You need to get book reviews. Reviews drive sales. The more people who can see your book was read and enjoyed the more likely you are to get some sales and some money into your pocket. People typically need to see something at least 6 times before they make a decision about buying something. So you need to get your book in front of people at least 6 times; reviews are a good way to start. How to get book reviews at least 6 times? Well read on and you shall find out.
You Must Try A/B Testing
Before you even start finding places to send your requests for reviews, you need to start writing some A/B marketing material. A/B testing is when you create one piece of promotional material and then create one that is nearly identical, but slightly different. The difference may be small, but you see which one has a better response rate and then continue with that one. Then you rinse and repeat. This will help you learn how to write better for review requests and also how to get more reviews written for less work. Google it for more in-depth information and how to do it. A/B testing will increase the efficiency of your ‘how to get book reviews’ campaign.
Goodreads
I think many people undervalue the use of Goodreads. I think publishers especially undervalue it. They may place the book on there, but that is it. I think the big 6 are missing a huge opportunity not being on the site. Anyways, you must use Goodreads. I get emails to me about what my friends just read. There are also top reviewers and people with the most friends on the site. This is a perfect place to get reviewers. Go see the top users: http://www.goodreads.com/user/online_now. Find the best people ask them for reviews for your book. You can check out their genres to make sure your book is in their type and you could also check to make sure they are positive reviewers or honest.
Amazon
How to get book reviews on Amazon? Amazon is great, but you can do this with other sales sites as well. You need to get these people to review your book. They consistently give reviews that people like. Go see the top reviewers: http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers. Check their genres and make sure they are what you want. Getting them at the source will help people who are just thinking about buying, but still unsure. Get some sexy stars to make it look good.
Blogs
The multitude of book blogs online is astounding. Many are well trafficked many aren’t, so do your research before wasting your time. Get relevant links to your website when people post about your book using keywords for SEO. Finding a website that will review your book is hard since they are bombarded with book review requests. Most of the sites tell you how you can submit and the guidelines. I think the best strategy is building a list and sending out the request. See who is responsive to you so you can use them next time and maybe give them some links from your website as thanks. Giving links helps build their website creditability and increases the viewing of your review once they get it up.
Never Give Up
Rejection sucks. You have hopefully got used to it at this point. Most people you ask aren’t even going to reply. Thank the people that do and stay positive. This is a numbers game. The higher the number of people you ask. The higher the amount of reviews you will receive. You can’t give up. You need to keep asking and finding reviews. I hope I answered, ‘How to get book reviews?’
William Yatscoff is founder and CEO of Bookkus Publishing. The company was founded on using a crowd to choose which books to publish allowing better books to be chosen and giving quality feedback to authors. The company opened in September 2012 and is currently looking for readers who wish to become book reviewers on the site. Bookkus is always open for manuscript submissions from aspiring authors.
This post was very helpful. I’m just beginning to market my self-published novel, Some Glad Morning. It’s mind boggling all that must be done, but this post and this website has been very helpful. Thank you.
I’m glad it was helpful Gary. I know marketing isn’t easy, but it is typically an endurance game. Just take your time and do a little each day and it’ll add up to a lot after a year.
William Yatscoff recently posted..Books That Need More Reviews