The Book Review Conundrum

OR – HOW Do You Get Reviews
When You Don’t Have Any?

Whether you want to call this a BIG Catch 22 or a Chicken and Egg problem … the fact is that getting your first few book reviews from Amazon readers is a challenge.

Many first-time self-publishers assume that the way to get their first bunch of reader reviews is to offer FREE or 99cent copies of their books FIRST which will, “of course” result in reviews.

WRONG!

AGONIZING FACT: The assumption that involves “FREE = Reviews” doesn’t work.

Why?

Because unless you already have a loyal audience, you may not be able to sell your book, even at the price of FREE, until you already have at least one or more reviews.

Even MORE ANGST is caused by the fact that a very low percentage of book buyers actually leave reviews. AND if readers get your book for free … the review stats drop even lower.

Amazon does not release their review stats publicly. However, some studies have suggested that the percentage of book buyers who leave reviews on Amazon is typically less than 10%, and may be closer to 1-2% for certain types of books. Many experts suggest that you should only “count” on ONE review for every 100 purchases.

What’s important to note is that while the percentage of reviewers may be small, the impact reviews have on a book’s success can be very significant — positive reviews increase a book’s visibility and sales.

Bottom LINE?

You can’t wait around for your first reviews.

If you count on sales first and then reviews your dreams of a book empire may just wither on the vine. You have to go out and WORK at getting reviews yourself. And I mean WORK.

You MUST start working at getting reviews even before your book is published.

Where do all of THESE reviews come from?

Here is the reality. IF you have a main stream publisher (Penguin/Random House, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, etc.) it normally takes OVER a year to get published because part of the process involves:

Printing “reader review” copies of the pre-pub version of the book.
Soliciting well-known people to read and endorse, or review them.
Delivering review copies.
And FINALLY, printing and distributing the final copy of the book which includes dozens of fabulous endorsements in the first few pages.

This process takes a huge amount of time and money. The money includes printing review copies, postage or courier fees for hundreds of books and up to hundreds of hours of staff time–this is one of the reasons author royalties “seem” so low.

Many self-publishers figure this out too late. OR if they are aware of the process they are in too much of a hurry to actually spend the time to solicit advanced reviews. Getting advanced reviews “can” be done for next to nothing if you are patient and have the time and energy. OR the process can go faster if you have even a small budget.

While the main stream publishers have huge social media platforms that help achieve hundreds or thousands of ratings, the fact is that they also require all of their authors to have and maintain their own websites, mailing lists and social media platforms.

So …. SINCE the main stream publishers with ALL their resources insist that their authors participate, why are YOU resisting?

The time to get started building your author platform is NOW.

If you already have an author platform with a good social media presence, a solid mailing list and a website then start promoting your book by offering ARC (advance reader copies), to your followers well ahead of your projected publishing date.

If you don’t have a following yet, signup for a ARC services first and then start personally contacting sites and services who write and publish “editorial” reviews.

What’s The Skinny On The Different Kinds Of Reviews?

AMAZON READER REVIEWS: These are the reviews you see at the very bottom of the sales page >> one-star to 5-star ratings. These are theoretically from actual readers. They can be reviews from ARC readers (many will be non-verified purchases) OR from readers who have purchased the book (Verified Purchase).

ARC REVIEWS: These are reviews that can be found mainly on Amazon or Goodreads. They are obtained through the use of an ARC service or by sending out your own ARC copies.

ENDORSEMENTS: Open a main stream published book and you will see anywhere from a few, to “way too many” endorsements from other writers, famous people and industry experts. These are often statements of support and endorsement- NOT reviews.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS: Editorial Reviews are theoretically neutral reviews from newspapers, magazines and review services such as Kirkus Reviews. Some editorial reviews (Kirkus) are hugely expensive. Just because you’ve paid for them doesn’t mean your review will be “glowing.” Many of these reviewers pride themselves in being neutral and telling it like it is.

If your book hits the New York Times Review Supplement call yourself fortunate. A review like this is priceless and … is free.

Even if you get a bad review … excerpts can still be used to make it “look good.” Editorial reviews can and should be displayed on your book’s Author Central page so they show up as soon as a potential buyer looks at your book.

As a self-publisher your MOST IMPORTANT JOB is to get reviews. It is also the hardest, most frustrating, and often most demoralizing task you will even encounter. You should put your hard hat and full body armor on before getting started. Your attitude has to be strong … basically JUST DO IT, every day for the life of your book. You will end up with great, good, average and maybe even ugly reviews.

You will have to deal with the disappointment of having reviewers ignoring you, or saying they will do it and then not following through.

Work on getting reviews for 10 to 30 min a day — every single day — no matter what. It is hard. It can be very discouraging when it appears like nothing is happening … then you will get a diamond review that will send you into a state of ecstasy and will keep you going through the next round of disappointments.

The good news is (YES GOOD NEWS) as you grow your fan base and your promotion teams, the process of obtaining reviews WILL get easier and faster. Even if you are writing your 50th book, it will never be automatic–so put on your Nikes, your full body armor and JUST DO IT. It takes guts and determination.

Having a budget will enable you to get services that reduce your work load. A regular (trained) virtual assistant can take some of the tedious or “I don’t know how to do that” tasks off your hands, leaving YOU time to write.

HOW TO GET BOOK REVIEWS – STRATEGIES AND HOW-TO

Here is a list of articles that show you different ways to get reviews. Some are easier than others. Some are free, some require a small to large budget.

CHECK THIS ARC (Advance Review Copy) SERVICE OUT

One of my favorite ARC services is BookSirens. Why is it a favorite? Because I see some really great and solid reviews coming from this service. Here is an article about the Book Sirens service. Here is a curated list of other ARC services (free and paid).

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Review EXCHANGE Service

Pubby will get you some reviews FAST. The reviews you get will be short and probably generic. Use ONLY if you need reviews fast. You MUST be qualified to write reviews. You have to write and post reviews (ahead of time) in exchange for getting reviews for your book. Be sure to read this article first.

The BOTTOM LINE? This is YOUR book, YOUR self-publishing business. It is up to YOU to get reviews. The best time to start is BEFORE your book is published.

If you want to sit and wait for FREE or 99cents to result in reviews, you will be looking at that egg for a long time!

If you have a suggestion for a Review Service that you have personally used, I’d love to hear about your experiences.