ANNOUNCEMENT: I am >< that close to getting my Business of Writing book coded and uploaded to e-tailer channels such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
I'll be sharing its cover and preorder information in a future blog post. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this article about requesting and responding to book reviews.
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Review meme (c)2015 by Kim Headlee.
Sunset photo (c)2008 by Alexstar, Dreamstime ID 10088688. |
The importance of book reviews.
If you
have even one title in a retail catalog, then more than likely you have
noticed the fluctuation in sales in response to receiving a new review.
Instinctively we authors know that reviews are important, but longtime
author Gail Z Martin offers an interesting perspective about why in her
guest blog post on
No Wasted Ink.
Reacting to reviews.
The first review I ever got, for the first edition of
Dawnflight
in 1999, the reviewer sent me a copy via email. I think I must have
stared at the subject line for at least an hour, terrified to open it!
But I'm glad I did, for it was a glowing one.
Since
then my books have received dozens of reviews, falling at all points
across the starry spectrum, and for numerous reasons.
You know how to handle the 5- and 4-star reviews, right? Since
chances are I'm old enough to be your mom, I will do my "Mom Thing" and
make sure you know: be gracious and humble. And then tweet/pin/share the
bejezus out of them! :D
I've found 3-star reviews of
my books to be a mixed bag of anything from ripping my book a new one to
containing far more praise than the star rating would seem to indicate.
Sometimes I find tweetable tidbits in these reviews, and sometimes not.
Either way, I read them and then go about my day.
But how should one react to the 2- and 1-star wonders?
Indie Author News gives an excellent list of tips in
10 Ways for Authors to Respond to Bad Reviews. Don't have time to click the link? I will give you my #1 tip, which is their #2:
Never interact with reviewers in a public forum regardless of the review's content or star rating. Ever. Period.
The
only exception to this is to post a "thank you," even in response to a
low-star-rating review if it contains constructive criticism that you
find useful for improving your work. A little courtesy goes a long way.
Tip #8 from the
Indie Author News list is
Don't rush to your favorite social media site to rant. You would be well advised to take that one to heart too. Whenever I see that behavior by an author online, it ensures that I will never download, even for free, anything from
that author. Ever. Period.
Writing reviews of other authors' books.
An
excellent blog post about writing reviews for Amazon, especially given
their propensity to weed out "fake" reviews, may be
viewed on
A Word With Traci blog.
As a professional reviewer—and by that I mean that I have been paid cash for my content by the review site,
never directly by publishers or authors—I
take a dim view of "review swapping." This along with the ethically
challenged practice of purchasing reviews have done more to undermine
the value of reviews than coercing your family and friends to leave good
reviews ever will.
Requesting reviews.
Done
correctly, this can be a tedious and time-consuming process. I used to employ an assistant to work on this project for a few hours
per month. I started her with
the
Indie Reviewers List maintained
by
The Indie View e-zine and identified the genres wherein each of my
books fits. She conducted the querying, submitting, and follow up. The guidelines I gave her, which will work for you too:
- Pay attention to what the blogger prefers to read. Don't waste
his/her time—or yours—by submitting your book anyway, unless the blogger
specifically states that exceptions are made for exceptional works.
When in doubt...
- Read a few posted reviews, especially the negative ones. You may
decide that you don't like the reviewer's style, and that could save you
and the blogger some time.
- Follow the reviewer's stated submission guidelines to the letter.
If s/he does not want your book's file right away, for God's sake do
not send it. That's the fastest way of getting it dumped—and potentially
getting yourself labeled as an Author Who Does Not Read. This goes
double for responding to sites that state they are closed to
submissions.
- If the site is open to submissions but no guidelines exist, write a
brief but courteous email giving your book's title, genre(s), and
tagline, which ideally describes your book in twenty words or fewer.
Don't waste his/her time (or yours) by including a twenty-page synopsis,
a ten-page author bio, and your manuscript in its entirety.
When following up with potential reviewers after you have submitted your book:
- Heed their stated follow-up policies to the letter. If
s/he specifies "do not contact us" and you go ahead and contact them
anyway, then you run the risk of being labeled as an Author Who Does Not
Read.
- Add at least one month to any stated follow-up period, if follow-ups are permitted.
- If no follow-up guidelines or review-posting turnaround times are
stated, and the site has not posted a "do not contact" policy, wait at
least three months before following up with the blogger.
Reviewer-bloggers are busy people too, and they do not need to be
hounded by anyone.
Less tedious and
time-consuming is the blog tour. In a properly coordinated tour,
potential reviewers might be incentivized to participate via the chance
to win a gift card in a bloggers-only giveaway, but they are not
compensated financially for writing the review itself, because they are
never under any obligation to write it. To protect authors, the usual
stipulation is that if they dislike the book and cannot rate it more
than two stars, the tour coordinator asks that the review not be posted
until after the tour is over.
Of course "less tedious
and time-consuming" equals greater cost, but all of my books have
benefited from being featured in blog tours, and I feel that they are
marketing dollars well spent.
*** Another announcement: I need your help! ***
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Thank you so very much and have a blessed day.
***
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