4,000-character one.
My advice: take your time and do it right. If you think you’re going to be able to crank out a great book description in an hour, think again. Plan for a couple of days. Write it. Rewrite it. Give it to someone else to read. Rewrite it again. Run it through Grammarly to make sure there are no errors. Then enter it on Amazon or BookBaby.
This is how books are “shelved” on Amazon. You get three categories on Amazon. Give yourself as niche a category as you can so you can get a better ranking. My book is never going to be in the Top 100 in Children’s Books or Fantasy Books, so I need to get into a smaller category where I’m much more likely to get it in the Top 100, which makes Amazon push it more, which snowballs, etc.
Here’s a good example: William Henry Harrison by Gail Collins. Now, Collins’ subject matter is a US President, but Harrison is not exactly Lincoln or Washington, so just listing it under the U.S. President category is unlikely to get results. But she uses her categories wisely. Her book is listed thusly:
It’s that last category that led me to discover her book.
Her above-the-fold description, by the way, is pretty compelling:
The president who served the shortest term―just a single month―but whose victorious election campaign rewrote the rules for candidates seeking America’s highest office
William Henry Harrison died just thirty-one days after taking the oath of office in 1841. Today he is a curiosity in American history, but as Gail Collins shows in this entertaining and revelatory biography, he…
Note: If you want your book to be categorized as a children’s, teen, or young adult book, you will be asked to provide an age-range. For example, for teen and YA, the minimum recommended age as is 13-17 years old. Amazon will double check this as they are particular about children’s books.
Once your page is up… Double check it to make sure everything is the way it should be. Mistakes happen and you want to catch them ASAP.
While Amazon often changes its algorithm and it can be hard to know exactly what it uses for its searches, according to Emma, if people reach your page from links outside of Amazon, it boosts your book’s relevance. So when your page is live, post links to your Amazon book listing everywhere you can — from Twitter, Facebook, your website, author bios on guest blog posts — and encourage people to click on them.
Customer reviews are the number one thing Amazon shoppers look at, so whatever you can do to make sure you have good reviews the better. That means asking your friends and family to review your book as soon as it’s published. Verified reviews — meaning those by customers who purchased the book through Amazon — count more than unverified reviews. Be sure to tell people who are reviewing your book NOT to include a phrase like “in exchange for” (as in, “I am reviewing this book in exchange for a free copy provided to me by the author”). Amazon will consider that review invalid.
If you get blurbs or professional reviews, there is an editorial review section on Amazon, which is in your control. If you get a review or a blurb, be sure to reach out to BookBaby and ask them to put it in this section.
Like my other consultations with Smith, this phone call offered a ton of value. If you can only choose one of the three Smith consultations (Book Marketing Planner, Social Media, and Amazon Optimization), I would choose the Book Marketing Planner, which is going to offer you the biggest and most personalized bang for your buck. But there is no denying that having an expert help you drive sales on Amazon is invaluable. (Of course, my book’s not up yet, so we’ll see how good the results are. I’ll update this page when I have some data.)
My Self-Publishing Experience. Part 1: Placing An Order
Book Marketing and Social Media Promotion: My Self-Publishing Experience, Part 2
Book Editing: Part 3 Of My Self-Publishing Experience
Metadata Optimization For Your Book: My Self-Publishing Experience, Part 5
How To Get Cover Design And Formatting That Fits Your Story: My Self-Publishing Experience Part 6
Stay tuned for more adventures in self publishing. Still to come: design, printing, print on demand, and more. Comment below if you have any questions about any part of the publishing process, or if you feel like I left something out. And keep an eye out for my humorous YA fantasy novel, The Dragon Squisher, coming this Fall.
(Follow me on Instagram at authorscottmccormick!)
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Want reviews? Assemble a book review team.
This BookBaby blog article Amazon Optimization: My Self-publishing Experience, Part 4 appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Jessica Thiefels
When well-known authors publish new books, they generally have the resources and support from their publishers to build out a comprehensive marketing plan. But it’s a whole different story for self-published authors.
As a new author, you have to think outside the box for unique and cost-effective ways to promote your work and your author brand. While it can be challenging to get started, especially if you’re new to marketing, there are simple tactics you can use to be successful — and sell more books.
Social media is an effective tool to reach your audience, but you need to be careful how you approach your posts. Social media interactions should be a conversation. While there is room for direct promotion, your audience often isn’t interested in a sales pitch.
Instead, focus on organically creating or adding to a conversation or discussion with unique viewpoints and content. This helps you do two things:
Luckily, there are many free tools and engaging features now available to you. For example, Facebook Live or IGTV can be used to hold a live Q&A session based on comments from your readers. If your book is nonfiction, you can use social media to share tips from your book.
It’s also important to build your network of peers, friends and family who want to help spread your message. Ashley Pagano, author of the Never Fear the Reaper series, says she’s had success self-promoting with social media because of her network. “Having a good support system of fellow authors, bloggers, family, and friends helps the most, because just about everyone I know will share my posts from time to time.”
Conferences and speaking engagements are a great way to promote yourself and your book. You’ll stay connected with contacts and prospects through digital channels, but to make the most of your face-to-face interactions at the event, leave people with something tangible to take with them — like printed promotional items.
Business cards are important, but there’s more you can do. Maybe a postcard or a printed brochure. These items allows for plenty of text and images that you couldn’t include on a business card. Plus, postcards and brochures are small enough to toss into a swag bag and command more attention than a business card will.
You don’t even need to get a booth to hand out brochures — keep them in a book bag and hand them out as you walk around. Staple a business card to each brochure to make sure the people you meet can easily carry both.
Another way to gain exposure is by asking bloggers to promote you. You will likely have to offer a free copy of your book, but in return, you get potential positive reviews that will help you broaden your audience and drive book sales.
This process is simple enough to manage, even if you’ve never done it before. Use the following steps to get started.
If you’re new to this outreach process, I’ve published a guide, “How to Build Thought Leadership With Guest Posting,” to get you more familiar.
In addition to offering complimentary books to bloggers and influencers, consider giving your potential fans an opportunity to read your book for free. Donate copies of your book to local libraries and ask them if you can leave flyers or brochures behind as well. If you have a large following, you can even do a giveaway contest.
You can also consider publishing an eBook. As of 2017, 35 percent of eBooks downloaded through Amazon were from independent self-publishers. You can encourage readers to check out your book for free or at a discounted price by running promotions through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service.
Word-of-mouth marketing is still one of the best ways to encourage new readers to purchase your book. A study from BrightLocal found that more than 90 percent of millennials will trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Friends and family want to see you succeed, so asking them to review your book on Amazon is an easy way to drive excitement around your book by showing potential buyers that other people loved it. Ask them to post honest and authentic recommendations and if you’re still looking for reviews, take advantage of services like Booklife, which offers free reviews for independent authors.
It may seem like marketing your book is an uphill battle, especially for new authors. While success won’t come overnight, if you stick with it and focus on what you can do, you’ll start to see momentum — and ideally, some more book sales!
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This BookBaby blog article Five Simple Marketing Ideas Every New Author Can Use appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Scott McCormick
If anyone can lay claim to being the current master of horror for Middle Grade literature, it’s Dan Poblocki. Dan is the author of the Shadow House series, as well as such modern classics as The Nightmarys, The Ghost of Graylock, The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe, The Book of Bad Things, The Stone Child, and others. I knew from following Dan on social media that he would have a lot to offer our fellow writers, and we touched on everything from defeating writer’s block to writer’s groups and more. Even if you don’t write horror, I’m sure you’ll find much of what Dan has to say inspiring.
I’m fascinated by the creative process and am always interested in how other authors approach new projects. When starting a new novel, do you tend to start with a concept, a character, or something else?
Usually the concept comes first. Once I have an idea what the story can be, I start thinking about characters that can serve the themes of the story and how their personalities could create the most conflict. This conflict then drives the narrative. Of course, the setting is also pretty important, so that ends up somewhere in those initial brainstorms too.
Are you a pantser, a plotter, or somewhere in-between?
I started out as a pantser and fought vehemently against working from detailed outlines. But after creating several long series, like Shadow House, I realized that outlines are actually my friends. Now, I use them all the time. I like to think of outlines as living documents, so if I feel like the story is pulling me away from what I’d originally planned, I’ll allow myself to follow those new paths.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, are there things you do to break out of it?
All the time. And yes, I’ve found a few tricks that have helped get me through. Whenever the block is really bad, I give myself a writing goal of one paragraph per day. This brings me to the computer, where I might not otherwise have chosen to go. Often, I’ll write much more than that one paragraph. Even if I do end up with only one paragraph, I congratulate myself on accomplishing my goal. It’s important to be kind to yourself. Your writing brain will thank you for it.
Another technique I’ve used is to open my notebook and just write the words “you can do this” over and over, until I fill a page or two. This triggers something in my mind that allows me to take off running, literarily speaking. It’s like a warm-up before exercising. A more recent method I’ve discovered is using time-management apps on my phone to keep me focused. My favorite is called Bear Focus Timer, which allows me to do writing sprints, 20 minutes or so, with five-minute breaks in between each sprint. I set the number of sprints to three or four before I need a longer break. The fun thing about the app is that the timer only runs if your phone is face-down, so you can’t check it. And if you DO check it, this cute image of a bear pops up and scowls at you! If I need to do lots of writing really quickly, this method is the most effective.
After you’ve written a first draft, how long before you dive in to do a rewrite? Do you ever feel like you need to take some time away to get some perspective?
Depending on how quickly I need to turn in that draft, I will usually try and stay away from it for about five to seven days before hopping back in. Sometimes longer if the book isn’t due to anyone.
Do you have a favorite scene in one of your books? If so, which one and why?
I guess I’ve always really loved the scene in The Nightmarys where Timothy is attacked in his home by a giant painting of a fire-breathing dragon. (Spoiler-alert: He defeats it with an old tin of turpentine he finds in his garage.)
Are there books or ideas you’ve had sitting around for a while that you’re unsure how to write?
Absolutely. Self-doubt is a real jerk. But the thing about novels is that each one you write is a lesson. Each experience I’ve had has helped me grow as a writer. So maybe, one day, I’ll feel confident enough to tackle those weirder ideas.
In an interview with Awake at Midnight, you mention you’ve never really had to pull back in terms of making a story too scary (with the one exception being excessive graphic violence.) Do you still feel that way? Have you ever written or thought of something you thought might be too dark or disturbing for kids?
I’ve actually been thinking lately of writing even darker and more disturbing stories. Every reader has a threshold, and if something is too scary, kids know how to put a book down or to not even approach it in the first place. When I was young, I wanted capital-S Scary Stories. I’m happy that I was able to find them, read them, and then cower beneath my covers. For some reason, I loved that feeling. But I understand not everyone else does.
The thing about horror is you never know what’s going to freak someone out. Have you ever gotten any feedback from readers that something was too frightening or disturbing for their kids?
I haven’t gotten that feedback from anyone who’s actually read my books. I’ve heard plenty from people who haven’t read my books, but I tend to ignore those people.
Do you read reviews, both from professionals and from readers? Have you ever come across feedback that has positively affected your writing? Any negative feedback that’s gotten under your skin?
I think reading reviews is a bad idea, especially for me. Once the book is out in the world, I can’t do anything to change it, so it doesn’t help to know what Goodreads members are saying about it. As for the professional reviews, each book is not for every person, so I try to not let the occasional negative one creep under my skin. It’s taken me a long time to learn this!
Do you still participate in writing groups? Who do you turn to for feedback?
When I moved out of Brooklyn a few years ago, I felt like I’d left my beloved writing community behind. Only recently have I started connecting with some writers in the Hudson Valley. There are a ton up here! But for professional feedback, I still reach out to some trusted writer friends in NYC.
Your Twitter feed is one of my favorites. You always have fun and interesting things to say and I really enjoyed your recent 31 horror films in 31 days series. Do you spend a lot of time coming up with content for social media? Was there a conscience decision about who your social media personality would be? Are there things you definitely do not want to post about, like politics?
Well thanks! I have mixed thoughts about social media and Twitter, in particular. It’s fun to participate in events like sharing all the horror films I watch every October. Commiserating with other writers keeps me from feeling isolated. I don’t spend much time planning what I post. I feel like my feed is a mix of my own book news and promotional stuff as it happens, as well as really dumb thoughts that come through my mind in the middle of the night. My personality online is pretty earnest and silly, just like in real life. The trolling culture of these sites is awful, and I’ve seen the devastating effects it can have on friends’ psyches. It almost makes me want to delete my accounts. I also understand that it’s important as an author to try and participate. Because of the trolling, I do try to stay away from politics — from the national stage to opinions about Star Wars — but sometimes I can’t help myself.
Are there horror tropes you adore? Are there horror tropes that annoy you or turn you off?
I’m game for all the horror tropes. Witches are a recent favorite. The only thing I really hate is gratuitous violence that doesn’t serve the story, doesn’t reframe or reinforce the audience’s expectations, or doesn’t inform the audience about character.
If you could choose a film director to adapt one of your books, who would be your first choice?
I’d love to see what Karyn Kusama would do with a creepy kids book adaptation. She directed the under-appreciated Jennifer’s Body and another recent favorite called The Invitation.
What’s the scariest horror film you’ve ever seen?
It’s so subjective, of course, but one movie that left me trembling was Jacob’s Ladder. The scene where Jacob is strapped to the gurney and brought through those twisting hallways into the surgery room caused me many a nightmare. Another is It Follows. I suppose you could sum this one up by saying it’s a story about teens in the suburbs dealing with a sexually-transmitted demon? The world in which it exists is so close to our own and yet, different. Almost imperceptibly. It’s such an intense and effective film, with only a few jump scares but plenty of creeping dread. Some of the images are so disturbing, I doubt they’ll ever leave my mind.
What’s your favorite, recent horror novel?
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. It’s about a family, one of whose daughters is troubled, and may or may not be possessed. I don’t want to say too much more, except that it has one of the most twisted, chilling endings I’ve ever read.
Learn more about Dan at www.danpoblocki.com and follow him on Twitter @DanPoblocki.
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This BookBaby blog article Meet Middle Grade Horror Master, Dan Poblocki appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Steven Spatz
Reviews are important to authors — and everyone else outside of the publishing industry. Not long ago, the Pew Research Center found that two-thirds of regular review readers believe reviews are “generally accurate” and a full 82 percent of American adults said they “sometimes or always” read online reviews before making new purchases. And it’s worth noting that negative reviews, in particular, appear to dramatically influence buying behaviors.
So that means authors should pay close attention to reviews and use them as metrics for the quality of our art. Right?
No, not exactly.
Consider the online reviews available for the Great Wall of China, perhaps the most recognizable symbol of China’s vast and storied history. Construction of the Great Wall began in 7th Century B.C. as a military defensive line to defend against invasions from northern nomadic nations and took 2,500 years to complete. It is ancient and was effective. The online reviews would likely reflect that, right?
Not exactly.
Consider this one-star review: “The wall is broken in lots of places, and it costed me all of my money to get there and i did not know what the natives were speaking.”
Or this: “I don’t see the hype in this place it’s really run down and old… why wouldn’t you update something like this? No usb plug ins or outlets anywhere.”
Negative reviews are a part of life and, now that everyone can share online, they are often grounded in dubious logic and should not be taken too seriously.
But, even before the Internet, reviews and opinions were pervasive — and not always reliable. Long ago, I was a sportswriter for a small-town daily newspaper in Roseburg, Oregon. When I’d report — accurately, mind you — that little Jimmy fumbled twice in the big game, I’d get angry letters criticizing me. This was decades before email. These readers wrote in glaring red ink on paper and mailed these reviews in. Since the letters mentioned me, I had the duty of typing each complaint into the newspaper myself.
This was my first job out of college and it was my first experience with this kind of critique. It was devastating, at first. How could so many people seem to not like my work — or me for reporting the facts?
It didn’t take long for me to develop a thicker skin, mainly because I had to. There wasn’t a mechanism to respond to critics back in the day. I had no choice but to brush them off, put on a smile, and keep reporting the facts.
Brushing off criticism is something all creators must know how to do — because most negative reviews don’t matter.
Some, however, matter a lot. In these cases, you won’t be able to just shrug off a negative review. Sometimes, especially if the review pertains to your company or a process you’re otherwise in charge of, it’s crucial that you respond and take the review seriously. In these scenarios, a response is sometimes necessary.
1. Do not let your emotions do the talking. It’s hard not to take negative reviews personally. But responding to a negative review — via email, your website, on social media — with an angry or defensive outburst is guaranteed to make things worse. Others will see your angry response and interpret it as proof that the negative review was, in fact, warranted.
Instead, take a deep breath (and maybe a few hours or a day) and respond when you are calm and removed from the intensity of the moment. If you’re unable to reach a tranquil perspective, consider passing off the task of responding to someone on your staff (or in your circle) who is perhaps less connected to the issue in question.
2. Learn what you can from the review and use it to make things better. In business, this is particularly important if the review in question focuses on things like:
In fact, if you identify evidence of wrongdoing on your part or by people you’re responsible for, it behooves you to get to the bottom of it. It’s a matter of being responsible and proactive.
Often, whatever your line of business, negative reviews can teach you a lot about your product or service or can shed light on areas where you can improve. Smart executives use such reviews as an opportunity to make their business better.
3. If you’ve done something wrong, respond quickly, and seek to make things right. At BookBaby, when we receive a negative review or message that we think necessitates a response, here’s what we do:
At the end of the day, negative reviews are a part of life and, often, they’re not worth listening to. Sometimes, they are. And when they are, it’s critical you handle it with professionalism and grace.
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This BookBaby blog article Negative Reviews Are Part Of Life appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Shelley Hitz
Social proof is so important when marketing a book. I’ve launched dozens and dozens of books over the years, but it’s still a pain point trying to get reviews, and I know it’s the same for most self-published authors. Let me share a few tips on how to make getting book reviews on Amazon a little easier.
I found the easiest way to get reviews is to have my own book review team. Most authors won’t do this, even after I explain how powerful this has been for me, but for those of you who make the effort to set this up, it’s something that can help you for years to come.
Your first reaction may be, “Sounds great, but what if I’m not planning on writing more books?” Well… I wasn’t planning on writing more than one, I never thought I was going to do this full time, and here I am over 40 books later. Whatever your long-term plan is, start by setting up your book review team.
It starts with one person who says they’re willing to read and review your book. My list of 818 reviewers began with one single reviewer. You have to start somewhere.
When you find your first reviewer, ask him to sign up to your book reviewer list, and make it official by having a specific email subscriber list. Once you start building a list, follow up regularly and build your relationship. Keep these folks up-to-date with your plans for this and upcoming books. Communicate with them and let them know about future opportunities.
So many authors expect that every single person who offers to review their book will post a review. That’s just not realistic. Reset your expectations and recognize that this takes work, but it’s worth it. The key is to ask and follow up.
It’s hard to ask for reviews. It’s hard to put yourself out there and ask for help. Even though I know most of the people who follow me are generous and encouraging, it can still be uncomfortable to ask people for help. But it’s important, so I do it.
For Broken Crayons Still Color, I had 150 people on my beta team list, and another 18 who said they would review my book. As of now, I have 79 reviews posted. Following up was an important part of this success.
At first, I only had 18 people who said they were going to review, and that seems like a small number compared to the 150 in the beta group, but it was more than zero, and for that I was grateful. If you have one only review, just thank God for that reviewer and for that review!
What I usually do with the people who have agreed to post a review is to follow-up personally with a deadline. If I’m having a launch or a special promotion coming up, I usually give my reviewers two to four weeks to post the review. If they haven’t, I’ll follow-up and say, “Hey, I just wanted to reach out and see if you were able to post your review of my book. I have a special promotion coming up, so if you could post your review by this date it would mean the world to me.”
Even if they post the review after the deadline, it still means the world to me, but when you follow-up personally with a deadline, you get a lot more response.
One week I had maybe eight reviews. I followed up personally and I got to 38 posted. I knew more would come, and the number has now grown to 79.
Today, I have two book review teams that I’ve built over the last five years. These reviewers are very active: I always get responses and reviews posted when I ask them to review books.
I have my “Christian Reader” list, which is for my fiction and nonfiction Christian books. I also have an “Author” list that I use for books for authors and business books. This list is quite a bit smaller, but it’s very specialized.
So I encourage you to find reviewers, follow up, and get those honest reviews. Good luck!
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This BookBaby blog article Want reviews? Assemble a book review team. appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author BlueInk Review
Let’s face it, all book reviews are not created equal. You can ask all your friends and relatives to post book reviews on Amazon, but in a world increasingly skeptical of “fake news” and reviews, readers may regard them with suspicion. Industry players like booksellers and librarians may be even more likely to disregard these consumer reviews.
On the other hand, a professional book review from a noted source – established magazines and newspapers, trusted bloggers, review services – command credibility from the outset and can be used in ways consumer reviews cannot.
Professional reviews provide excellent content for your social media outreach. Posting a new review on your Facebook page or via Twitter lets you remind your friends and followers you have a book available. You might post, “Got a great book review from XYZ praising my ‘keen sense of character development’ … I’m honored!” and include a link to the full text. Do the same on all your social media platforms.
The more professional reviews you accumulate on your author website, the more potential readers will take your work seriously. Once you assemble enough of them, add a tab for “Book Reviews” at the top of your website and include excerpts and links to full reviews.
While self-published authors might include excerpts from friends and unknown sources on the back of their books, some readers might interpret this as an inability to find anyone else to vouch for the book. This is where a professional review can carry more weight. Post excerpts from these reviews – even reviews of older books of yours – on the front or back of your book jacket.
You should include a press release with your book when contacting mainstream press, bloggers, librarians, and bookstores. It can serve as an introduction to industry insiders so they can learn something about your book – and you – at a glance. An excerpt from a recent review at the top of the press release will catch attention, and if you’re fortunate enough to have a number of positive reviews, include excerpts on a separate page. If you’re sending out flyers or postcards to announce book signings, or making bookmarks to promote your title, include review excerpts on them as well.
One good review is terrific: three is even better. You’re more likely to get attention from a review source if you already have a glowing review on your press release and marketing materials. Use that initial positive review as leverage when reaching out to other reviewers. “My book just received a rave review from XYZ, who called me ‘the next-generation Elmore Leonard.’ Can I send you a copy?”
Amazon and Barnes & Noble both have designated spots for professional reviews, separate from those written by consumers, so readers know they come from unbiased sources. If you’re unfamiliar with how to go about posting in these spots, this blog post offers directions (at the half-way mark of the article).
Even if a book review didn’t sing your praises, it’s not a total loss. Set it aside for a little while and circle back to it after you’ve absorbed the disappointment. Try your best to consider the reviewer’s points as dispassionately as you can. The reviewer knows the genre and has read many books from a wide range of authors; his or her comments can help you when you make revisions or begin a new writing project.
At BlueInk Review, authors often tell us how a positive review gave them confidence and a sense of validation – which is no small thing. Writing is a solitary endeavor, and self-doubt can worm its way into your daily thoughts. A positive review from a professional source can turn that around and give you the confidence to submit your work to contests and other reviewers and promote with all your heart.
Patricia Moosbrugger is a literary agent and subsidiary rights specialist who co-founded BlueInk Review with Patti Thorn, former books editor of Denver’s Rocky Mountain News. BlueInk Review is a fee-based service that offers serious, unbiased reviews of self-published books. BlueInk reviews are penned by writers drawn largely from major mainstream publications, such as The New York Times and Washington Post, and editors of respected traditional publishing houses. Select reviews appear in Booklist magazine, a highly respected review publication that reaches 60,000 librarians.
If you are interested in receiving similar posts with tips on writing and book marketing, sign up for the BlueInk Review mailing list.
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This BookBaby blog article How to Make the Most of a Professional Book Review appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
By BookBaby author Steven Spatz
Book reviews have been around forever. A 9th Century work of Constantinople Photius is composed of 279 reviews of books he read, which makes it the first set of book reviews on record.
While authors have what we might call a love/hate relationship with reviews and reviewers, book reviews are incredibly important to your book marketing plan, which should also include:
Success begets success, and that’s basically what reviews do, they give you initial success, like priming a pump, but I like a much more recent term to describe what reviews provide: social proof.
So, yes, this is pretty basic stuff — you get a lot of reviews, you appear to be popular, it’s human nature that other people will be curious: “Oh, this book has a lot of reviews, I’ve got to check it out.”
This can lead to a snowball effect, even if they aren’t all five-star reviews.
Amazon recognizes how important reviews are and they have brand-new, sophisticated algorithms that look for the number of reviews a book has and what the ratings are, and a large number of good reviews is going to bring you up in the rankings. So it’s not just about these reviews appearing on your book’s page, Amazon will help by putting your book in front of readers as you get more positive reviews.
And it’s not just individual readers. Book clubs, bookstores, blogging communities, even filmmakers looking to option books might take notice. So reviews can drive awareness, and it’s more than just making sure you have some nice things posted about your book.
Though, don’t forget, word of mouth is the greatest form of marketing.
85 percent of the books sold these days are selling through Amazon and other online portals, so getting validated by influencers/reviewers becomes increasingly important. So I advise that you spend some time and effort — and maybe even some money — to get reviews to start the ball rolling.
I encourage you to start by making a “review ask list” and spend 30-60 minutes a day trying to solicit reviewers. So, who’s on the list?
Looks good, except that Amazon has new and constantly changing rules in place, including this really important bit straight from Amazon’s community rules:
We don’t allow individuals who share a household with the author or close friends to write Customer Reviews for that author’s book.
This means Amazon is going to take a hard look at all of your reviews. I believe they know who you’re sending gifts to at Christmas — they look at your address list — so if you sent your buddy Mike a Christmas gift last year, even if he lives on the other side of the country, and you ask Mike for a review, it’s probably not going to be accepted by Amazon because his name and contact information are in your address book.
And this might hang up your other reviews, as you’ll draw more scrutiny. Even reviews that are legit will be looked at sideways.
So pay attention and review Amazon’s community guidelines before you do any serious work looking for reviews.
If you’re thinking you can get a bunch of cheap reviews and flood your Amazon page with them, let me tell you a story about an indie author named John Locke. About 10 years ago, he launched a self-publishing career. He had a very slow start, he self-published a few books, then all of a sudden his sales went crazy. He had four titles in the Top 10 Best-Sellers, he sold over a million eBook copies of his nine Donovan Creed novels, and he was celebrated by the publishing industry as the first self-published author to really achieve a high level of success.
He even had the gall to write a book, How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!, and it listed all his hard work and pricing strategies and … it just wasn’t true.
The New York Times published an article in 2012, “The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy,” and cited John Locke as example. Turns out, he used a website called “Getting Book Reviews,” and for something like $5 each, he bought 300 book reviews that were just completely fake and loaded them onto his Amazon page.
That got the got the algorithm thinking, “Looks like he’s popular,” which caused it to serve his book to more people, which prompted folks to buy his books — and it was all a facade. Then he was vilified by the publishing community, which is when Amazon really went to work to determine which book reviews were legitimate and which weren’t.
Amazon does accept unpaid and paid reviews.
Customer Reviews are written by a reader — someone who ideally bought the book and who assigns a number of stars (1–5). Most authors are referring to Customer Reviews when they reference “Amazon reviews.”
An Editorial Review is a formal evaluation of a book, usually written by a professional reviewer or expert within a genre. These are also called blurbs, endorsements, and testimonials.
Here are four paid services that Amazon recognizes as legitimate:
You’re probably going to get a favorable review from all of these sources, but it’s not guaranteed. I know people who’ve gotten bad reviews — these sources really do read the books, and their reviews will end up on the editorial section.
You can expect to wait four to six weeks, though you might be able to expedite them, and the prices range from anywhere from $100–$600.
You can apply for a Publishers Weekly review for free, though there’s fierce competition and no guarantee you’re going to be chosen — though they do hundreds of self-published books every year.
There’s also Book Life, PW’s side publication, and you can buy a book review from them. It’s completed in about six weeks, it’s about 300 words, written by a qualified reader. That’s all they do, all day long, is read books and write reviews.
Do an internet search for “book reviewer,” or go to Amazon itself and it lists its Top Customer Reviewers. Filter them out for book reviewers, then click on the links to see what they’ve reviewed.
Avid readers actually follow their favorite reviewers. If a reviewer has reviewed five books a reader loves, they’ll start following where the reviewer goes and look to the reviewer to help them discover new books.
Look at the reviewer’s website and read the submission guidelines. All reviewers are different, some want a chapter, a sentence, a few sentences… give them what they want how they want it.
Compose what I call a query package, which includes a pitch message for the reviewers. Tailor it to make it as personalized as possible.
A sample letter might read:
Hi [Reviewer’s Name]
My name is Steven Spatz, my latest sports thriller, Duck Turns Into A Falcon, was released May 1st through BookBaby. I have attached the cover image.
Here’s a brief synopsis:
[Synopsis of this amazing football redemption story]
I’m currently looking for reviewers and wondered if you’d be interested in receiving an advanced reading copy (ARC) of the book for review. All eBook formats are available.
One nice thing is you can send eBooks out before the actual print books are dropping in your in your pre-sale period.
Know your genre. Don’t waste your time on any reviewer who isn’t experienced in your genre. The more you can narrow down in the niche, the better off you’re going to be.
Get professional editing. I shouldn’t even have to mention this, but if you’ve got an unedited book full of typos, you shouldn’t be talking to reviewers in the first place.
Don’t expect reviewers to pay for their review copy. They’ll give you free publicity, the least you can do is pay for review copies.
This is totally legit for Amazon. Amazon accepts and knows that these reviewers are not buying their books. And remember, these folks are very busy, they get dozens of requests a week, so give them a few weeks before nudging them gently with a reminder.
Send a thank you note. If you get a review, a thank you note is always a good idea.
I would recommend targeting 20 reviewers at a time, wait a week, and then go back in find another 20. If you get two or three of these people interested from each batch of 20, you’d be doing well.
There’s more! Watch the full BookBaby Live presentation.
Related Posts
Metadata Optimization For Your Book: My Self-Publishing Experience, Part 5
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The Lessons Of John Locke’s Self-Publishing Career
How To Create An Author Newsletter Subscribers Love
Does Advertising Guarantee Book Sales?
This BookBaby blog article How To Get Book Reviews appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .
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