how to get your book reviewed by goodreads

User-4451784402292686889 (Member) asked a question.

• Authors and Book Marketing

Shaun P (Moderator)

Hi there! Goodreads as a company doesn't review books. Rather, Goodreads offers a platform where members who have created accounts can star-rate and write reviews for books they've read. Please note that we only accept honest reviews that are created of the readers own free will. Paid reviews are not accepted and will be removed.

Here are some tips for how to use Goodreads as an author: 🙂

https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/Tips-for-book-publishers-and-authors-on-how-to-use-Goodreads-1553870935327

I hope this helps!

taliesien (Member)

I don't understand what you mean by "Can I get a review" ? Could you explain further?

kaylaanderson1080 (Member)

Do Goodreads moderators actually read the books that it gives awards to? The reason I ask is because I recently read a book by an author and left her a 2-star rating. She threatened to leave a 1-star review on one of my books in retaliation, therefore I pulled her book from my Read list. I know that this author pays for reviews through a 3rd party that must be rated 4 stars or higher, and yet last year she won a Goodreads award for it. It's a known fact amongst other readers that it is not a good book, but she bullies anyone who leaves her less than a 4-star review...and it looks like Goodreads is "rewarding" her for it. It's so unethical.

I'm proud of the fact that I don't accept paid reviews for my published books, and that I can accept constructive criticism. But now I'm almost afraid to give an honest opinion on books that aren't all that great for the potential backlash I might get from other authors.

Ugh...this bothers me so much it's hard to get though a book.

Faith (Member)

I appreciate your quick response. I probably won't flag her profile so soon after she bullied me into removing the rating I left on her book for fear of retaliation, so I think I'll just let it go for now. She's blatantly violating the review guidelines, but I don't know if it's worth all the trouble :(

Related Questions

How Authors use Goodreads to sell books

Yes, Goodreads can be a great platform for an author to read readers. Here are some easy ways to promote yourself on Goodreads without freaking out about reviews. It’s simple, easy, and might even be fun.

Published authors need to claim their profiles

First, make sure you ARE on Goodreads as an AUTHOR . You must have books published somewhere online and you must claim them to get set up with a Goodreads profile. Once you do, you’ll end up with a page that looks likes this. We’ll go into the various good bits here in just a second.

First, let’s talk Goodread Reviews

Authors seem scared of Goodreads. My guess is because 1.) It’s a place where people who don’t know you can judge your books; 2.) reviews on Goodreads lean to harsh – a book that might get 4 stars on Amazon will get 3 there. You can bank on losing at least one star, maybe two (that’s my thought on it); and 3.) you’re reading reviews by people you don’t know! Scary!

If you are publishing as a hobby, fine, forget Goodreads.

No need to have anyone but friends and family review you. But at Goodreads you are going to find a lot of folks who love reviewing and will give their opinion, whether you want it or not!

I’ve also stopped looking at reviews and let my spouse sift through them for quotes to use. He also passes along the best ones to me so I can stay encouraged about my writing. If reviews bother you, install a gatekeeper to screen them.

Do I get horrid reviews? Sure do, especially those hit-and-run throw out a low star rating but with no comment BS that Amazon now allows. But those are not the majority of my reviews.

If most of your reviews are horrible, I would strongly suggest you start concentrating on your writing.

Why does a book get low-starred reviews.

• The book formatting is wrong and makes it hard to read.
• You never got the book professionally edited/proofread and there are obvious errors that are grating on a reader’s nerves.
• Your book didn’t meet the reader expectation because of the book cover and description didn’t match the content. For example, you have a sweet cover to your romance and it gets steamy. DING. You are going to get it. Your book has a starship galaxy cover and it’s nothing but a mushy, erotic romance with no space battles.
• You didn’t get the genre tropes right, and thus didn’t meet expectations (I have made this mistake).
• The book has structural problems that the reader can’t get over such as being poorly plotted. I’m sorry but bad writing deserves low star reviews.

Most of these things can be fixed easily – hire a proofreader or a formatter and stop being so cheap. Research book descriptions (I mean you ARE a writer, right?), and make sure your cover, description, and categories fit what readers expect.

If you have a badly written book, my recommendation is 1.) get into a writer’s group (that is the cheapest way to learn); 2.) find a mentor; 3.) Use ProWritingAid (I recommend over Grammarly); 4.) take a college course in creative writing (this can even be done online now); and 5.) be critical about your writing.

Okay, you’ve done all that and you still getting bad reviews. FORGET ABOUT THEM! Move on. I no longer look at any review that is 3 star or less. I let my partner do that so if there is anything I need to address I can. Otherwise, I don’t need the mojo.

How to find top-starred reviews for your books on Goodreads

Remember, once a book goes up on a selling platform you need to claim it on Goodreads. I love seeing my books pile up on Goodreads! The order is pretty random and I wish Goodreads gave you more control over this. But overall it shows how many books, ratings (these are star-only), reviews (with text), and the average rating of all your books together as well as individually.

First, realize your ratings/reviews may be higher or lower here than at Amazon.

People have their preferred places to review so don’t get worked up about the numbers being different.

Another thing to realize is that I’ve seen mainstream, popular authors get an average of 3.5 on their books on Goodreads. The MORE reviews you get, the more likely your average will go down. Understanding that upfront makes it a bit easier to deal with it.

I really don’t like how Goodreads only shows your mutual followers first and hides reviews. This is how I deal with that and the not looking at lower reviews.

There is an easy way to find the latest reviews from anyone, and AVOID looking at low star reviews.

Go to your profile page and click on one of your books. At the top, click on reviews.

Scroll down to where reviews start. It will always show your friends so you need to set the filters. I set the filters to 5 or 4 stars. And the date to Newest.

Don’t bother with the 3 star and under. Those people are not your fans.

When to respond to Goodread Reviews of your book

Repeat after me, i will only reply to goodread reviews that are four and five star. period..

Now you can scroll through the good stuff, and hit “like” and make short, positive, comment to readers on the 5 STARS. I do like the 4 STARS but I often don’t comment. That’s a personal choice to make.

Why go to all this time and trouble? Because they reviewed you! You want to build that relationship with those fans. Real relationships builds business for your books!

BTW this doesn’t need to take up your day. I check about twice a week for new reviews and respond if need be. Once I respond that shows up in my feed, letting followers know that I interact with my fans. As well as giving them more reviews of my books to see!

What is on your Goodreads profile?

Most of your Goodreads profile is pretty straightforward: Name, bio, photo, followers, and books you wrote (remember you have to claim them, they don’t automatically load on your profile). You can also post videos so if you are doing Book Trailers , this is a great place for them to be.

Next, genre. This helps readers know if you would interest THEM. After all you don’t want readers who have no interest in what you are writing so be very clear here about what you do.

A biggie is the active website link! This helps guide fans straight to your website and can be a great opportunity to convert them to being on your newsletter list. If you don’t want to mess with a website there are some website communities that let you make a personal page (see AllAuthor).

Currently Reading area at Goodreads

Pick three of your own books and set them to currently reading. This puts them up on your feed right at the top.

Ask the Author Questions area at Goodreads

Ask the Author is a cool feature for several reasons. You get to interact directly with fans who want to know more about you and your books. How flattering! When you are asked a question, it shows up in an email roundup that goes directly to the people who followed you, reminding them of your existence!

Unfortunately, what I’ve noticed is that it can take Goodreads 24-48 hours before they email you that you have a question to answer! Phooey!

If no one is asking you questions, you can ask yourself a question.

This is a good tool to use so you can get the message out there about some aspect of your writing or books that you want your followers and visitors to know about. For example, that you are working on a new book or that you have a book a launch coming soon.

I’m using a routine at about twice a month of asking myself a question. Don’t go overboard but do use it as a way to speak directly to fans and hopefully, it will become active on its own once you get enough books out and generate enough followers.

Post a Self-review to update fans on Goodreads

If your book is up as a pre-sale (claim it!) or has gone live, you can self-review (NO STARs!) with details that help fans know what is going on. Any change you make in the “review” goes into your feed and is seen by followers.

I write a “review” with NO RATING, which is more of a summary and my view of the book I wrote. In the past I’ve published it on the day of book launch.

I now use it leading up to the book launch for my pre-sale books like here for A Spell of Rowans , This announcement seeking Beta Readers. When I’m ready to release ARCS, or it goes up at NetGalley, I will edit this “review” to give readers that info. That update sends out a new notification to my fans.

DO NOT RATE YOUR OWN BOOK!

That is unethical and can get you banned at Goodreads. However, you can write an announcement review with NO RATING on the date it launches. This is acceptable.

Here’s a “self-review” by one of my favorite authors, Intisar Khanani about her book being released. Her style talks directly to friends while highlighting things she feels is important to readers to know about this book, such as where review copies can be found. She does NOT give herself a star-rating (smart lady!).

Ask fans to put your books on their TBR bookshelf

The more your book is listed on bookshelves, the higher its rank of popularity on Goodreads. If it gets enough attention your book could be listed in the articles Goodreads send to their users! So work that link to your Goodreads page for your book during the pre-release leading up to the book launch.

Doing a Giveaway on Goodreads

To find out about them, click on your profile and on the menu will be List a Giveaway . A good time to start a Goodreads Giveaway is 60 out from a book launch. From what I’ve listing read 3-5 books to giveaway is a good number. Also, plan for the giveway to end about 2 days before your book publishes (for pre-releases)

I haven’t done this yet, but will be doing it for A Spell of Rowans in about 2 months. I will report back on how it goes!

Follow or Friend? What to do on Goodreads

I personally do NOT like to friend unless I really know the person. And please don’t ask other authors to friend you unless you DO KNOW THEM. I am more willing to follow others, especially if they review the type of books I like.

Reviewing other Authors on Goodreads

Like Bookbub, your author name is attached to any reviews you do of other people’s books. That is why, to preserve your reputation, do NOT post book reviews unless you can HONESTLY give them 4-5 stars .

Like Bookbub, I try to review on Goodreads books I think my readers would also like to read.

This helps me establish myself as an authority, and helps with networking with authors who may write things that have the same readers as I do. On Goodreads, I give my longest reviews. I take a shortened version, change a few words and use it at Bookbub. This gives me a twofer on social media with little effort on my part.

Allow followers to know what you are reading?

I personally do NOT like this option, but this is purely a personal choice. My husband and I share a Kindle, and both read a lot of things that would be of little interest to others. I also hop around a lot between books and genres. If a sample or book doesn’t interest me, I dump it. So that would look very confusing on Goodreads.

Whether you use this option or not is a personal preference.

Use blog feed on Goodreads or post as an update?

Right now I have my blog feeding into my Goodreads account automatically. However, I did attend a webinar that said this was a bad idea. Better to post it as a new activity yourself. Experiment with this and see what option you prefer and what works best.

On the profile page, only one blog post is shown. When they go to the blog page on Goodreads, more blogs are shown. Be aware of what little info is shown here.

Finding Comps and networking with other authors

One of the hardest things (for me) is finding Comps. These are other books or authors whose readers would like what I write. It always throws me for a loop.

One way you can research this is look at your own book and see what the “also read” is up in the right side. I don’t find this very helpful because I read a lot of things and Goodreads knows this so often shows a skewed result way outside of the genre of the book I’m viewing.

What is more helpful to me is finding a book which I think is a Comp and look at who reviewed it. I only scan through the 4 and 5 star reviews. It also lets me see what they bought.

This is a book that I’ve read and enjoyed. I think it is comparable to my Historical Fairytale Romance series :

Some do’s and don’ts networking with other authors:

• Form a relationship by liking, commenting etc…
• Read and review their books (if you can honestly give 4/5 stars)
• Don’t ask them to read or review your book.
• Be real and friendly, not fake and demanding.
• If you REALLY know them, politely approach about recommending each other.

Networking with Goodread Reviewers (caution!)

Goodreads reviews can be harsh. If you are ready to wade into the water, here are some ideas on finding reviewers. Scrolling down, I do the same for her as I did for my own reviews. I select reviews, 5 stars, and see who I want to follow OR only want to pick through what they are reviewing to find MORE COMPS.

• Find a comp book – a book your readers would like that isn’t written by you.
• Preferably these are well-reviewed, written by mid-to-big sized authors who have a good following;
• Books with over 500 reviews are a good starting point. I prefer 1,000s as it improves the algorithm of what you will find.
• Select the 4 and 5 star reviewers (like I showed you for my own book).
• Scan down and investigate the accounts that leave TEXT REVIEWS.
• Don’t look at everyone. Pick reviewers who would like your book.
• Especially find ones that are active on Goodreads. Some accounts go dormant.
• If they seem to review a lot of books like yours, FOLLOW THEM (please don’t Friend them!).
• Start interacting with them by commenting on their reviews (only post honest and positive comments).
• If you immediately ask for a review, you will probably see seen as a pushy shark and be ignored or earn ill will.
• AFTER building a relationship with them between weeks to months, ask if they would be interested in reviewing something of yours.

Join groups on Goodreads aimed at uniting Authors with Readers

If you are ready to wade in deeper with Goodreads they have a Community with online forums (under Community > Groups. Some are geared towards distributing Betas and ARCs to readers or are specific to a type of genre.

Like all online groups, be polite.

• Read the group rules and follow them.
• If you don’t like the rules, or the group won’t work for you, leave. You don’t have to announce leaving.
• Take some time to feel out the group before jumping in with you comments or needs.
• I usually post replies for about a week or two before starting a new post.
• Don’t get into fights with readers (do I need to remind of this?)

Goodreads is where the readers are at! Especially those that review and are willing to share their reading habits. It’s full of treasure and will help you find Comps, engage fans, and find reviewers. Shouldn’t you be there?

• Writers life

Excellent Article. It aligns very closely with a class I took recently from a USA today bestselling author who loves the platform and gave the same advice and suggestions. Like reviews, seeing the same advice from different POV’s helps to reinforce what you learn.

Awesome…

I have a few copies of America’s First Woman Sheriff Captures Kentucky’s Barefoot Desperado , how do I go about selling them,

I went and checked out your book on Amazon. A non-fiction historical book could be directly marketed to niche bookstores and libraries, however breaking into those markets with only one book to your credit is going to be incredibly difficult. You will also need to invest into a professional cover to appeal to these markets. I’d strongly suggest checking out social media groups oriented towards history of this era where you can start making connections, and reading non-fiction books that talk about selling memoirs and history books to get valuable insight. Wishing you the best.

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Blog • Book Marketing

Last updated on Feb 07, 2023

How to Get Book Reviews in 5 Steps (2024 Update)

About ricardo fayet.

Reedsy co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Ricardo Fayet is one of the world's leading authorities in marketing indie books. He is a regular presenter at several prestigious writers' conferences, where his unique personal style has made him an instantly recognizable figure.

Imagine the day of your book launch. You’re sitting in front of your computer, blissfully imagining all the five-star book reviews that will soon be yours. Yet the days pass... and the reviews don't come.

Needless to say, you'll want people to buy and read your book ASAP so they can leave you some good reviews. But you may see the Catch-22 here: in order to make your first sales, you’ll need to display positive book reviews. So how do you get the chicken before you’ve got the egg (or vice versa)?

Enter book bloggers , who are your new best friends! For this post, we asked our top Reedsy publicists to share their best tips on how to get book reviews from book bloggers — and we've condensed their advice into these five essential steps, plus a few bonus tips at the end.

You can also check out this Reedsy Live on how to get your first book reviews, with advice from author and book marketer Debbie Drum.

Those who prefer their tips in written form, let's dive right in with the very first step of the review acquisition process!

1. Identify your audience

A quick preliminary note: you want to start the review-gathering as early as possible. If you can, plan your book review campaign 4-6 months in advance of your publication date. Because if you want your reviews to be in place by then, you’ll need to give people time to actually write them!

Now, using the "5 W’s of Storytelling," let's talk about the first thing you should be asking yourself: who? Who will be reading your book, and who is best positioned to promote it to that audience? The following tips will help you answer these questions.

Build a questionnaire

Here are a few more specific queries to help you clarify your "who":

• Who reads in my genre?
• What magazines, websites, forums, or blogs do they frequent?
• Where might they find reviews of my book that will entice them to buy it?

Indeed, publicist Jessica Glenn recommends building a full-length questionnaire to identify your audience and where you might find them on the Web (or in real life!).

“Most, if not all, publicists and publishers send authors a very long questionnaire to fill out when they start their marketing plan ,” she says. “That's so we can dig into any useful piece of bio, community, or regional info to figure out who and why people will be interested in your book.”

Your questionnaire will direct you to your target audience and help you create a  proto-persona.  This is the "ideal reader" of your book, so to speak — a perfect blend of the traits you'd expect them to have. (For example, if you've written a YA paranormal romance novel, your proto-persona might be a 14-year-old girl who's obsessed with Twilight .) And whoever they are, you'll keep them in mind every time you make a marketing decision.

Think about comp titles

Another great way to get a handle on your target audience is to figure out your comparative titles — books that are a) similar to yours and b) share the same general readership. When pitching to book reviewers, these are the titles you'll use to sell your own  book . For instance, "My book is  Normal People meets The Incendiaries ."

According to Jessica, you should have at least 15 potential comp titles for your book, ideally a mix of bestsellers and well-reviewed indie titles. “Many first-time authors balk at this," says Jessica, "as they believe there is no true comp for their book — but dig deep and you'll find them!”

Comp titles are critical because they act as a compass, pointing you towards a ready-made audience that enjoys works in the same mold as yours. This is a huge help in determining your target readers, as well as which reviewers will cater to them. Speaking of which...

2. Find relevant book blogs

Now that you’ve got a strong sense of your audience, you're ready to find blogs that will provide the best exposure to that audience. We recommend starting with our directory of 200+ book review blogs , but feel free to do your own research as well!

As you dig into book review blogs, check on these two things first:

• Is the site active? Has the blogger published a post within the last month or so?
• Are they currently accepting queries? If they're closed at the moment, it could be months before your book gets a review — if at all.

And if you want to confirm your book marketing strategy when it comes to book review blogs, we recommend first taking this quick quiz below!

Which book review site is right for you?

Find out here! Takes one minute.

Once you've confirmed that a book review blog is both active and open to queries, think about whether it's right for your  book. Here are some important factors to consider:

• Genre . Don't waste your time on blogs that don't review books in your genre. "Be very mindful of a publication’s particular audience and target market when pitching for review. If their readership is science-fiction, do not pitch a commercial crime novel!” says publicist Hannah Cooper .
• Traffic . High-traffic book blogs might seem like your highest priorities, but this isn’t necessarily true. “Don't shy away from the smaller blogs,” says publicist Beverly Bambury . “They can sometimes foster a real sense of community and starting off small is just fine."
• Posting frequency.  Another consideration is how often the blogger in question actually publishes reviews. Too often, and your book will get lost in the shuffle; too seldom, and they're likely to lose readers. Try to strike a balance with about 1-2 reviews per week — no decent reviewer can turn them out faster than that, anyway!

Track down your comp titles' reviewers

Remember those comp titles you came up with earlier? You can use them not only to pitch your book, but also to find potential reviewers , as they will correspond perfectly with your genre and target audience.

“Once you have your 15-or-so comps, you can research where each book has been reviewed,” says Jessica. “With luck, you will find at least a couple of book reviews per title, which will give you many more outlets to investigate further.”

Now, as an author, you might be wondering: “How can I begin to find all the places where a given book was reviewed?” Don’t forget the power of Google! Try searching the following terms to find reviews for a given title:

• [Title] + book review
• [Title] + review
• [Title] + Q&A

And here's one last tip to give you a boost — sign up for a "Mention" account and/or set up Google alerts to get a notification every time these titles appear online.

Once you’re armed with a bundle of suitable book review blogs, you've arrived at the third (and perhaps most crucial) step in this process. This is, of course, creating the pitches you'll send to reviewers.

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3. Write pitches for them

Pitching a reviewer is pretty straightforward. All you have to do is a) keep it short, and and b) personalize it as much as possible. However, before we get to our publicists’ actionable tips on pitching, there’s one more thing that you absolutely HAVE to do. And that thing is...

Read the review policy!

Before you pitch any blog, make sure you read the blogger’s review policy. Some blogs will have a form to fill out; others might ask you to email them directly. Still others might not welcome any queries from self-published authors . Whatever they say, make sure that you follow it to a T.

“There are two main benefits to reading and following the review policies closely,” says Beverly. “First, you show the reviewer that you respect and appreciate them when you follow their instructions. This is important when asking someone to do you a favor.

"Second, you may find that even if the site is closed for review queries, it's open to publicity queries — where you might be able to place an excerpt or do a Q&A or occasional blog post. You'll never know if you don't take the time to read the review policy first.”

More tips for pitching reviewers

Now that you’re clear on what the blogger wants, you can start pitching them with confidence. Here are three more key tips for pitching book reviewers:

1. Never send out bulk pitches. "When you pitch each outlet individually, specifically write that you read their positive book review of your comp and what that comp title was,” says Jessica Glenn. Or if you didn't find them through a comp title, mention other  aspects of their blog and why you think they would be great to review your book!

2. Be concise and direct. “Include your title, publisher, date of release, and genre in the first paragraph,” notes Beverly Bambury. “Then you might want to include the cover copy or a brief description of the book. Finally, be direct and ask for what you want. If you want a review, ask for it! If you want an excerpt placed, ask for that.”

3. Appeal to their commercial side. “All reviewers want the opportunity to discover the next 'big thing’ — particularly with fiction — so make them feel as though they have the opportunity to get the word out first," says Hannah Cooper. Indeed, if you can convince a reviewer that you are doing them  a favor, you're practically guaranteed to get a review.

Basically, try to get reviewers to think, “Oh, if I enjoyed [comp title], I’ll enjoy this person's book too,” or “They've done the research to know that I’m a good fit for their book.” If you can do that, you’re already much closer than everyone else to obtaining high-quality book reviews !

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4. Send out your book

This is the step before the moment of truth (the review itself), so it's extremely important to get everything right. To ensure you're complying with each reviewer's guidelines, review their policy again before you send them your book. Some bloggers might prefer digital copies of manuscripts, while others might want a physical ARC — be prepared to accommodate.

Also, as you begin sending your book to various outlets, you should track your progress in a spreadsheet. Record which blogs you’ve submitted to so far, which blogs have responded, and which blogs you plan to submit to, so you don't accidentally double-submit or skip over anyone.

Formatting your book

Other than double-checking the review policy, the most important thing to do here is to format your book in a professional manner . After all, you want the presentation of your content to match the quality! Even though it shouldn't technically matter, reviewers will definitely judge your book by how it looks, inside and out.

The good news for self-formatters that you probably won't need to send physical proofs, and ebooks are much easier to format than hard copies. Digital copies also cost next-to-nothing to produce, so you can easily send multiple copies of your book out to different reviewers. You may want to check out apps like Instafreebie and Bookfunnel , which make it easy to generate individual ARC download links that you can send to the reviewers.

Pro tip : If you’re searching for a good book production tool,  Reedsy Studio can format and convert your manuscript into professional EPUB and print-ready files in a matter of seconds!

5. Follow up after a week

A week or more has passed since you queried a book blog, and so far… crickets. What do you do now? Why, follow up,  of course!

When it comes to this stage, keep calm and follow Hannah Hargrave’s advice: “Don't bother reviewers for an answer daily. I will usually chase again after a week has passed.

"If you receive a decline response, or no one responds to your third chase-up, assume this means they are not interested. Any further follow-ups, or aggressive requests as to why your work's not being reviewed, will not be viewed kindly. Above all, be polite and friendly at all times.”

That said, someone rejecting your book for review is a worst-case scenario. Best-case scenario, the blogger responds favorably and you’ve bagged yourself a review!

What comes next, you ask?

The reviewer will post their review of your book on their blog — and on Amazon, Goodreads, and any other platforms that they’ll name in their review policy. This is yet another reason why it's vital to read that policy carefully, so you know exactly where  the review will be seen.

If all goes well, the reviewer will publish a positive review that you can use to further promote your book. Maybe you'll even get a decent pull-quote for your book description ! Not to mention that if you ever write a sequel, you can almost certainly count on them for a follow-up review.

Pro-tip: Want to write a book description that sells? Download this free book description template to get a headstart. 

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But what if you don't get any bites from book bloggers, or — horror of horrors — one of them gives you a negative review? Fortunately, the next two sections should help you deal with each of these possible dilemmas.

Bonus ways to get book reviews

Though book bloggers are the most reliable and professional source of reviews for independent authors, you may want to try other avenues to maximize your chances! Here are three more ways to get book reviews  for your work, so you can bolster your Amazon profile and start making some serious sales.

1. Tell your followers about your book

Though Amazon prohibits reviews from close friends and family , you're free to tell your random social media followers about your book and hope they leave good reviews. It obviously helps if you have a large following on Twitter or Instagram, even more so if some of those followers are fellow authors who appreciate the significance of reviews.

That said, NEVER offer "review swaps" or any kind of promotional enticement for customers to leave reviews, as this would also be against Amazon's terms. Simply let your followers know you've got a book out and that you'd love for them to read it; the rest is in their hands. However, when it comes to reviews, any amount of awareness is better than none.

2. Submit to Reedsy Discovery

Finally, for a professional review option that's a bit less time-and-effort-consuming on your part, you can submit your book right here on Reedsy Discovery! The platform allows authors to share their books with readers who are right up their alley, plus get the chance to be reviewed by one of our Discovery writers. If they leave a good review, you'll be featured in our newsletter, which goes out to thousands of subscribers every week.

Sounds pretty sweet, right? And it only takes a few minutes to submit .

Is your book ready for Discovery?

Take our quiz to find out! Takes only 1 minute.

How to deal with negative reviews

Once your work is out there in the world, you can’t control other people’s reactions to it. “Remember, by submitting your book for review, you're accepting that some people might not enjoy it,” says Hannah Hargrave. “It can be very tough after you’ve spent months or years crafting your novel, only for some reviewer to tear it apart. But you need to be prepared."

In that vein, here are some final tips on how to deal with bad reviews:

1. Have someone else read them first . This might be your agent, your friend, or your mom — anyone you trust to pre-screen your reviews. They can inform you whether each negative review is a worthwhile (if humbling) read, or just too nasty to stomach.

2. Ignore unreasonably hateful reviews . Easier said than done, yes, but really try to tune out these people! For example, if they're clearly not your target audience, but insist on pretending like they are. Or people who pick apart your sentences word-by-word, just for the "fun" of it. There's no sense in agonizing over readers who are determined to hate you, so block them on every platform and refuse to read anything else they write.

3. Address valid criticisms . You're only human, and your book won't be perfect. If someone points this out in a constructive way , acknowledge it and do what you can to fix it. This may be as simple as editing a misleading blurb, or as complex as restructuring your entire series. But if you're the author we know you are, you'll be up to the task.

Every author's book is different, but the process for getting book reviews is reassuringly universal. To recap: identify your audience, find relevant blogs, pitch them, send out your book, and don't forget to follow up! On top of that, feel free to try alternative strategies, and remember not to take the bad reviews too personally.

Yes, marketing a book may be madness, but the process of getting reviews lends method to that madness. So go forth and get your reviews — you deserve them! 🙌

Special thanks to book publicists Jessica Glenn , Hannah Hargrave , Hannah Cooper , and Beverly Bambury for their input and suggestions throughout this article. If you have any more questions about how to get book reviews, let us know in the comments!

2 responses

Elena Smith says:

25/09/2018 – 22:33

Excellent Write up. I have thoroughly gone through the article and according to my personal observations you have done a great job writing this Article.Being associated with writing profession, I must mention that AcademicWritingPro are quite helpful nowadays.Furthermore, quality is also an important aspect.

Team Golfwell says:

11/12/2018 – 05:38

We do free book reviews if your book interests us. We are a group of retired people in New Zealand who play golf, read books, write books, and do free book reviews if we like your book. We write books too, so we like to see what other authors are currently doing and it is amazing to see what writers are creating. We try to post our reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble and our social media. See our book review page for more info > > https://www.teamgolfwell.com/free-book-reviews.html #bookreviews #kindlebookreviews #amazonbookreviews #indiebookreviews https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4ad92dde2f70456000bf5c44af3489ee638dae511be91f7b8cb1545acb388cdb.jpg

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July 10, 2016 By Anne R. Allen 96 Comments

How to Get Book Reviews: 10 Tricks for Getting Your Book Reviewed by a Book Blogger

Book review bloggers are friends, not foes–get to know them!

by Barb Drozdowich

So…who are book bloggers anyways? I know that Anne periodically talks about book bloggers on this blog – but many authors that I talk to seem a bit fuzzy on the subject. I’m going to see if I can help you understand who book bloggers are and help you with some tricks to find some powerful ones to promote your books.

My name is Barb and I’m thoroughly immersed in the book blogger world. One of my sites – The Book Blogger List  has well over 2000 book bloggers listed. I’ve also carried out 2 major surveys of book bloggers – the most recent one ended in January. Between the two surveys, I’ve asked questions of 717 bloggers.

I’m in fact a book blogger myself – my book blog is Sugarbeat’s Books – I started blogging in August 2010.

I’ve spent a lot of time in front of a class – college classes, corporate training classes and more lately, virtual classes – always teaching science or technology of some description.

Although I’ve published a lot of books, I tend to come at the publishing world with a different view than most authors.

But you can’t really take the teacher out of the classroom…this will be an active post. And of course you’ll have homework…

Who Are Book Review Bloggers?

When I speak to authors, they assume that a book blogger looks like this:

A book blogger clearly needs a computer:

All kidding aside…let’s look at my survey results to create a picture of the average book blogger.

According to my surveys, a blogger is either male or female but more likely to be female. Put up your hand if you fit that description.

I think it’s a given to assume that a book blogger has a computer – or at least a smartphone. Keep your hand up if you fit that description.

According to my surveys a book blogger loves books and loves to chat about books.

Does that describe you?

Pretty close?

You can put your hand down now!

Anne frequently encourages her readers to remember the Golden Rule. I would like to also. You are essentially the same as a book blogger.

The only difference is if you blog, you likely blog about your books, but not necessarily about everyone else’s books.

Treat book bloggers as you would like to be treated yourself.

Book bloggers love books and love talking about books SO much that they have created a website or a blog to talk about them.  They could be any age and my survey has had respondents from 12 to 73.

Where are the Book Review Bloggers?

Although the majority of book bloggers currently live in North America and speak English, as time passes, access to Google and therefore Blogger is creeping around the globe. Soon people in nearly every country will have access to a free blog.

In fact in the last month of creating listings on The Book Blogger List every second listing that I created was for a blogger in India or Pakistan. Amazing, really! Did you know the first person who commented on my very first blog post was from the Philippines? We are still friends and frequently ‘chat’ thanks to Twitter!

Let’s throw in a few more stats:

• 30% of book bloggers post reviews on Amazon (as well as their blog)
• 45% of book bloggers post reviews on Goodreads (as well as their blog)
• 45% of book bloggers make some money off their blogs via affiliate links
• 36% of book bloggers review for other sites than their own
• 45% of book bloggers will rarely accept a book for review from a form letter

How To Find Book Review Bloggers

Let’s move on and learn more! If book bloggers are everywhere, how do we find them?

There are several databases of bloggers – the largest ones are mine – The Book Blogger List  – and The IndieView . Each has listings laid out somewhat differently, but are reasonably kept up to date and are searchable. That means that you can work your way through listings and find a book blogger to review your book. My site has all the listings sorted by genre but still…2000+ entries makes for a lot of looking! You’ll need a big cup of coffee for this job!

I have a different exercise for you. Grab a piece of paper and a pen or pencil.

I want you to write down the name of 5 authors who write similar books to you – but are more famous or have been around longer than you.

Go back to your paper and write down the title of each author’s latest book. If you don’t know off hand, you can go look at Amazon.

Great! Now we are going to work through an exercise. I actually did this for Anne:

I looked on Amazon to find out what other authors Anne’s readers bought books from. One example is Dianne Harman and her latest book is called Murder at the Big T Lodge . I’m going to do a Google search for the book title in quotes (“ Murder at the Big T Lodge ”) followed by the word review. This will bring up a list of all the sites that have reviewed this book. You are looking for blogs as indicated in the screenshot below:

You aren’t looking for Amazon listings or Goodreads listings, you want to find blogs, and you can tell from the title and from the URL (red arrow)

Go ahead – take a break from reading my ramblings and see if you can do this for the list that you have made.

Are you back? Did you find some bloggers? See…it is possible to find bloggers out there that share a love of books with you!

Research the Book Blogger!

Keep one of your examples that you found on your Google search on the screen while you continue reading. We are going to study this blogger.

Although what the blogging world calls “Baby Bloggers” – bloggers that are just starting out –  are wonderful and eager to share their thoughts with the world, they don’t have much in the way of an audience yet. I was a baby blogger once – and I know. Felt like I was talking to the dog some days.

We want to target experienced bloggers that have an audience to share information about your book with.

That’s where the 10 tricks come in.

But before we get there, let’s take a wander around the blog of the blogger you have found. Everyone does things a bit differently.

     a) Read the Guidelines

The very first thing you are going to look for is a Review Policy or a Submission Policy or perhaps an About page.

I know, you are probably rolling your eyes wondering why I have you doing a goose hunt on this blog that you have found. Stay with me – it’s important!

Before you start composing the perfect query note, you want to find out if the blogger is actually taking outside submissions, what she wants in a submission/query note and if she wants a note at all. She may have a form for you to fill out. No need to go to any work if she isn’t taking any submissions, and you won’t be sending an email at all if she has a form.

I mean, really…you don’t want a Newbie stamp on your forehead, do you?

     b) Is This the Reviewer for You?

Generally speaking, bloggers get more queries/submissions than they can possibly read. To give you real numbers: 83% of bloggers who have been blogging more than 3 years receive more than 25 submissions/queries per month. Because they get so many, they need to pare down the numbers and people who don’t follow directions are easy to delete.

Let’s go back to this blogger that you found. We’re going to continue with the wander but keep in mind that if you find something on this blog that you don’t like, or makes you uneasy – virtually walk away – there are lots more bloggers!  Our goal is to find experienced bloggers that are fair and balanced.

So the very first thing that I want you to do as we move on is to look at the posts – read a few. Do you find what this blogger says to be fair and balanced? Would you be okay with similar comments about your book?

     c) How Powerful is the Blogger?

The next thing I want you to look at is how long this blog has been around for. Many bloggers have an “Archive” widget on their sidebar which will easily give you a date ordered list of posts. The longer a blogger has been around (and posting regularly) the more traffic they will have, generally speaking.

The next thing to look at is their social media. If you want this blogger to review your book, you want them to have friends to share with. In this day and age, the sharing is done through social media. Click on some social media icons and look at the blogger’s streams – do they share the posts that they create? Do they have a decent sized following? Essentially, will they promote your book?

Lastly, you want to make sure that a blogger that you choose has share buttons easily found at the top and/or bottom of their posts. Google uses how many time a post has been shared as an indication of quality content. Quality content ranks higher in searches.

10 Power Tricks AKA Your Homework

• Find some bloggers – try various methods until you find one that you are comfortable with. Try a Google search, or one of the databases. Use a spreadsheet and make a list.
• Check for a review policy and take note of the instructions.
• Look over the content of the blog to ensure that they are fair and balanced.
• Look for an archive widget to determine how long a blogger has been around.
• Look at the blogger’s social media to ensure that they have an audience.
• Comment on the blogger’s posts in a friendly fashion – bloggers will be more willing to accept a review request from a name that they recognize. That is NOT to say, leave a comment asking for a review – be friendly – think kindergarten and making friends.
• Write a unique email query  (or fill out the form if that is what is required) addressed to the blogger by name with the required information in a persuasive fashion.
• Be professional in your note. Although you want to be friendly and persuasive, ‘Hey There” or “Dear Blogger” are not acceptable.
• Make sure the blogger understands why you feel that your book will be something that they will be interested in – why it would be a good fit for their blog.
• Follow up – if you asked for a review or feature – make sure their hard work doesn’t go to waste. Show in your actions that you appreciate their efforts. Even if they didn’t like your book, be an adult and leave a comment of thanks for taking the time to read your book
• Your bonus tip is….Don’t lie . Don’t lie about reading the review policy. Don’t lie about your book.

I hope you enjoyed what I shared about book bloggers. Book bloggers that become friends will work endlessly to help you promote your books. I’m still in contact with the original reviewers from 2013. They snap up each new book I write and promote it to the heavens.

As Anne says, remember the Golden Rule and go find some book bloggers.

Your homework is due next Sunday – I hand out virtual candy for completed work.

by Barb Drozdowich (@bakerviewconsul) July 10, 2016

How about you, scriveners? Are you published and trying to get reviews? Have you contacted any book review bloggers? Do you review books yourself? What do you look for when you read a book review? 

This week on her blog, Ruth has her mom’s simple, yummy recipe for blueberry cobbler  and on Anne’s blog is another post in her poison series. This week she’s talking about the nasty poison, strychnine . (Don’t combine the two, except in fiction. Haha.)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Author’s Guide to Working with Book Bloggers

Amazon Kindle

Read a review

Read an excerpt

Read the original survey & results

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THE SUNDAY TIMES SHORT STORY AWARD   NO ENTRY FEE  Any story under 6,000 words. Five shortlisted runners-up get £1,000. First prize worth  £30,000. The Society of Authors is the sponsor. Author must have previous publications in the UK or Eire. Deadline September 29, 2016 .

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MYSTERY AUTHORS! Here’s a list of 15 small presses that specialize in mysteries and do not require an agent for submissions. It’s compiled by “Authors Publish” Newsletter.

ROMANCE AUTHORS! Here’s a list of 31 small presses that specialize in romance and do not require an agent for submissions. Also compiled by the Authors Publish Newsletter.

25 PUBLISHERS YOU CAN SUBMIT TO WITHOUT AN AGENT. These are respected, mostly independent publishing houses–vetted by the great people at Authors Publish. Do check out their newsletter.

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About Anne R. Allen

Anne writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. Oh, yes, and she blogs. She's a contributor to Writer's Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery RomCom Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Anne lives on the Central Coast of California, near San Luis Obispo, the town Oprah called "The Happiest City in America."

July 10, 2016 at 10:28 am

Wonderful post, Barb! I will bookmark this one, and point my Crafting a Novel college students to it. We all dread the marketing treadmill, but you have written a post that is fun and easy to follow – thank you! (says she who is hoping you like zany crime comedies…Anne and I are sisters under the skin.)

July 10, 2016 at 10:44 am

Hi Melodie! Always happy to help! Send your students my way – lots and lots of book bloggers happy to help!

July 10, 2016 at 10:33 am

Hi Barb, Thanks so much for such a practical, fact-filled, usable guide filled with what-to-do and how-to-do-it tips! Grade A bookmark-able material for every writer! Here’s some of my Mom’s Blueberry Crumble in appreciation, cyber version, non-fattening! 🙂

July 10, 2016 at 10:45 am

Hi Ruth! I’m a huge fan of non-fattening Blueberry Crumble! Thanks for the compliments – made my day!!

July 10, 2016 at 10:34 am

Excellent for new and established authors alike. I remember spending a lot of time tracking down science fiction reviewers. Tracking down those reviewers through other authors’ books – now that’s clever.

July 10, 2016 at 10:47 am

Hi Alex! I tend to look at things differently than others – honestly, I’m a fan of books of a certain genre – it makes sense that If someone writes a book that is similar to my favorite author’s books, I will likely enjoy it! I like that thing on Amazon that shows me what other purchasers buy…and don’t get me starting on Goodreads – their recommendation system is so spot on for me it has my husband taking my credit card away from me 🙂

July 10, 2016 at 10:56 am

I’ll admit I hadn’t even realized there was something called a Book Blogger (although, of course, I knew that some people review books on their blogs — I do so myself, occasionally). It’s a good thing I crawled out of my writer’s cave long enough to read this post. I love the idea that there are entire databases devoted to book blogging, and now I have an actionable list to help me find just the right ones when I’m getting closer to publication. Thanks!

July 10, 2016 at 11:07 am

Hi L.A. Come visit my Book Blogger List anytime. Bring a BIG cup of coffee, however, as there are a lot of listings 🙂

July 10, 2016 at 11:20 am

Brava! Thanks for this post – I don’t believe I’ve seen many covering the intriguing world of book bloggers.

July 10, 2016 at 11:27 am

I want to say something like “Welcome to the Dark Side” 🙂 Come visit! We are self-identifying as voracious readers!

July 10, 2016 at 12:11 pm

Barb, what a great interactive post. Loved it. I write mostly in the LGBT area and have compiled a list of receptive book bloggers over the years, but it was hunt and peck and trial and error most of the time. Now writers have this great post and a comprehensive list you’ve provided. Bookmarkable is right. That’s just what I’m doing. Thank you. Paul

July 10, 2016 at 12:14 pm

Hi Paul, Thanks for the comment! I agree, finding book blogger to read and review is trial and error and the good ones are worth their weight in gold! My thing is to try to make things easier for authors so that they can write more books – totally selfish….I’ll go back to my reading 🙂

July 10, 2016 at 12:20 pm

The biggest thing to do is to know what the blogger reviews. I average around 200 review requests per week and easily more than 100 of those are for books that I would never read. A good 90 percent, if not more, of the remainder that are what I read come by way of form letters that often are not at all tailored to me or my blog. Also, in my case, have some idea of what is going on here. I have made no secret about my health struggles nor my wife’s fight against terminal cancer. When I have shared that we have spent or will spend the day at the hospital dealing with her treatment, it is not wise to make your e-mail pitch. Nor does it behoove you to open with the line, “Hi, Kevin , I am glad things are going so well for you!” In short, go beyond the submission policy and read a number of reviews the reviewer has done on his or her blog as well as elsewhere.

Kevin http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/

July 10, 2016 at 1:08 pm

Hi Kevin! Absolutely! Folks listen to Kevin. He is exactly correct! Read the guidelines and follow them! Or end up in the delete bin! I say I ready Regency Romance – not Zombie filled Futuristic Horror with a romantic ending. Don’t be one of THOSE authors…

Thanks Kevin!

July 12, 2016 at 6:46 pm

I review Christian romance. Today I got requests for general market fantasy, and a how-to book. Pretty obvious what my responses were.

Kevin, That’s awful about your wife, but even more awful that you have to read emails like the one you quoted.

July 10, 2016 at 12:25 pm

Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge with us. You have helped to make the process sound quite doable!

July 10, 2016 at 1:09 pm

Hi Christine! It is doable – just keep in mind that book bloggers are uber fans. 99.2% list themselves as voracious readers!

July 10, 2016 at 12:37 pm

Thank you for all the wonderful tips! I’ve been procrastinating on finding reviewers because it seemed like a Herculean job, but this post has given me great ideas to get going with it.

July 10, 2016 at 1:10 pm

Yay! And I’m always around if you want to bounce ideas off of!

July 12, 2016 at 11:35 am

Thank you! I’ll remember that. 🙂

July 10, 2016 at 12:43 pm

Thank you! This was awesome, super informative, and nice concise info in one place. WOW! I learned a lot and am psyched to get out there and try some of these tips.

I also might add, another great place to find reviewers is on genre related blogs. For example, I write vintage era fiction: 1920s-1950s, and there are subculture fashion, lifestyle, and history sites dedicated to these eras. Their blog readers can also be your fiction readers!

Maybe your MC is a female motorcycle P.I. I guarantee there are blogs about just that subject.

So, besides the awesome tips and links Barb shared, consider periphery and genre/hobby/subculture sites that might relate to your novel and promote it to a new readership!

July 10, 2016 at 1:12 pm

Exactly! Don’t limit yourself to just book bloggers. Some bloggers that I know that focus on family/home issues have MASSIVE audiences. If they have kids they are always on the search for a good kid’s book or YA book to suggest to their kids!

July 10, 2016 at 1:13 pm

Thanks for the mention of The Indieview, Barb. 🙂

I’ll also second everything you’ve said here, especially following submission instructions.

July 10, 2016 at 1:18 pm

You are welcome! I think that authors need to be given as many accurate choices as possible. Although I’m pretty proud of my site, the Indieview is just as valuable a choice and needs to be included. I include it as a choice in all my books as well as frequently when I blog.

Thanks for adding your thoughts! Appreciated!

July 10, 2016 at 3:04 pm

Thanks very much Barb. This is in point of fact Step Next for me. I just have to rustle up more reviews and it’s time to get less lucky and more professional about it. Of course, this is going to take some time… better bookmark this baby and come back to it.

July 10, 2016 at 3:38 pm

Hi Will, Good luck and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Always happy to help.

July 10, 2016 at 3:17 pm

The Book Blogger List is a huge resource. One of about seven I tell authors to visit.

July 10, 2016 at 3:34 pm

What fabulous advice! Several years ago I made up a table with lots of book reviewer’s names, but it was discouraging because it took so long to research each one and submit. Your advice, Barb, will cut back on the time wasted with bloggers who are not such a good fit. Thanks so much!

July 10, 2016 at 3:40 pm

Hi Jan, You are correct! And the drop out/burn out rate is pretty high so many don’t last beyond 2 years. Let’s say you write a book a year, by your third book you are looking for more reviewers…..I’m lucky that I list bloggers all the time, but I tend to keep a running list of ones that I want to come back to and contact as I go.

July 10, 2016 at 3:50 pm

Such a useful post, Barb. I’m in touch with a few wonderful book bloggers, but have been prevaricating about contacting more and asking for reviews. Your post has given me the impetus to get on with it. Thank you.

July 10, 2016 at 4:12 pm

Great to hear Wendy!

July 10, 2016 at 6:45 pm

Thanks for this helpful article Barb and Anne. 🙂

July 10, 2016 at 6:51 pm

You are welcome – always happy to help!

July 10, 2016 at 9:23 pm

July 10, 2016 at 9:29 pm

Another method I use is to google the name of an author slightly above my status and see where they’ve blogged or been reviewed. I will try your method.

July 11, 2016 at 5:24 am

Thanks Sunny! Good luck!

July 10, 2016 at 10:04 pm

Terrific tips! Thanks so much, Barb! Can really see a plan this way 🙂

You are welcome! And good luck!

July 11, 2016 at 4:41 am

A very informative (and timely) post! Tremendous insights! Thanks, Barb!

July 11, 2016 at 5:25 am

You are welcome John! Glad I could be of help!

July 11, 2016 at 6:02 am

I am doing the happy dance after reading your post, Barb! Many thanks! I’m a kid lit author and blogger who reviews kid lit books. I am always looking for reviewers of my stories so am over the moon about your list. As a reviewer, it can be difficult giving honest reviews to authors because I know how hard they work. However, I find great Indie books because authors I accept read my guidelines first (as you suggest) and understand I’m a stickler for grammar and great stories.

July 11, 2016 at 6:06 am

Hi Cat! So glad I could be of help! There are so many good books out there – if we could only help them all! Being a book blogger has exposed me to such a wide variety of books – I feel blessed.

July 11, 2016 at 7:25 am

Thanks so much, Barb! I usually go into avoidance mode when faced with seeking reviews, but this post gives such clear and sensible steps to follow. Thank you!

July 11, 2016 at 8:19 am

You are welcome Alicia. Just remember that book bloggers are just like you and the love books so much that they have created a blog. When treated right they are a ‘friendly’

July 11, 2016 at 8:08 am

“Make sure the blogger understands why you feel that your book will be something that they will be interested in – why it would be a good fit for their blog.” – for me, this is the hardest one. But, I have a hard time with selling myself in job interviews as well. 🙂

July 11, 2016 at 8:21 am

Hi Libby, I am like you as well in this regard. That’s why finding bloggers who have reviewed your peer’s book is a great idea. You can say – I see that you reviewed Jane Doe’s book so I’m certain that you will like mine as well…

July 11, 2016 at 8:42 am

I am not a fan of the “you reviewed so and so’s book and therefore you will like mine” way of querying the reviewer. It often does not work that way. If you are going to do that kind of query, I would suggest you make sure you tailor the query to the blogger and not generate the usual form letter query with that one line that references the other book.

Also, while I am here spouting off again, telling the reviewer that you noticed the reviewer is in the top one percent of Amazon reviewers and therefore you are contacting the reviewer is pretty much worthless. Of course, in all likelihood if you care about reviews, you are not going to contact those Amazon reviewers who write two sentences of meaningless garbage such as “The best book ever. I loved it!!” and the like. A reviewer in the top ten percent is already well are they are in that position and don’t need to be told. Just like I did not need the query the other day that started with —As male who is in the top one percent of reviewers you know how much reviews matter.

July 11, 2016 at 8:53 am

HI Kevin, What I’m trying to say is that finding bloggers who love one of your competitor’s books puts you in friendly territory. I always encourage reading the bloggers posts to get a feel for what they talk about and what they like and then looking at their review policy for specifics. Then carefully crafting an individual note tailored to the requirements of the book blogger in question.

I’m just in the editing phase of my latest survey of book bloggers. This one received 502 responses and many of the answers repeated the information that I got from the original survey of 215 book bloggers a few years ago. Form letters or mass mailed letters, putting people on mailing lists without their permission and sending ‘Dear Blogger’ review requests didn’t work 4 years ago and the latest results confirm that they still don’t work.

Yet authors still do all these things….

I just keep trying to help…one author at a time 🙂

July 11, 2016 at 9:03 am

Having been reviewing for a lot of years now, I have participated in many such surveys and have been listed in many directories. The same advice you mention and I did has always been the advice according to the survey results no matter who was doing it. Unfortunately, like telling folks to put down their cell phones when they drive, many authors ignore the advice.

One more quick thing–sending the same query ten times over three days to make sure the reviewer “got the opportunity to help launch the new book” is a really bad idea on so many levels.

July 12, 2016 at 7:07 pm

Kevin–Those multiple emails are the worst. I had one guy who insisted that I help him with the launch of his “clean” children’s book. He wrote me every day for a week, complaining more each time that I must not care about “our children” and the “filth” they are subjected to or else I’d review his book.

And I don’t even write book reviews! I can’t even imagine what your inbox is like!

Unfortunately, those people are not reading this blog. Or any blog. They are reading a book written in 2009 called “How to Make Billions on Kindle” or some such nonsense, and they believe every word as if it’s Gospel. Sigh.

July 11, 2016 at 8:27 am

Very cool, thank you. bookbloggerlist is amazing – the largest list of reviewers I knew of was around 375, and there weren’t that many suitable (i.e. non-fictin) reviewers for me, so I’m looking forward to going through Barb’s database.

July 11, 2016 at 8:54 am

Drop by any time Phil!

July 11, 2016 at 8:37 am

Great tips here! It can get discouraging when you write a niche genre that only a handful of review sites say they cover. Your tip of searching comparison titles for leads is awesome! And the sad truth is sometimes book reviews over-commit, and say yes to too many books then burn out or just never follow through with your book. So expect some attrition even when you get a yes from lots of bloggers.

I’ve had the best success reaching out to those who are fairly new and full of energy.

July 11, 2016 at 8:57 am

Hi Laurel, Another thought is to look for book bloggers who are experienced and have a healthy platform and have almost set up their blog like a business. Multiple reviewers encourage each other to continue and also share the workload. Much more likely to continue for a longer time. But ultimately, authors should always be adding bloggers to a list because of the turnover/burnout.

July 11, 2016 at 9:17 am

loved this post – very helpful and informative! thanks so much for the info and bonus links!

July 11, 2016 at 9:28 am

Barb–This is such a great post and the comments are all informative too. I do hear what Kevin R. Tipple and some of the others are saying about queries. We get them too. “We see that in 2009, you wrote a post about “writer’s block and depression”, so we’d like to write a guest post for you about a new drug to combat depression…..”

Uh, no. Just because we once mentioned the word “depression” in a post doesn’t mean we want guest posts from the pharmaceutical industry, but we get queries from them every week!

The point is to remember that Golden Rule thing Barb and I keep mentioning. Also the part about actually, um, reading the blog. One post or one review is not enough.

And altering a few words in one sentence is not enough to personalize a query. Be real. Be honest. and don’t behave like a robot. 🙂

Thanks so much for guest posting for us Barb!

July 11, 2016 at 11:11 am

Very true Anne! So many valid comments. I think the Golden Rule is so important. One of the people who took my survey said: “Learn to take ‘no’ or no answer gracefully. Sending me daily emails won’t change the answer.” I think that most authors are well brought up and have great manners, but the pressure to get reviews has them forgetting themselves.

Just a few weeks ago I got a review request for a YA zombie horror novel. I politely said no and asked to be removed from the author’s list. The author said no. She insisted her records show that I’ve reviewed one of her books in the past so I need to review this new one. I asked again to be removed – she said no and sent me a copy of her book. So yes…I get them also…sadly….

July 12, 2016 at 6:57 pm

At that point I would be tempted to say, “Yes, I did review your previous book and I loathed it. If you’re in need of one-star reviews, I’m more than happy to say I loathe this one as well.”

Not that I would, of course. But I’d be tempted.

July 13, 2016 at 8:33 pm

Iola! I LOVE your idea! Anne – maybe we should both do that – scare them off 🙂

July 13, 2016 at 8:48 pm

Iola has a great idea!

July 11, 2016 at 1:51 pm

I especially liked your how-to section. There was information there that I hadn’t considered before, such as the Google search. Of course, your 10 tips were great as well. I plan to include this post in my weekly roundup on Friday.

July 11, 2016 at 2:48 pm

Thanks Frances! Appreciated!

July 11, 2016 at 2:43 pm

Absolutely agree with the bonus tip on lying. The last thing you ever want any critic to catch you doing is lying directly to them about your work. Misrepresentation can only cause problems when they sit down with your work.

July 11, 2016 at 2:51 pm

Totally John, I read Regency romance – I find it amazing to read what people will say to get me to review their work. “The hero sometimes feels romantic” “Although there is a lot of violence in this book, there is a happy ending so I feel certain that you will love my book” etc…

July 11, 2016 at 3:12 pm

I have to chime in here, John. I so much agree!

I get queries nearly every day that say. “I just love your blog and I’m a regular reader. That’s why I know you’re going to love my guest post on [Dating in Tokyo], [The Latest Styles in Sunglasses] or [How to Make Millions from Home Stuffing Pillows with Dryer Lint.]

July 11, 2016 at 4:30 pm

Thanks for this information, Barb. I tried to get some book bloggers for my collection of short stories through an ebook I found on Amazon. But your ideas are so much better than following a paragraph about the blogger and what they will read. So far no one was interested and that made me lose interest. This is extremely helpful, Beth

July 11, 2016 at 7:20 pm

Hi Beth, Short stories are tough. There are quite a few bloggers that will take them on, though. On my site (and on others) instead of looking at the genre selections, do a search for keywords. See what you find.

July 11, 2016 at 8:22 pm

Thanks, Barb, so kind of you to answer EVERY comment. Beth

July 12, 2016 at 7:54 am

I found your 10 Tricks post via Frances Caballo’s Weekly Roundup. Very helpful as I near completion of my book and am thinking ahead to marketing. Thank you for this food for thought — Happy to have encountered your blog!

July 12, 2016 at 9:17 am

Elizabeth–Welcome to the blog! Frances gives great advice!

July 14, 2016 at 4:59 am

Thank you! I, too, have bookmarked this page. I expect to return to it repeatedly or cobble together a checklist for future “homework.”

I am at a loss to figure out who writes like me.,, but I will figure it out, I hope!

July 14, 2016 at 9:18 am

No More–This is why Barb’s system is so clever. You aren’t necessarily looking for people who write like you, but for people who appeal to similar readers. When I had my first bestseller, we discovered my readers were buying Vonnegut and Douglas Adams, not mysteries. That told my publisher to categorize my books as satire and humor rather than cozies.–and my sales went way up.

July 14, 2016 at 6:37 pm

That’s an easier handle. Thanks!

July 17, 2016 at 11:43 am

Great article and kudos Barb for going to the trouble of maintaining that awesome list. I must admit the question for me now is not how to find book bloggers/reviewers, but if. As many commenters have pointed out, it is extremely time-consuming if done properly. Even with the huge advantage of lists such as Barb’s, quite often the bloggers in your preferred genre are not accepting e-books, or not accepting self-pubbed, or flat-out not accepting any at all (assuming you can find their review policy). When I was hot on the book review trail, I estimate one out of 20 or so children’s book bloggers/reviewers might be a good fit for my MG self-pubbed e-book. And that doesn’t mean they will accept it – just that they are a good fit. When my book is available soon as paperback, that may improve. But for now, I just don’t think tracking down book reviewers is worth my time (and $$, since I have to send them a free review copy). At present, I’m currently experimenting with some other methods of marketing, hoping for more organic reviews resulting from book sales.

July 19, 2016 at 11:20 am

Lissa–Children’s books really haven’t entered the e-age and most sales are in paper except for YA, so the rules are different. I know that can be very frustrating for children’s book authors.

I think you’re smart to be looking for more creative methods of marketing. Maybe something through iTunes, since getting iPad users to get their kids to read on iPads would be a big plus for children’s authors everywhere.

July 18, 2016 at 4:05 pm

Great post. Thanks.

July 19, 2016 at 11:21 am

Rhett–Thanks for stopping by!

July 19, 2016 at 7:23 am

I love the idea of checking for reviews of similar books in order to find bloggers who might be interested in your book! That’s a creative way to find bloggers to reach out to :).

July 19, 2016 at 11:24 am

Kate–That was what impressed me about Barb’s piece. Nobody had suggested that to me before. The advice always tells you to go after the top Amazon reviewers, or the Vine reviewers, and those people are so overloaded they can’t handle any more queries. This helps you find people who might actually want to hear from you. And I think “baby bloggers” are worth looking into as well. They may not have a big audience now, but by your next book, they might. 🙂

July 24, 2016 at 9:21 am

Great post! As someone just going through the process of publishing my first novel it’s nice to have resources like this to better understand how to promote it. Thanks!

July 24, 2016 at 9:42 am

Alex–I’ve been in this business a long time and I learned some things too. Barb has some great tips here!

September 4, 2016 at 6:30 am

Newbie question – do book bloggers read unpublished books?

September 4, 2016 at 9:20 am

Sue–Book bloggers often read ARCs–Advance review copies–which are pre-publication copies sent by the publisher to reviewers. They may have a few typos and maybe not the finalized cover, but they otherwise look “published.” Sending out ARCs allows publishers to gather reviews before the official launch.

But an unpublished newbie should not approach a reviewer with a manuscript that does not have a publisher and a publication date. What you want to look for if you have an unpublished manuscript is a beta reader or a critique partner.

September 5, 2016 at 8:10 am

Barb, this is fantastic information. I’ve been following several book reviewers for a couple of years now and it was largely through Twitter that I came across them through people I know on there who would tweet. Then, of course, links lead to other links, but I love your suggestion about searching with book titles. Thank you! 😀

September 5, 2016 at 6:13 pm

You are welcome Writersideup! Always happy to help. Good luck with your search!

November 18, 2016 at 5:33 am

Excellent tips, and thanks for the shout-out.

February 7, 2017 at 12:44 pm

Perfect timing! I have a book of poetry and prose coming out in March would love too receive reviews from book bloggers. Now I know where to begin. Thank you!

March 29, 2017 at 4:25 pm

Your writing style was so great I immediately bought your book!

June 3, 2017 at 12:51 am

I came across this post recently, put it in Evernote, and just rediscovered it. While I’ve read most of this advice before, and have worked on it (but in a rather half-hearted way!) this post is very encouraging in terms of getting me off my rear end and doing something about approaching book bloggers. I’ve been working at it from another blogger’s list of book bloggers, but I need to have another go at this ‘method’ and make some more progress. Thanks.

November 20, 2017 at 12:37 pm

This is a new book review team of retirees reading books. They only write reviews for books they choose to read. But it’s free. Check it out here > Free book reviews > https://www.teamgolfwell.com/free-book-reviews.html

November 20, 2017 at 12:48 pm

John–Thanks! Retirees are great readers! I’ll go check them out!

November 20, 2017 at 12:51 pm

John–I see there is a paid version of this–if you want a speedy review. I’m not sure if Amazon smiles on that or not, but it’s worth checking out.

March 21, 2018 at 8:46 pm

Hi Everyone,

We do independent free #bookreviews. We are a group of retired people in New Zealand who play golf, read books, write books, and offer #freebookreviews if the book interests anyone on our team, i.e., we give a free review (it may take some time) if your book interests us. Since we write books too, we enjoy seeing new books and what authors are currently doing. Content is always king, and we get books in from some authors who stand far above the rest just naturally. It makes us appreciate how people are innovating and entertaining people by their writings. It gives us ideas for our own books too.

See our book review page for more info > > https://www.teamgolfwell.com/free-book-reviews.html .

March 21, 2018 at 9:04 pm

I didn’t realise you were located in NZ, John – I mean Team Golfwell. Thanks for the review that someone in your group did recently on one of my books.

March 22, 2018 at 9:25 am

John–Wow! What a great service you’re providing for the writing community! This is an old post, so I’m not sure how many people will see this comment, but I’ll spread the word on social media. Thanks!

M-Crowl–Nice to hear you got a nice review from these generous Kiwis!

April 11, 2018 at 5:58 pm

Thank so much for sharing this. I know it’s been very hard for me to find book bloggers because my genre is poetry. I did glance at the list from both The IndieView and the Book Blogging lists but no luck. Maybe something will shake. But I will continue to push through.

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