But not, like, a bazillion. Because let’s be honest, if I knew that, I’d be too busy filling a private pool with dollar bills and diving in. And if you happen to already be one of those lucky authors who has thousands of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, A – this post is not for you and B – please tell me your secrets, including which dark lord you made a sacrifice to and what said sacrifice was. I’d love to know. For research purposes.
No, this quick guide, tutorial, blathering of thoughts is for the authors out there who have one or two or three books out and, despite how fantastic and creative and amazing their writing is, are struggling to break 20 reviews. Or 10. Or 5. And for those in the lower numbers, I’m not making fun of you. Because just a year ago, that’s where I was. I had two books out, and combined, maybe 11 reviews. It was incredibly frustrating. But, at some point, I decided that I was going to try and do something about it, tried several approaches, and I think I’ve figured out a basic start’s guide to getting more reviews. And, since everyone hates those terrible websites that promise you a delicious recipe but then you click on them and you get six pages of personal backstory about the cook, I’m going to stop talking about me and start telling you some things you may want to try/change/implement/stop in order to bump up those numbers.
And the first thing you’ll need to do is:
Get. Off. Your. Ass.
I mean, not literally. Most of this stuff is done on the computer, so sitting is fine (though I’ve found standing and typing considerably more comfortable and better for my posture.)
But what I mean here is – you’re going to have do stuff. And do it a lot. There is no quick and easy trick. Stop thinking you’re going to click a few buttons and suddenly the reviews are going to roll in. That doesn’t happen, unless you’re willing to pay for them (more on that later). This takes leg-work (again, a phrase which isn’t terribly applicable to doing things on the computer, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.) So, stop being passive.
Here’s what has worked for me.
Social media is going to be your best tool. But not in the, scrolling around all day, making snarky comments, or constantly posting about your book and hoping people will look into it, way. Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and, to a lesser degree, Twitter, are filled with people and groups that can help you out. Let’s start with a breakdown of some and how to approach them.
GOODREADS:
What’s that? You don’t have an author’s account? Get one. No, shut up. Get one. Put up a damn picture of yourself. Fill in the bio. Claim your books. They’re probably already on there. Just click the buttons and they’re yours. Oh, check that out, now you can promote them, run giveaways, and see how they’re doing. Isn’t that nice?
Giveaways and promoting – don’t bother. They’re expensive, and it won’t yield anything. This is for established authors with a strong base of fans. When you’re there, these will be worth it. Pass for now.
What to do? Start checking out the reader groups which are focused around the genre of your book. No, not the main genre, the sub-genre. Well, actually, the sub-sub-genre. Get specific, if you can. Goodreads is filled with people who genuinely love to read, and MANY of them are loyal to a very particular type of book. I’m not talking Steampunk, I’m talking 1800-1812 set in southern England, using traditional dialect, alternative history, LGTBQ+ friendly Steampunk. If you happen to have a book which falls into such a specific sub-genre, find the group that’s talking about that stuff.
And. Don’t. Tell. Them. About. It.
You will get kicked out so fast you won’t even know you walked in. Instead, go in and share your adorable geeky love for this world. Talk to people, befriend them, read their reviews, comment on them, follow them, ask them to follow you. And then, when you’ve earned their trust, politely mention that you’ve written something and, in exchange for a FREE copy, you’d love if they’d write an HONEST review.
There is a good chance the majority of people will pass you up, but some will take you up on this, and they’re people who know what you’re writing about and because it’s within their wheelhouse, they’re more likely to enjoy it. Of course, the trade off here is that what you’ve written is quality. But that’s a topic for another post.
What if your book doesn’t fit in a sub-genre or you don’t like interactive with people that way?
Okay, so what I’m about to say I shouldn’t say because it’s advising you to break the rules. But screw it, you’re a struggling author and sometimes you gotta take chances, right?
Step one – find a book on Goodreads which is similar to yours and has done well in ratings and reviews.
Step two – look at reviews which speak well of the book, or have criticisms which are addressed in your novel.
Step three – follow the link of these reviews back to the person’s page.
Step four – READ THEIR FREAKING BIO. If it says, “Not open to reviews” or “please do not contact” or “I don’t accept ARCs” or anything like that… MOVE… ON. Do not contact people who do not want to be contacted. It’s rude, arrogant, and will get you into Goodreads Jail. You don’t want to be there. It’s smelly, and the food is terrible.
Assuming you find some people who seem open to indie authors:
Step five – send them a quick and POLITE message. I suggest saying hello, that you saw they enjoy X genre, say that your book titled WHATEVER may be up their alley, and in exchange for a FREE ebook copy, you’d like an HONEST review.
Step six – Wait. If they write back and accept, great! Get their email. If they never respond (as most won’t) DON’T ANNOY THEM. Never send the same person a second message. Don’t be that asshole. And, if they write back and decline, whether their message to you is polite or curt or downright rude, you ALWAYS respond politely. “Hello, I appreciate you writing back, no worries. Should you change your mind, please let me know. Happy Reading!” Done. Forever.
You see, a HUGE part of this is not pissing people off. Why? Because if you do, they can AND WILL report you to Goodreads. If you’re lucky, and super friendly, you’ll manage to snag a few reviews before you get a nasty email from Goodreads telling you that it’s against policies to contact people directly to promote your book. Which, it is. It says it. Very clearly. And, once you get this email, you’re done. Don’t do it anymore. Seriously. Goodreads Jail. They share space with Facebook and Amazon. It’s a sad, scary, lonely place.
Okay?
FACEBOOK:
Create an author page. OH MY GAWD STAHP WITH THE WHINING. Get in there. Do it. Put up your book covers. Write something clever about who you are. Make it an official business account or whatever they’re calling it now. NO DON’T JUST CREATE ANOTHER PERSONAL ACCOUNT WITH YOUR NAME AND THEN ” – AUTHOR”.
Advertising using Facebook – okay, well, yeah. I mean, it’s not cheap, but it’s not crazy stupid expensive either. I got a bit of traction here, but it was focused on sales. I did see a general uptick in my book sales while running a FB ad campaign, but not enough to negate the costs of said campaign. It did bring more people to my page, though, which was a nice boost. Biggest downside? Now FB pushes real hard for me to pay to promote every single post I make. It’s annoying, but not to the point where I’d give up on the platform.
How to use it to get reviews, you might ask? WELLLLL… very much in the same way as Goodreads – look for groups. There are a lot of reader and reviewer groups on FB. Most of these are book bloggers who are looking to promote their own pages, which is fine. Because in order to promote their pages, they need content. And you can offer them a FREE ebook which they can use to make content. Get into the groups you like, be chatty, be social. If you’re funny, rock on. If you have your own blog about writing, post about it. And, whenever anyone posts about their most recent review, send them a Direct Message asking if they’d be interested in your writing. The rules for DMing here are the same as the rules for Goodreads. Which, really, is just the basic rule for life:
DON’T BE A DICK.
If people don’t respond, leave them be. If they say no, say think you for your time. If they say yes, get back to them quickly and be polite. Also, when people do say yes, DO NOT CHECK UP ON WHETHER THEY HAVE REVIEWED YOUR BOOK. This is MONSTER NO-NO. I don’t care how great your novel is, always, always, always remember that these people are doing YOU a favor, not the other way around. You do not get to harass them because they haven’t gotten around to reviewing your book in what you deem is a timely manner. Play nice.
INSTAGRAM:
Okay, now we’re getting into something good. What’s that? You don’t see the point? I get it. i wasn’t into it for a long time. And when I did set up an account, it was confusing and I wasn’t sure why I was there. But then, I discovered it:
The hashtags.
*Angels singing*
There’s one you want to pay attention to the most: #Bookstagrammer. This is your gateway. Do a search, and you’ll find hundreds of people who spend their days writing about reading. It’s really quite incredible. It’s a whole world of people. Some are famous, most are not. And it’s the nots you want to look into. Look, there’s going to be those accounts you see, with 25K followers, and you think, “wow, if only one of them would review my book!” But I’ll tell you from personal experience, the majority won’t. Why? Because they’re making a living at this. They’re influencers and they’ve got actual companies backing them. They’re not going to be interested. I mean, hit them up if you think there’s a shot, but time can be better spent elsewhere.
Step one – much like Goodreads, start your search using hashtags that you see regularly from readers and reviewers.
Step two – follow these to accounts of bookstagrammers
Step three – READ THEIR FREAKING BIOS. Again, some people aren’t open to submissions. Some people only want DMs and not emails. Some people only read particular genres. They’re typically very upfront and you need to show them the proper respect. Why?
DON’T BE A DICK. Also…
INSTAGRAM JAIL. Do I need to go over this again? No? Good.
Step four – look at how many followers they have. 10-30? These people will almost always take your book, but their reach is limited. 100-200? If they look like they’re specific to your genre, go for it. 500-1500? Now you’re talking. These bookstagrammers are doing pretty well on the platform, have some attention, but aren’t huge yet. They are most likely going to be open to indie authors.
Step five – decide how you’re going to contact them. Many times there’s an email option, but there’s always a DM option. What do I do? If there’s no email, I DM them. If there’s an email, I send from my author account. ither way, I do the same thing, greet, tell them I came across their feed, have a few books they may be interested in, FREE ebook for HONEST review. You know the rest.
SPECIAL NOTE!!!
Should you choose to email them, KEEP TRACK OF WHO YOU EMAIL. Spreadsheet, always do a search before you email again, whatever. Just make sure you’re not accidentally emailing people multiple times. It’s rude, and you should be putting in the energy and time to not making this mistake.
Downsides to Instagram? This process is going to require a lot of clicking around, reading, checking on things, and generally take up a good amount of your time.
Also, you’re going to run into people who will want payment in order to write a review (you see, I got to it! Eventually…)
So, this is a tricky situation, and I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m gong to tell you what I do, but this is something you have to find your level of comfort with.
I don’t pay for reviews. First off, I don’t have the spare cash floating around. Second, I feel like it’s going to taint the process. If I pay someone for a review, I’ve asked them to provide a service. I am now a customer. And customers have a certain right to a level of satisfaction with their product. I understand that part of the agreement is the person is going to be honest, but it feels a little off to me. Not dirty, just off.
As a side note, I understand and respect that lots of people are trying to make a living this way, and reading is a very time consuming way to earn money. I have the utmost respect for them, but this isn’t something I’m going to choose to take part in. I wish them all the best.
So which platform do I suggest?
All of them.
Remember what I said? Leg-work. Getting reviews when you’re an indie author is like having a third job, just under your normal job, and your writing job. It’s something which requires focus and commitment. If you go to the trouble of contacting these people, don’t then blow them off. If you’re going to create all these accounts, try each one and see which works best for you. Be methodical, look for where you get positive results, and continue putting your energy there.
And above all else…
DON’T BE A DICK.