3 Tips for Getting (More) Book Reviews

For new, indie authors, the idea of getting someone to leave even a single book review can be daunting. But as you are newly starting your authorship, there are a few simple, affordable ways that you can get those first couple of reviews to start rolling in. These tips are based on the guidance I provide to my clients . I’ve noticed that the ones who ignore this guidance are the ones who tend to struggle the most with getting their first few reviews for their book. While there’s no such thing as a “one size fits all” strategy for anything related to managing your authorship, these tactics tend to get results more often than not (especially the first one I list!), so I hope you’ll at least seriously consider them when launching your first book.

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1.??????? Promote Your Book

One of the biggest reasons that I see newbie authors not get reviews is simply because they aren’t making any sales. And why is that? Well, in my experience, it’s because of a single concept that astounds me every time I hear a new client say it: “I don’t want to start promoting it until it’s published.” sigh

So, before you try either of the following strategies, make sure you’ve made some sales. If you haven’t sold (or at least given away) any books, that means no one is reading them. And if no one has read your book, there’s no one who has the ability to leave a genuine review. If you need to get back to basics and promote the book until you’ve got a few hundred, or even just a few dozen, books on people’s shelves, check out both the marketing and the promotion lessons at WeCanPub.com .

Not having promoted the book before launch means you are severely behind, but there are many ways to get back up to speed, so don’t fret. Just get to work!

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2.????? Ask Your Friends

And co-workers and students and critique group members and neighbors and so on. In a nutshell, this strategy is all about engaging your established social circle for reviews. After all, these are people who interact with you on a regular basis. Meaning you’ve probably covered their shift, let them borrow notes in class, given them a ride home, or loaned them money when they needed it.

In many cases, the idea of reading your book and leaving a review is not that big of an ask and the people around you are more than willing to be supportive. But, because we’re all busy and it’s easy to get tunnel vision as we work, go to school, raise kids, and try to take care of our own minds and bodies, it’s easy to forget about things others have going on or might need help with. Simply having someone ask us to do something for them could be all it takes to snap us out of it and push us to doing what our friend, acquaintance, or colleague requests from us.

Be the person who asks. Advocate for your authorship in this way. You don’t need to bug them about it. A simple, “Hey, would you mind leaving a review for my book when you’re done reading? I don’t have any yet and it’s getting pretty discouraging," would do.

That’s it. If you do ask a second time, let it be after a month or two has passed (longer if you have published a heftier book). After all, when you asked for the review, they may not have even started reading the book yet. Give them time to read the book in the midst of their busy lives so that they can then review it.

You can make these requests in person, via email, and through social media based on where you interact with the person the most and what’s more comfortable for you. And for those who accept, you can use services similar to Bookfunnel to help you manage and monitor the distribution of those review copies.

Personally, after I ask the second time, I’m done.

Generally, people in my life know that reviews for books are helpful. For many of them, even the first ask isn’t really necessary. They know that I (and any other author they know) would be thrilled for them to leave a review. But I don’t mind asking the first time just to make things crystal clear. If I’ve asked someone for a review who is new to how publishing works, I may put in the effort for the follow-up ask a couple of months down the road, but then I won’t be contacting them about the review again.

There’s asking, there’s a friendly reminder, and then there’s badgering, and I try to stay away from badgering as best I can. I figure there must be some significant reason that they haven’t read and / or reviewed the book, and I recognize that it may have nothing to do with me. They could be contemplating divorce, trying to gain some solid footing in the midst of a financial catastrophe, or dealing with harrowing health issues that could make it nearly impossible for them to sit down and read a book, let alone remember to review it.

There’s also always the possibility that they did read the book and they didn’t like it. For many readers, if they can’t leave at least a four-star review for something, they just won’t leave one. This follows the adage of “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” If a book hardly has any reviews, why tank the rating average with a single one-star review? Even if the book already had a slew of low-star reviews, why pile on when the book is already doing so poorly? So, for people who think this way, not getting a review from them may mean you’re simply dodging a bullet. Don’t beg them for the bullet!

I suggest that you ask them, remind them a month or two down the line, and then leave it alone and find others to request a review from. ?

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3.????? Use Reader-Matching Services

One of the most popular of which are Advance Reader Copy (ARC) management platforms like Edelweiss Plus or BookSirens . These agencies allow you to distribute your ARCs (most of these platforms are fine with you sharing a book that’s already on the market for sale, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be an ARC) to readers who want to read books in your genre. They generally have a large list of people who have signed up to receive these free copies (what bookworm wouldn’t love that?), and they will notify these readers that a book in their preferred genre is available to be read and reviewed.

Now, of course, not every person who downloads your book is going to read it. And not everyone who reads the book is going to review it. But this is still a way to tap into pre-established masses of readers who like the kind of books that you write. Your book being matched with readers who love that genre or niche increases the chances that they will review the book at all (giving you the higher quantity of reviews that you want), and that they will review the book favorably (giving you the better ratings that you want). It also saves you the time of trying to build a larger, genre-specific list of your own. You’ll eventually want to shoot for that, but in the short term, these sites can take some of the pressure off. At the same time, this method presents an opportunity for the people who like your book and review it favorably to become fans (follow you on social media, sign up for your author newsletter, subscribe to your author Patreon account, etc.).

These services vary widely in their pricing, but you can get started for as little as $12 on a site like BookSirens, while tapping into a database as large as Edelweiss Plus will cost closer to $150. ?

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BONUS: Learn More About Book Marketing

Marketing is a collection of elements that come together to create a product or service experience for a customer. This includes content creation, branding, distribution, and advertising, among many other things. One of the best things you can do for your authorship overall is to never stop learning.

To help you grow your knowledge and skills related to marketing yourself and your books, head to WeCanPub.com and start reviewing the free lessons available there.

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Happy selling!