By: Carla Trueheart
Whether you’re a traditionally published novelist or you are self-published, an important part of the marketing process is the book review. You’re familiar with the concept: you spend months or years writing a book, a reader loves it or hates it, and they (hopefully) post a review for others to agree with or shoot down. Book reviews are terrific conversation starters in the online environment, but more importantly, they are great tools for getting your book noticed. If you have plenty of reviews, you gain credibility as a writer. After all, haven’t you read a book based solely on the recommendation of others?
The problem with book reviews lies mainly with getting them. I’m sure, as writers, you’ve had people look you straight in the eye and tell you they will most definitely post a book review, but months later, they haven’t yet done so. If you’re a writer with a following already, losing one or two reviews probably won’t hurt your career too much. If you’re just starting out, however, you are probably clambering for any review you can get. One piece of advice you’ve probably seen in writing books and writing blogs is that you should never pay for a book review—but should you?
The answer of course is personal, but in most cases, depending on how you feel about spending money, ethics, or putting yourself out there, I would say yes. When starting out, book reviews are super important, so paying for a review here and there might be the jumpstart you need. Places like Amazon even promote your book based on the amount of reviews you have, so if you look at it that way, paying for a book review is a marketing tool and should be seen as part of the promotional expenses for the book. Book reviews may also be used in part as testimonials to post on your author website. In a nutshell, they are a must.
So let’s say you’ve made the decision to pay for a book review—where do you go now? There are a few online services that offer book reviews, both free and paid (I’ll post links at the end of the article). When it comes to many of these sites, you will probably wait a few months if you try to get a free book review, but you can purchase an “express” review for anywhere from $7 to $500. Kirkus Reviews would be at the higher end of the expenses, but they are fairly reputable and do a good job. Readers’ Favorite is lower at about $50 for a 2-week express review package, and they are reputable and do a fine job as well. Lower than around the $50 mark, you run the risk of receiving a poorly written review or none at all. Recently, I checked out Apex Reviews ($7 for a 2-week review!) and received one review that was obviously a rehash of my back cover summary—and one review was never posted at all. So, like with most purchasable services, you get what you pay for.
Another avenue you might consider is Goodreads. You won’t pay for a review through Goodreads, but you can join groups to swap reviews. I’ve had good luck with this process in the past. Basically, you read another author’s book, post your review, and then place your own book in a pool for another author to read and review. I’ve seen authors gather as many as 50+ reviews doing this! Just keep in mind you will need to read a book and post a review before you are allowed to enter your own book. That can be time-consuming, but it is a way to get more reviews for free.
The best way to go about book reviews, ethically, is to put the book out there and hope it catches fire and gains reviews on its own. However, when starting out, it might be a good idea to look into some of the review services listed until your book does catch fire. It might be the spark you need to get it going, because once readers see a plethora of reviews—even if some are not favorable reviews—they will want to check out your book. As mentioned, reviews are also important for promotion through Amazon and for your personal author website testimonials. Please let us know if you have any personal experiences with book reviews, or if you can recommend any other services to our followers!
Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/
Readers’ Favorite: https://readersfavorite.com
By: Carla Trueheart
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