Getting Book Reviews

Reviews are arguably one of the most important tools to market your books. Whether it’s reviews on Amazon, Good Reads, or some other online location, these are what drive readers to choose your book. Book reviews give books greater visibility and a greater chance of getting found by more readers. On websites like Amazon, books that have more book reviews are more likely to be shown to prospective readers as compared to books with few or no book reviews.

How, then, do you get readers to leave reviews? There are a few ways to do so — but keep in mind that NONE OF THEM cost anything. I’m not big on paid book reviews, as I think it mucks up the review’s validity a bit. But that’s a completely personal view point. (Please note that paying for a service that finds potential book reviewers is a bit different than paying someone to review your book).

Here are a few ways to find readers to leave reviews:

• Create (and nurture!) an advanced reader team (ARC team)

• Include a call to action at the back of your book(s)

• Ask your mailing list contacts to review your book(s)

• Find book bloggers who are interested in your genre

• Use social media to ask for reviews

There are also third party sites that help to find potential reviewers, that are sometimes worthwhile if you have the option to use them. Book Sirens, for instance, is one that is useful in this manner. Do you utilize another third party site for this purpose? Share it with us in the comments!