Reviews, Reviewers, and Reviewing –
Part 2
My last post described what a review is, how much one might cost,
and what he value of a review is to you, the author.
Today, I’ll look at the second “R” in the title: the Reviewer. Note: My original plan was one blog on each of the three words in the title.
But, I couldn’t make that work, so this blog is mostly about the Reviewer.
A reviewer is someone, anyone really, who reads your book and
makes some comment about it to other people. This happens in three primary
ways.
Casual Conversation. “I’m reading this
really intriguing book right now…”
Intentional Commentary.
Posts on social media. This is just what it says. If it includes
the name of the book and some comment, it’s one of these.
Posts on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. These are formal pronouncements by
someone willing to commit to a rating—1-5 stars—and verbiage supporting that
rating.
“Expert” reviews. Individuals or groups that choose to review
books in certain genres do these. These often end up on Amazon, Goodreads, etc.
But, some are posted only on the reviewers blog, website, or other specific
location.
Some of these are expensive. I mentioned Kirkus in the previous
blog. The expensive ones tend to be those with established credentials in the
publishing world.
Some offer a range of prices. Normally, the less expensive, the
longer the process and/or the less exposure guaranteed by the reviewer(s).
OnlineBoookClub.org is one such organization. I’ve never used their service,
but they offer a sliding scale and options for the posting or not posting of
the review based on their rating numbers 1-4.
Chances are you’ll never know about the Casual Conversation reviewer since it could be anyone who is
reading or has read your book.
Conversely, reviewers in the Intentional
Commentary categories identify themselves in some way: login name, account
ID, or their real name. They might be a friend, relative, or stranger who likes
your writing. But, they might also be a reviewer dislikes your book.
If you contracted for the review, you might have the option of
having an unfavorable review suppressed—see above. That might be a good idea.
But it might not be a good idea, either. If a book has only 5-start reviews,
I’m suspicious. I can’t think of anything that everyone I know likes as “the
best” of whatever from books or movies to flavors of ice cream.
Reviewers are hard to come by. I’ve offered a variety of
incentives to people I know, friends of those folks, and social media contact
as well.
Free Book. This sounds like a
slam-dunk plan to get a reviewer. After all, you provide the book at NO COST.
Expecting them to read and post commentary seems equitable. I’ve not had lots
of success recruiting reviewers via this method. Oh, I’ve given away many
books, but I have a return rate for the review of less than 20%. That’s
depressing.
Exchanging reviews. The indie movement, Author’s Unite!, uses an exchange of
reviews model. I’ve provided free copies of my book in exchange for a free copy
of a book from another author. We read each other’s book. We write a review,
but we don’t share them until both reviews are complete. Waiting for both
reviews to be completed before exchanging the reviews is an important step
because it keeps both author-reviewers focused on their unbiased opinion of the
other author-reviewer’s book.
In the last blog, I explained Amazon’s “verified purchase” policy
on review posts. Because those reviews have more clout with Amazon—they
indicate that at least the reviewer purchased the book being reviewed—I’ve gone
to offering “Free” days for my books on Amazon when I want to do an exchange.
The download from Amazon is
considered a purchase, even without money involved.
I’m currently at 100% with the exchange of review program. The
sample size is small, but I’m encouraged by the success of the process thus
far.
You will have to convince other authors to exchange reviews.
Here’s a transcript of an email between Sherry Frazier and me, an outstanding
publicist when one author I approached balked.
Me: I offered to exchange
reviews--a la the Authors Unite! model--with another author. This was her
response:
Other
Author: I might be open to exchanging reviews, but my one big hesitation is
that Amazon is now watching out for that kind of thing and deleting reviews.
Me: Is that
anywhere on your radar screen?
Sherry: It is not for authors who buy each other's
book and review it, which is the Author's Unite model. It is for a site that
authors pay a small fee and there are tons of reviews put up on amazon. Yes,
amazon is aware of that and they do delete those. The Author's Unite is set up
so each author purchases the other author's book and then the reviews are fine.
In the last installment of this series, I’ll look at the process
of obtaining Pre-reviews and the importance of “listening” to the reviews that
aren’t all praise of you or your book. And, I'll include an example.
Next
blog: Reviews, Reviewers, and Reviewing –
Part 3
e-mail:
crd.author@gmail.com
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