Book reviews are an essential element of any book marketing plan. This guest post by Desiree Villena provides some great tips for getting those reviews.
Whether you’ve written a brilliant new novel, a life-changing self-help book, or an innovative volume of business advice, you’ll need a plan for getting it into people’s hands.
And regardless of your topic or target audience, that plan should always take book reviews into account. After all—to paraphrase the old thought experiment about a tree falling in a forest—if no one’s heard of your book online, does it even really exist?
For readers, the answer might as well be no. Fortunately, getting reviews for your book is easier than you might think, as long as you know which paths to pursue. This post presents five tactics to help you gain book reviews and attract new readers—tips that you can apply to both your current book and all future publishing endeavors. Let’s start with a slightly radical suggestion for authors who may not be used to operating outside the digital sphere.
1. Send physical copies of your book
Despite the growing popularity of ebook services like NetGalley and Kindle Unlimited over the past few years, the truth is that most readers still prefer physical copies of books—and that many reviewers are more tempted by hard copies as well. It follows that if you want someone to review your book, particularly if they’re in high demand as a reviewer, sending them a physical copy is one of the best ways to grab their attention.
This makes your request harder to ignore on both a practical level (it’s an object sitting in front of them, rather than a file they can easily delete) and an emotional level (they’ll be touched by the personal effort you put into sending it). Not to mention there’s just something so intriguing about a shiny new copy of a book—especially if it’s an advance copy with a beautiful cover—that most reviewers will leaf through at least the first couple pages.
Still not convinced? Take it from book publicist Ben Cameron, who recently gave us some of his best tips for reviewer outreach. “Around fifty percent of reviewers usually want a printed copy of your book instead of an ebook,” he notes. “And a book that lands with a thump on somebody’s desk is much more difficult for them to mentally get away from [than a digital copy].”
Can’t argue with those stats, or that expertise. As long as you can afford the shipping costs, sending physical copies of your book to reviewers is an investment you won’t regret.
2. Take advantage of every possible source
Reviewer platforms come in all shapes and sizes. A Tweet of approval from a well-known author or expert in your subject matter can be just as valuable as a thousand-word review. And when it comes to book review blogs, site traffic often doesn’t matter nearly as much as the relationships that bloggers build with their readers.
What we’re trying to say is: don’t discount any source of book reviews, even if that source doesn’t seem like a typical “reviewer platform.” Twitter, in particular, can be hugely influential—if you’re an author and you don’t already have a Twitter account, set one up and start following tastemakers in your field. You never know who might follow you back and happen to notice you’ve written a book (which you should keep in your Twitter bio at all times).
And again, those intimate, carefully cultivated review blogs can be very helpful for getting your book into the right hands. So when you reach out to book bloggers, focus on smaller, more niche, and potentially less-trafficked blogs. Not only will there be less competition for reviews, but these bloggers also have devoted readers who listen to their recommendations, meaning the proportion of blog readers buying your book will be much higher.
Going back to Twitter, make sure to use it—and all social media—to bolster reviews coming from every platform. Linking to a positive blog review in a pinned Tweet might be just the push that one of your followers needs to read your book and then Tweet about it themselves. All of this has a positive feedback effect, which is exactly why it’s so advantageous to tap into as many sources as possible for your reviews.
3. Have reviewers cross-post to Amazon and Goodreads
That said, we can’t deny that Amazon and Goodreads are still the most important review hubs, as that’s where the majority of people look first. So if your reviewers aren’t cross-posting to at least one of these powerhouses, it’s imperative that you gently-but-firmly request that they do so. (Unfortunately, both Amazon and Goodreads frown upon reposting reviews for your own book, even if you link back to the original post.)
The good news is that most reviewers don’t mind cross-posting their reviews to these sites—after all, it helps them gain visibility too. Some even have a little signature at the end of each Goodreads review, encouraging readers to visit their personal blog. Despite the mutual benefits for author and blogger, however, reviewers often forget to cross-post, which is why it’s perfectly acceptable to remind them: “Thanks so much for the review! Would you mind also posting it to Amazon and/or Goodreads? I’d love for more readers to see what you said.”
Ben Cameron points out that NetGalley reviewers are particularly prone to single-posting rather than cross-posting, perhaps because they’re hesitant to post about books that haven’t been released publicly yet. “If you get a book review on Netgalley, it tends to just sit there,” Cameron says. “But if you, the author, ask people to post it on Amazon or Goodreads, they usually will.” So keep on eye on those NetGalley reviewers, especially since early reviews can be critical.
The moral of the story is that it never hurts to ask about cross-posting—unless it’s a negative review, of course. (But any author with a modicum of self-preservation seems unlikely to make that mistake). Otherwise, request away; as with Tweeting about your reviews, maximizing the reach of Amazon and Goodreads will only help your sales in the long run.
4. Quote reviews in your book description
If you’re a self-publishing author, you’ll be in charge of all the metadata for your book, including the book description on Amazon and other retailers. While you’ve hopefully put quite a bit of research and thought into this description, there’s always room for improvement—especially once you have a few good reviews in your corner. Updating your description with quotes from these reviews is a fantastic way to not only attract more readers, but also additional reviews.
In terms of which review(s) to feature in your description, you should focus on three main factors: positivity, name recognition, and distinctive phrasing. You’ll want to quote reviews that cast your book in a positive light, but you should also prioritize reviews from recognizable, reputable sources, and only quote the most memorable lines of each review. Avoid generic, underwhelming phrases like “this was a great book” or “you have to read it!”—the more unique and specific the quote, the better.
As a first-time author, you’ll likely have to rely on strong quotes from lesser-known reviewers, but over time you can leverage these for reviews from bigger names. When you finally receive a positive review from an esteemed publication like Kirkus or Publishers Weekly, get a pull quote at the top of your book description immediately. You might even consider redoing your cover or back cover to feature one or two of these quotes; it’s impossible to overstate the value of this social proof, which will impress both readers and other reviewers.
5. Give your book away for free
Let’s bring this post full-circle with a final tip that’s once again a bit radical, but very effective: if you’re struggling to obtain reviews, consider giving your book away for free. This can be either a limited-time promotion or a perma-free offer, depending on which retailer(s) you use (Amazon KDP, for example, does not allow you to make a book perma-free—but most other retailers do) and your personal preferences as an author.
Of course, even a quick giveaway can be a tough pill to swallow for those hoping to rake in the royalties. The trick is seeing the bigger picture: you might miss out on a few sales, but the trade-off is potentially hundreds of downloads, and dozens of reviews. These reviews will, in turn, direct more people to your book—people who may be willing to pay for it after reading such glowing reviews. So in the long run, giving your book away for free will probably earn you more than if you’d never reduced the price.
Indeed, by combining all these tips, you should be well on your way to a flood of reviews that will help you gain readers, sales, and notoriety. Don’t discount any method, no matter how unusual, and never stop hustling for those reviews; you never know from where, or whom, your big break will arrive.
