Writing a book takes a lot of effort and time. Every author out there wants his book to be liked by the readers so they can recommend the book to their friends, family, etc. One way for this to happen is getting a book review.
Book reviews are one very efficient option to bring people's attention to your creation, but getting one is actually easier said than done. Today we will go through some tips that might help you get the reviews you seek.
The first thing you should consider when setting up book reviews is the targeted audience for your book. For example, if your book is for children, you should look for reviews on websites that are mostly browsed by children and so on.
If you really want to have reviews that do the marketing job for you, then you should start working on the review campaign before you have even finished writing your book. You should contact book critics, publishing companies and ask them to read your book and write down their opinion in the form of a review which can be posted and then read by new potential fans.
You should also think about where your review can be posted for a maximum reach out to the public. Amazon is a great option because many people buy books from there. Asking someone to review your book is not a bad method, but it will cost you money and the review itself may not always be what you really need.
Another way of getting lots of reviews of your book is by letting your fans write out their opinion of your new release. This can happen in two ways.
The first one is simply to add a note at the end of your script asking readers to leave a review and rate the book on the web store they bought it from.
The other way is asking your social media followers for their opinion in the comment section of your post. It may not be as efficient but it will draw attention to your work.
While most of your readers probably aren’t professional book critics, the reviews they will write for your book will be more effective than the ones from the professionals, because your readers will be more eye-to-eye with the people that might actually want to read your book.
Critics are looking at books from a perspective that will not always be understood by people who read books just as a hobby.
Of course, most of the readers might not want to tell what they think about your book straight away, but you can always motivate them by making a giveaway. By doing this you are making a long-term investment in your book's sales and, of course, your overall reputation as an author. By giving free copies of your book you will most likely get spotted by a wider audience from which you can receive positive reviews for your book.
Another tip that you may find useful is looking at book review blogs. You should try and find blogs that review books in the same genre as yours. Then you can try and seek the bloggers that have written these reviews and contact them.
Most of them will want to tell their audience about your book because that is the main reason they have created these blogs. But beware and check the blogger before you ask him/her for a review - some of them are just… “trolls” (not intended to offend but said just as a warning to the authors).
There are many ways for getting a book review, but you should never forget one thing, never beg someone to write a review for you, this way you will look bad in your loyal readers' eyes and most likely lose on potential new fans. It may be important to try and lure new people to read your creations, but it is more important to keep the ones you have already attracted to yourself as an author.
With, or without reviews, your book will not lose its value as a piece of art and you should never forget that. Sometimes you will need to remind your readers that you are just a human, like them, and you have feelings. They can always criticize you and you should welcome that with open arms, but they should try and make a difference between hate and constructive criticism.
By asking a lot of people for a review, you risk making yourself look desperate and make people laugh at you. You should also be ready to embrace a lot of negative comments about your book, some of them will help you become a better writer, others will just aim to hurt you. You shouldn’t stop writing or get depressed by the latter - every successful art has haters.
No matter positive or negative, reviews are an important part of your development as an author and may help you to find the key to success. But you should never forget that your opinion is what should matter the most for yourself. Do what you love!