One of the biggest struggles that authors have when launching their book and getting it out there into the world is getting book reviews. Whether that be on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or any other sort of book review site, getting reviews can feel a little intimidating because you're asking people for something. And sometimes it can feel like you're pulling teeth. It is really hard to get reviews. So I wanted to share some tips and some ideas to help you get reviews and to help keep them coming in. as you continuously talk about your book. So let's get started.
One of the first tips that I would give you is to really plan out the review process ahead of time before your book releases. So one of the best ways to really give yourself a push within your launch is to have a group of people, who you know you can count on to leave a review during your release week.
So this could be your beta readers. This could be people who received advance reader copies. This could be a group of readers or a group of fans that you have really gathered together and given them advance copies before the book releases so you can ask them to leave a review during your launch week. It's something that will help give you that momentum moving forward right after the launch. When people see that you already have some reviews right away during your release week. It really gives other readers that social proof that others have read the book and giving them their honest opinions. So planning things out ahead of time and getting kind of an action plan in place is going to be key within your launch period.
And then the second step is to consistently follow up with your readers. I know that you're going to feel like you are asking them constantly and that you're going to be annoying. And this is a fine line to walk where you don't want to be annoying or, you know, get on their nerves. But asking them consistently to leave a review, whether that be on your social media posts, whether that be through your newsletter list, or even with your advance readers sending them reminders that they said that they were going to leave a review and you would love to hear their thoughts. When you're consistent with asking them for reviews, it's going to help prompt them to actually take action and leave a review.
So a question that I receive from many authors is, "should you pay for reviews?" The answer is no. You never want to pay for reviews. I know there are a lot of scams that are running around on Instagram or on TikTok where you receive a DM from someone saying, Hey, I'd love to review your book and then they ask you to pay for it. Do not fall for this. This is not an ethical way to get reviews. So really relying on the connections that you're making through social media and through your newsletter and through the connections that you're making organically is one of the best ways for you to get reviews. So really resist the urge to pay for reviews because it's usually not going to end up very well.
Now, you might have heard of sites like Booksprout where you can submit your book to a group of people and they will leave reviews. I have had very mixed experiences with this. Some authors have had a fairly good experience and some have not. This is, again, something that I would encourage you to look at for yourself. Is this something that you feel these readers would be a good fit for your book, or is this a situation that you want to give a shot? And with sites like Booksprout, you really don't have a lot of control. So you don't know who's going to be getting these books and what that experience is going to be like. So I always tend to air on the side of caution. So again, I leave that up to you, but that's just my professional opinion.
All in all, book reviews are very important, but it is something that is going to take time, especially if you're just starting out with your writing career. If you see that you have found a lull in your reviews, then really just start promoting it a bit more and start reaching out to more readers that you know have read your book to prompt them to leave a review. It's something that is going to take time and having a strategy in place in order for you to actually execute those steps is going to be key. Have some patience, give it some time and be consistent.
And another fantastic way for you to actually get some insight and feedback is to have a community of authors that you can tap into to get information from their own experience. And we have an amazing opportunity for you to join The Author Circle. It's our exclusive membership where you will get resources on how to market your book, how to grow on social media, and how to grow your newsletter along with templates and tutorials and all of that good stuff. Plus, you get access to one of the most amazing communities of authors that there is. And you can ask questions, you can get feedback, and you can also speak into other questions that your fellow authors have as well. So click the link below to find out more information on that and to register. I'm also in the author circle all the time, so I'll look forward to seeing you there.
