Paula Krapf, Chief Operating Officer of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., guest blogged on Marketing Tips for Authors and shared some really helpful ideas on how to get your book reviewed online, and how to make sure it’s the RIGHT sites that are doing the reviewing. Here’s an overview of what she had to say…
1. Start with Google. The first thing you need to do is find the right sites to contact about reviewing your book. To do so, just type in “your genre” + “book reviews” or some similar combination.
2. Check sites’ Google Page Ranks. There’s no point in wasting your time getting reviewed by a blogger who gets very few pageviews. So download Google’s free toolbar which includes Google Page Ranks and make sure that you’re spending your time on sites that have high rankings (i.e. deemed valuable by Google).
3. Do your homework. Before you contact a site, read the fine print. Find out what their policies are about reviewing (i.e. they don’t review self-published books), how you are supposed to contact them, how long they take to review books, etc.. This will also help you in terms of really pitching your book. By seeing what else the blogger is doing, you’ll better be able to make an argument like, “My book is similar to the one you reviewed last week” or “I like that you’re willing to be critical of books.”
4. Weigh reviews and blog tours. Some sites review books. Others prefer to interview authors on their blog. Find out which one each blogger seems to prefer, and make suggestions accordingly.
5. Watch out for charges. There are some bloggers that charge authors for reviewing their books. Avoid those, if you can. Buyers beware!
6. Trust your gut. Maybe there’s a site you like that doesn’t do well on Google Page Ranks. Contact them anyway. And vice versa. You’ll know it if you find a blogger who would be perfect for reviewing your book.
Ready to talk with us about setting up a blog tour or getting your book reviewed? We’ll be happy do to do the work for you! Contact us today for a free consultation!