Writers who work to become authors will feed their books. With time, with money, with devotion. Once you’re in the stretch of book release, it must go beyond the matter of saying, “If it doesn’t cost too much, I’d like some reviews.”
It does cost too much, so I’ll do without them. I need to know how I get reviewed. In the beginning, you ask for them. Then, you send out an email to announce the book is ready to read. You send it to everybody on your email list at first, begging their forgiveness if they don’t read, don’t remember you, or never review books.
But some of your acquaintances and classmates and co-workers do read, remember, and will review your book. Asking, as it turns out, is the thing that costs the least and delivers the most.
Where you get what you need
You wait, while a few readers give you what you want: proof that your creation is worth the cost. The first person who you’re able to prove that to — well, it’s you. Just like the reader’s got to spend something to enjoy your book, you’ve got to invest something in the acts that feed the book. Editing, as much as you can afford. Beta readers, after that, and finally a copyedit, once you’ve absorbed and applied the notes from beta folks.
The timing of that creation stretches out the gestation period of the book. If you’re devoted, you develop or workshop your book with an editor or trusted author-allies. Finding allies who publish will improve the quality of the responses. All of your betas are devoted to books and willing to invest.
When you feel good about the state of the book, you feed it something new: reviews. You ask for the kindly attentions of readers you know. You wait and ask again. In the meantime, you’ve saved up or set aside something for review help. Professional reviewing is a precious art today. I started my writing career reviewing theatre. Summing up a story is only the start of a good review. Good reviewers praise specific elements that exemplify why the book is worthwhile.
The value of reviewing
Authors get themselves in trouble when they overlook the value of reviewing tools. A simple $10 a month subscription to BookFunnel unlocks things like a simple means to deliver a Kindle copy of your new book to a reviewer, or certifying the safe arrival of the review file. Your publisher could take care of these with a treatment in NetGalley, the service that, like BookFunnel, distributes review-ready books. NetGalley works with reviewer who sign up to see advance copies of new books. It costs more than BookFunnel, but NetGalley is preferred by publishers who have a budget.
And if your publisher is you, and you’re author-publishing, you invest just like a publisher ought to. More often, in our modern era, publishers rely on endorsements and blurbs from published authors. To be frank, those are always going to be good notices. A review has the chance, however slim, to be a three-star instead of a five-star.
You need to love your book enough to have a specific answer for the question of “What’s your budget?” Amazon is full of books that have a handful of reviews after years of sales. When you want more, or even a few, your care and feeding of the book makes reviews a reality. I have a new novel coming out, you can say. I’d love to get it reviewed and assessed. Then know you’ll have a budget for getting your book discovered and regarded well.
