by Susan U. Neal @SusanNealYoga
Ask Your Book Launch Team
Did you create a book review team? This team is vital for your book’s promotion. Weeks before publication, I send a copy of my eBook (via BookFunnel.com) to my book launch team members and ask them to please post a book review within two weeks of the book’s release. I lower the price of my eBook to 99 cents and ask the team members to purchase an eBook and peruse it. That way they will be designated as a “verified purchase” on the Amazon review.
I use BookFunnel because this platform sends a unique, nonsharable download link so only one person can open it, and you can check to see if they opened it or not. Therefore, your manuscript cannot be shared with anyone else. It is also beneficial to send your book launch team book promotion memes to different social media channels. The more people you have posting on social media about your book, the better.
Ask Friends and Acquaintances
Ask your friends, acquaintances, and other authors in writers’ groups to please post an online review. Continuing to request reviews is an essential component of any book’s viability. Whenever I receive positive feedback from a reader, I graciously respond by thanking them and ask if they would please post an Amazon review. I always send a clean Amazon link. If you do not know how to create a clean link, click here to find out. If your Amazon link is not clean, it contains a code that tells Amazon that you generated the code. If a reader uses this code to post a review, Amazon will probably not post it. Yet it is vital to make it as easy as possible for readers to click a link and post the review.
After you get fifty Amazon book reviews, the reviews begin posting organically without solicitation. So work very hard to get those first fifty reviews. If I give my book to someone, I add to my calendar to contact them in two months and request a review. It is the least they could do. Be brave and ask.
My book, Christian Study Guide for 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates, has over 100 reviews. Here is an example of that book’s dirty link versus a clean link:
Clean: https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Study-Guide-Steps-Carbohydrates-ebook-dp-B07G9SLNNW/dp/B07G9SLNNW
To create a clean link, you remove all the coding from the link after ASIN number. I create a Word document that contains the clean links for all my books. When I need a link, I retrieve it from that document, not Amazon. Send the same clean link to everyone when promoting your book.
Ask For Reviews at the End of Your Book
Readers enjoy engaging with authors. Put your contact information in either a brief paragraph or letter to the reader from you—the author—at the end of your book. If a reader contacts you, thank them for communicating with you and ask them to post a book review. Explain that their review will help other potential readers know how they can benefit from the book as they have.
Find Bloggers to Review Your Book
Bloggers are influential. If they review your book, more people find out about it. Check out book review services and blog directories that list bloggers who perform book reviews. Develop a list of ten to twenty bloggers, and send them a query to see if they would be interested in reviewing your book. Some book review services and blog directories include:
NetGalley.com includes book reviewers, librarians, retailers, and bloggers. Expensive with no guarantee you will get reviews.
BookReviewBuzz.com affordable, but is not Christian. It is for general market books.
Use Book Giveaways to Garner More Reviews
A book giveaway provides exposure for your book and increases the likelihood that the recipient will write a review for your book. Host book giveaways on Goodreads, LibraryThing, and BookLikes. First, become a member and set up an author profile on the site. Next, host a book giveaway. Only give away one to two copies of your book at a time, but do this every few months. However, giveaways don’t guarantee a review.
Seek Book Review Sites
You could also seek reviews on book review sites. Both Christian and secular sites exist. If you have a Christian book, you may want to stick with a Christian site so you do not get a negative review. Some Christian book review sites include:
General Market Review Sites include:
As the Director of the Christian Indie Publishing Association (CIPA) and Christian Indie Awards, the number one mistake I see authors make is not getting fifty book reviews. If your book has not achieved this goal, implement some tips listed above to get more reviews. If you would like more information on this topic check out CIPA’s Course: Tips for Getting More Book Reviews.
This is super good, Susan! Thanks so much for all of these ideas.
ReplyDeleteSo many great ideas packed into this post! Thanks for sharing, Susan.
ReplyDeleteThese are excellent ideas! I learned something new about clean links, too. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGood stuff! Thank you!
ReplyDelete