How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is Great for Authors in Search of Reviews!By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
Series: The multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Genre: Nonfiction: How-to, business, writing
CreateSpace, 2016340 ppg.ISBN-13: 978-1536948370ISBN-10: 1536948373Available as an e-book or paper
Originally Reviewed by Dawn for her blog Dawn Reviews Books (old or new)
Any author with a new book out is often faced with a dilemma: The desire to
want to solicit reviews of his/her book but also not wanting to be a pest or
end up “spamming” people for reviews. In this case, it would be a good idea
to check out How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically by
Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Carolyn has many books under her belt and
years of experience in soliciting reviews of her books. She knows the ins
and outs of getting her books reviewed and she has learned many
lessons the hard way during her journey as an author. Guess what?
She has taken the time to share all those lessons learned in this book,
and she wants to let you know about mistakes to avoid in your quest to
get reviews of your book. It is definitely a good idea for an author to read
this book if you want to know just what those mistakes are!
When I learned about this latest book, I immediately snapped to attention. This is definitely
a touchy issue for many authors. I have had both good and bad experiences in trying
to get reviews of my own books, and as a book reviewer myself, I was interested in
just what Carolyn had to say.
One big issue that both authors and book reviewers wonder about is whether it makes
any difference if a book is reviewed in a major media outlet or not. Carolyn actually had
something to say about that: "I have a traditionally published friend whose book was
reviewed by Newsweek (back in the days when it was published worldwide in print and
its reach was arguably unparalleled), and her book still did not earn royalties over her
advance." (pg. 38) So I guess it really doesn’t make much difference where a book
review is published. I don’t know many authors with similar stories to tell and I can’t really
say either way, either. Still, this information does have more strength to it so I think we
should stop beating ourselves up if we don’t get a review in the New York Times or
Parents Magazine.
If you think that as an author of a book published months ago you would not find such
a book helpful to you, think again! As Carolyn says, "[I]t is almost never too early—or too
late in this new age of publishing—to start working on the review process for your
book." (pg. 39) She shows you just how to get reviews for your old book! There is
definitely a way for authors to make an old book new again through the book review
process. As someone who reads both old and new books (and reviews same books here),
I don't think the date of publication is a problem unless your book contains
outdated or obsolete information.
Carolyn also touches on the dangers of sending out review copies of your book to
reviewers. When I was working for a publishing company, I offered to review some
e-copies of their books. The publisher sent them to me. Unfortunately, there were
formatting mistakes in the ebooks. Pages were cut off at the bottom and I was
unable to read entire chapters. I let the publisher know but she never responded
to my emails and she never sent fixed copies of the books. Unfortunately, because
I could not review the ebooks since they were unreadable, I was probably seen as
someone looking to score a free ebook. It was such a shame, too, because I enjoyed
what of the stories I was able to read!
Another issue addressed is how there is a major preference for sending out e-copies to
review rather than print. I used to be a huge e-book reader but, for some reason or another,
that changed. I stopped reading e-books for a long time and mostly read print books.
Any publisher or author who contacted me asking what format of a book I wanted to
review was told “print” and of course they bowed out in sending that review copy. But the
problem was that print was more convenient for me. My life was crazy-busy at that time,
and without any e-reader of any kind to keep with me, I could only spend most of my time
reading with a print book. These days, I am making time for reading e-books (starting with
this one), but if a reviewer says they prefer a print copy, then either send them a print or miss
out on their review. That is just the way it is. As Carolyn says on page 118: "And don’t try
to convince reviewers to accept the e-copy over the paperback. It’s insensitive; if they accept
your book, they should be able to read it in whatever form they prefer."
However, I understand the hesitation of sending a print book because a review cannot
always be guaranteed. I have sent out print copies of my own books to reviewers in the
past and I never got a review on many of them. Of course I was angry at the time, but
then I considered it a lesson learned in researching potential reviewers. (And even
with reputable book review sites, like Night Owl Reviews – which I review books
for – there is still no guarantee a book will get reviewed. Some print books I have sent
to NOR never got a review. It happens!)
And again, there may be a reason why a book does not get a review...
As it stands, a reviewer really cannot guarantee that he or she will indeed review your book.
Aside from the formatting problem that I mentioned earlier, other issues with a book may hurt
its chances of getting reviewed. I had another situation in which someone contacted me
through Twitter asking me if I’d review his book. The information he provided about his book
sounded interesting so I agreed and he sent me an e-copy of his book. Unfortunately,
I discovered that there was an inappropriate scene in the story of children and nudity.
I let the author know that I really don’t like reading suck books and decided not to review
it after all. He did not take it well. Most authors probably expect a reviewer to review his or
her book if he or she agrees to do so and they go to the trouble of sending it, but the reality
is that a reviewer IS NOT under an obligation to write that review. There will always be
something that can prevent it from happening.
This is pretty much why I limit the books I review on my book review blog
(http://writedmc.livejournal.com/) to books that I have personally come across and want
to read. Sometimes, my daughter will recommend a book to me and I just may review
that book, too. But ultimately, the books I review on DRB are my own personal selections.
This is why I note on the profile that I do not accept pitches from authors to review their books.
I cannot guarantee a book will be reviewed. If a book grabs my interest and they send it,
great! But I cannot and will not promise them a review on this site. Also, I may take some
time to read a book. I am not a fast reader. Most authors want their reviews yesterday.
This is also not something I can promise them. But I do promise an honest, fair and
FREE review. Take it or leave it.
I don’t agree with the general idea (or her opinion) that “hack” is a dirty word. (Page 95)
It doesn’t have to be! Thanks to Life Hacks and several articles on “parenting hacks” or
“study hacks,’ the word “hack” is fast becoming synonymous with smart, crafty, quick and
inspired. I love Life Hacks and also the “parenting hacks” because those kinds of
sites, memes and articles are brimming with ideas on how to save time, money and your
strength. In the past, I felt bad having the “hack” label as I worked as a freelance writer
and as a ghostwriter and wrote about various topics, but these days a “hack” in no longer
necessarily “bad.” So fly your hack flag proudly!
Many authors may not be sure of who to contact or where to send queries in soliciting
reviews of their books. Take heart! There’s a handy list of book reviewers, both large
and small, included in this book. That’s awesome! However, I think she should
add Night Owl Reviews
When I was working in marketing for a publishing company, I regularly pitched book
review bloggers who invited such solicitations about the authors I was representing to
see if they wanted to review any of their books. I never considered such mailings a
“query” though Carolyn does in this book. As someone who has also worked as a
freelance writer, I could see how calling such a letter a query. This is, after all, a
professional correspondence meant for business purposes. You are not trying to socialize
with a reviewer or try to all of a sudden be their BFFs. No, queries mean business,
and the author should approach the process of soliciting reviews of his/her book as such.
I like how she walks the author through the process of crafting the query letter.
The newbie author faced with the task of getting reviews for her book might freeze in terror,
unsure of what to say. Here Carolyn takes the author’s hand and guides them
through the process each step of the way, in words that are easily understood and
brimming with hints for ideas.
This book shows you not only how to get reviews but also what to do with them – and
how they can go a long way in making your book look great! That can also help boost
sales even if the reviews do not.
I like the suggestion to thank a reviewer for a nice review. Myself, I don’t really care
if an author thanks me or not, but the thank you notes are nice to receive. On the other
hand, I do thank people who review my book, if I am able to. It is just good manners to
say thank you! However, I don’t agree that a thank you note should always be on paper
and sent through land mail. First of all, I absolutely, positively DO NOT want to give out
my mailing address to just anybody. I feel safer giving out my email address. Second,
it is really unnecessary to get a thank you note by land mail when an email can be
sent instead. I really don’t care either way. Lots of authors have contacted me via email
with a thank you note for reviewing their book, and I was just fine with this. It did not bother
me at all. The same goes with authors who thank me in a comment on a blog post or in a
tweet. They are still saying "thank you" and that is what matters. It is even better whey
they share the link to a review of their book on social media. (That right there is a great
way to show your gratitude for a review!) So, while Carolyn feels such notes MUST
be on paper and go through land mail when thanking a professional reviewer for a review,
I disagree and feel that an email should be just as good, too. I also don’t think sending
a small gift as a token of appreciation is a good idea, either – but that is just my opinion!
Even so, she recognizes this is not always possible and offers alternative methods for
expressing your thanks for a review, and I think that they are good suggestions too.
I like the Twitter suggestion – which is also always nice!
I found the section of the book discussing what criteria Amazon uses to pull a review
for a book a very interesting read. I have heard a lot of discussions from disgruntled
authors AND reviewers who had a legitimate book review deleted. They always said
that Amazon gave them some vague reason for deleting the review. I have reviewed
many books on Amazon, as well as other products I have bought from there (like a
diaper bag!), and never ran into any problems. One of the things Carolyn noted is that a
professional book reviewer can also be suspect according to Amazon and that Amazon
may pull such a reviewer’s review. I review books for Night Owl Reviews but have never
had any of my reviews of other non-NOR books pulled from Amazon. I never post my
reviews on there (per NOR’s guidelines) and all of the reviews I have posted on Amazon
were ALWAYS for things I bought directly from Amazon. This is my own personal policy.
If I did not buy the item from Amazon, I just won’t post a review of it on Amazon.
This is why I started my blog. I wanted to share reviews of books, but some of those books
I have read were NOT Amazon purchases! So I post my reviews of such books here.
All the same, like I said, I have never had problems in getting a review I posted on Amazon
deleted for some reason or another. I know they probably wish I would post more reviews
of books I bought from them more often but I am just a slow reader buried with books to
read!
Also, Carolyn shares what you can do about reviews that disappear from Amazon.
My advice? Don’t freak out. As Carolyn explains in the book, there could be a number
of reasons why a review disappeared. She tells you what actions to take and how to cope
with such a situation. The big thing she (and I) want authors to keep in mind during a situation
like this is to not automatically fire off a negative and angry email to TPTB.
As Carolyn says, “You aren’t required to put negative energy into the universe.” (pg. 234)
And while we’re talking about the downsides of book reviews, let us not ignore the fact
that some authors may thumb their noses at getting their book reviewed by an amateur
reviewer or by a book review blogger with no following. I don’t think it’s a good habit
to do such a thing, although I understand such authors’ reasons for taking this stance.
However, it’s really a judgment call. Carolyn reminds us that it might still be a good idea to
consider paying attention to such review requests, As she writes in this book, "Don’t turn
your back on an opportunity until you know what you might be gaining—or losing." (pg. 249)
I know that I personally do not have much of a readership on this blog (can’t find out that
info for my reviews appearing on NOR), but I do like the opportunity to review new books
here. I usually only contact authors that I know, however, because they won’t refuse to
send me a copy of their book to review just because I have a low readership. I would not
do such a thing to them, either.
I like the Q&A section and the sample letters at the back of the book are also very
helpful. There are also tons of ideas on how to get reviews for old books. Her
“Never say never!” attitude can get authors of books published a year or more ago to put
on their marketing caps and start thinking of new ways to get old books out there again
with new reviews that just might give their books a second life. I love the catalog idea!
I have authored and co-authored many books so I definitely could use something like
this to promote my books.
How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is a book that offers up a ton
of useful information to an author trying to get reviews of a book. It won’t tell you
how to put together your media kit (you will need to get her other book, The Frugal Book
Promoter, for that info), but it gives authors a really good jumping point on how to solicit
for reviews without looking like a pest. And if anything, this book will arm authors with
the information they need to get reviews for books and how to make those reviews
go the extra mile in order to generate more interest, more publicity, and hopefully more
sales! This is certainly a book that every author should keep handy and one I know
I will be referring to again for later use.
Five stars.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book to review for this blog.
MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
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