A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: The Difficulty in Getting Book Reviews and What To Do about It
It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.
Today's post discusses the difficulties in getting book reviews -- from the publisher perspective and the author perspective. Sometimes, those perspectives are the same. Reference here is not to paid reviews; those are pretty easy to get -- put up your money, and back comes a review. Reference here is to unpaid, professional reviews, what every publisher wants and expects and what every author should, too.
Lost in the Haystack of Pre-Publication Reviews
Pre-publication reviews are hard to get because there are very few reviewers out there, and they are overwhelmed with books being sent to them. One reviewer who wanted to review one of our books asked me to send it another time with special markings because otherwise the reviewer had to look through more than 1000 packages! Just this past month, we have had to submit twice where the reviewer had an interest in reviewing the book but could not find the copies sent earlier. Consider the book review request process to be a big haystack and your book just a needle. The best way to get noticed is to follow exactly what the reviewer says that the reviewer wants -- and to try to develop some personal contacts to help. This is where publicists can really help.
Confusion between Paper and Digital
Many reviewers are moving to digital reviews. There is some nervousness here on the part of publishers. We have twice had a pdf (the format typically requested) ripped off. All our pdf files now are watermarked. If it is possible to send a gift book from Kindle (not always possible and certainly very difficult in the case of pre-publication reviews), that solves some of the security issues since Kindle books are generally secured by DRM. We have run into the odd situation now where online reviewers are saying to send paperbacks (either ARCs or published books) and then, when queried in follow-up correspondence, are asking for pdf files.
Free Books in Exchange for Reviews by Readers
This is a hit-and-miss effort. Even places like Library Thing have a tendency not to follow through. We have stopped putting books up there because out of 15-20 books sent to readers who promised to review them, only 1-2 readers would actually follow through. There is also the possibility of a mis-match between reader and book, e.g., we had bad luck with a reviewer who trashed a book on spirituality -- that reviewer belonged to an atheist group and apparently wanted to review spiritual books to prove a point. (In that case, as I recall, Amazon actually removed the review.) Nonetheless, LT can be a source of reviews, if you are lucky enough to get a group of selected readers who are conscientious. The better approach is to research the Influencers writing in your field and reviewing books, contacting them directly, and offering the free book in exchange for a review. Our experience in these cases has been that if an Influencer agrees, the Influencer will follow through. This is where it pays for authors to shake the branches; you know your fields, you know where book reviewers are published in your fields, and these niche reviews are every bit as powerful as generic ones for which you would pay top dollar.
Post-publication Reviews
There are certainly more post-publication review possibilities than pre-publication possibilities, including free and reliable ones. Getting a review can be competitive, and often books submitted by publishers fare better because these reviewers know upfront which publishers can be counted on for quality books. If you have a good quality book that just does not make the cut for the free options, there are some reviewers who charge only a nominal fee and do good work (good being an honest and fair review by a competent reviewer). Examples are US Review of Books and Literary Titan. (Just a rule of thumb that we use: $100, given or take twenty, is tops for a paid review in terms of ROI.) Here is where a publicist can help: often, you can get an interview or podcast appearance along with the book reviews; publicists generally know folks, as they say. They can rustle up more than just a review; they can rustle up good promotion for your book.
Bottom line: Technical requirements change. Book submissions for review are expanding because more books are being published, especially self-published. Authors who want book reviews -- and all authors should want lots of them -- need to shake the trees, research the Internet, and ask around. Or, link up with a publicist.
See more Publisher Conversations with authors HERE.
Learn more about publishing from an acquisitions editor -- how to get your book proposal accepted, why proposals are turned down/accepted, and how to find the right publisher for your book. On special sale for $5 while inventory lasts at MSI Press webstore. Also available as an ebook and an audiobook.
The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.
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