Books reviews are very important in the publishing industry, especially for new and self-published authors. Book reviews help authors promote their work and increase their credibility. In the highly competitive publishing industry, the success of your book depends on positive reviews.
A book published by an unknown author has little chance of gaining attention, while the same book (and the same “unknown” author) with a number of positive reviews can begin to gain momentum. Those positive reviews can help persuade potential new readers to buy the book and the word-of-mouth continues.
So how do you get reviews?
You can start with friends and colleagues. Just be sure to encourage them to be honest in their reviews. Readers won’t be convinced to read your book just because your mom thinks you are amazing.
Next, there are some free review services where you can send a copy of your book. These services are a great resource; however, because they are free, the reviewers get inundated with books and can’t review every book they receive. Their services can also take several months and the reviews are not guaranteed to be good.
In addition to free review services, there are some services available where you can pay to be guaranteed a review. That said, the review is still not guaranteed to be good, but if you are confident in your book (which you should be, after all you wrote and published it!), you shouldn’t need to worry about that.
Here are three pay-for-review services you can start with:
BLUE INK REVIEW
A Standard Review is $395 for the review to be completed in 7-9 weeks.
A Fast Track Review is $495 for the review to be completed in 4-5 weeks.
BlueInk considers for review any book that has been published (self-published and indie published). They review e-books, on-demand books, printed books in any format, English translations and English-language submissions from outside the United States, as well as galleys. They do not review manuscripts pre-publication.
FOREWORD CLARION REVIEW
The cost is $305 and turnaround time is 6-8 weeks.
Open to all books and publishers, Clarion promises an objective 400 – 500 word review/critique with a quick six to eight week turnaround. The review will be posted on the ForeWord website (if the publisher desires), licensed to the three top wholesale databases, and made available to the book’s publisher. This service is ideal for books that haven’t received review attention elsewhere.
KIRKUS INDIE REVIEW
Standard review is completed in 7-9 weeks for $425.
Express review is completed in 3-4 weeks for $575.
The Kirkus Indie program gives independent authors a chance to obtain an unbiased, professional review of their work, written in the same format as a traditional Kirkus review. A book review can be an essential and powerful tool for promoting your book to literary agents, traditional publishing houses, booksellers, and, most importantly, potential readers.
I’d love to know, have you used a paid review service? How was the experience?
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ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com. |
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