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:
Kidding….
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.
Done?
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.
Done?
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?
About Barb Drozdowich: When Barb isn’t reading the latest regency romance novel, she’s likely explaining technical subjects to authors and bloggers through her courses at Bakerview Consulting. She has a knack for using common language to help non-technical people understand the tech side of the book publishing world. She also serves as taxi driver for her kids and treat slave to a very cute puppy. She and her family live in beautiful British Columbia. She’s also the tech genius who rescued this blog from certain death last May. Thanks Barb!
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
by Barb Drozdowich
Amazon Kindle
Read the original survey & results
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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.)
Hi Melodie! Always happy to help! Send your students my way – lots and lots of book bloggers happy to help!
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! 🙂
Hi Ruth! I’m a huge fan of non-fattening Blueberry Crumble! Thanks for the compliments – made my day!!
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.
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 🙂
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!
Hi L.A. Come visit my Book Blogger List anytime. Bring a BIG cup of coffee, however, as there are a lot of listings 🙂
Brava! Thanks for this post – I don’t believe I’ve seen many covering the intriguing world of book bloggers.
I want to say something like “Welcome to the Dark Side” 🙂 Come visit! We are self-identifying as voracious readers!
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
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 🙂
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/
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!
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.
Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge with us. You have helped to make the process sound quite doable!
Hi Christine! It is doable – just keep in mind that book bloggers are uber fans. 99.2% list themselves as voracious readers!
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.
Yay! And I’m always around if you want to bounce ideas off of!
Thank you! I’ll remember that. 🙂
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!
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!
Thanks for the mention of The Indieview, Barb. 🙂
I’ll also second everything you’ve said here, especially following submission instructions.
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!
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.
Hi Will, Good luck and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Always happy to help.
The Book Blogger List is a huge resource. One of about seven I tell authors to visit.
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!
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.
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.
Great to hear Wendy!
Thanks for this helpful article Barb and Anne. 🙂
You are welcome – always happy to help!
🙂
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.
Thanks Sunny! Good luck!
Terrific tips! Thanks so much, Barb! Can really see a plan this way 🙂
You are welcome! And good luck!
A very informative (and timely) post! Tremendous insights! Thanks, Barb!
You are welcome John! Glad I could be of help!
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.
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.
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!
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’
“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. 🙂
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…
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.
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 🙂
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.
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.
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.
Drop by any time Phil!
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.
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.
loved this post – very helpful and informative!
thanks so much for the info and bonus links!
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!
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….
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.
Iola! I LOVE your idea! Anne – maybe we should both do that – scare them off 🙂
Iola has a great idea!
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.
Thanks Frances! Appreciated!
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.
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…
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.]
GRRRRR!
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
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.
Thanks, Barb, so kind of you to answer EVERY comment. Beth
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!
Elizabeth–Welcome to the blog! Frances gives great advice!
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!
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.
That’s an easier handle. Thanks!
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.
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.
Great post. Thanks.
Rhett–Thanks for stopping by!
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 :).
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. 🙂
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!
Alex–I’ve been in this business a long time and I learned some things too. Barb has some great tips here!
Newbie question – do book bloggers read unpublished books?
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.
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! 😀
You are welcome Writersideup! Always happy to help. Good luck with your search!
Excellent tips, and thanks for the shout-out.
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!
Your writing style was so great I immediately bought your book!
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.
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
John–Thanks! Retirees are great readers! I’ll go check them out!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.