A Book Review

Golden Rule for Authors Using Book Reviews As a Promotion Tool

For authors who write a book then are faced with: "How do I get people to read my book, know who I am and want more of what I write?" One good tool to accomplish this is to use your skill as a writer by reviewing books. People make money doing book reviews. They have acquired a skill and they capitalize on it. Authors can do the same thing except for a different end result.

Where do you start? Learn what makes a good book review. We will review how to do this, but for now, we want to look at the why and what of your purpose in writing review articles. First, if you are an unknown author, you must expand your ability to write. Book reviews is one tool that you can use to do this. This tool must work for you and not against you. We will look at a list of related topics that must be used when you use this avenue of self-promotion. The key and golden rule here is: subtle self-promotion.

The book review that you do must accomplish several goals for you.

It must enhance your standing as an author and writer.

It must showcase your talent for your chosen genre of writing.

It must be with publications that are related to your writing arena, i.e. romance or mystery for fiction or a specific area if non-fiction.

The article review venue must allow you to attach your book title or author website as part of your signature. This is a subtle means of self-promotion and readers will come to associate your name and book titles or website to your writing.

You must be professional with how and what you write in book reviews. Caveat here: if the general tone of many of your book reviews is harsh, negative or critical it will hinder your self-promotion.
Use a balanced approach with writing book reviews and if you see that reviewing a certain book is or will cast a negative shadow; it is your choice to not do a book review. Better left unsaid if it will cause future problems.

If you are given a book to review, don't just skim it. Do the author and yourself a favor by giving it an honest appraisal. Your aim is to build a positive promotion atmosphere for you as an author along with your books.

This list is not all-inclusive, but a starting point for using book reviews as a means of self-promotion. It will be related to your field of writing and will keep you in the habit of writing. When you hit a dry spell in your writing having a book to read and doing a review can be a kick starter for other writing that you need to do. Just don't let writing about books become the primary focus of what you write.

In paragraph two above, we hinted at what it takes to do a good book review and what are its component parts. To get us started, a quote by Alyice Edrich, a British author, gives us this definition: "It's a brief overview or description of a book, along with your personal evaluation or thoughts." With this definition, we will break down a book review into its basic components. "The best reviews are the ones which help other people make their own decisions." Says Alyice.

So what are the basic parts to a literary review and how do we help the reader make their own decisions? First, let's cover the average number of words for book reviews. A normal review will be about 600 to 800 words or about 3-5 paragraphs. Mini-reviews are about 500 words or less and 1-2 paragraphs. The average review will give some idea of the book's structure, what genre or sub-genre it is and some points about characters, plot and points on content. You can be honest and give your personal opinions in some of these areas. Give your general impression of the author's ability and intent with what he has written. Did he accomplish his goal? Did he communicate key ideas and concepts well? If not, list what you think would improve the work. Summarize your overall impression of the book and will it help the reader to acquire what he wants; i.e. entertainment, information, basic how-to or self-improvement. It is not your job to sell the book. It is to help the reader decide if it is worthwhile for him or her to buy it. If readers take action one way or another from your book review, then you have accomplished your task.

Add to your skills here. Do some research of on-line book reviews. See the reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble and related sites. This will help you to pick up ideas of what book reviews should contain. At a minimum, include the book title, author's name, publisher (traditional or Indie-published) and the type of book, whether it is hardback, paperback or eBook. Sometimes you may want to include the price of the book if that is relevant. One rule to remember: new releases must be reviewed within the first two months after they are released. Reviews within the first two weeks are generally greatly desired.

We have covered the basics of a book review. Now there are several other things you will want to pay attention to:

Where to publish the book review

Match the review with the appropriate publication

Check your chosen publication for their guidelines and heed them

Keep a list of publications who have accepted your book reviews

Research similar publications to re-submit your book reviews

If you have an opportunity to use other media resources such as radio, TV or newspapers, use them! All of it will help you accomplish your end result of self-promotion. Remember also, writing articles about things related to your genre will also be helpful in your promotion efforts.

Book marketing is two-fold. Putting the book into the hands of readers and helping the reading public to know who you are as an author and writer. Literary reviews and press releases can be great tools for the Indie-published author to get free promotional material into the hands of readers. Brainstorm with other writers, bloggers and friends on how these tools can best be used to promote you as a professional writer.

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Fake Online Book Reviews and How to Avoid Them

Print publications continue to discontinue running book reviews and are even going out of business as more and more readers turn to the Internet to get their information. In the past, advertising in print publications covered the cost of book reviews, but today, authors generally have to pay for publicity packages to receive book reviews, or give a nominal fee to compensate the reviewer for his or her time.

The result is that people can make money off writing book reviews, and some so-called reviewers are doing so without actually reading the books. Why would anyone write a fake book review? Because it takes many hours to read a book, and the more book reviews you can write, the more money you can make, so why not just save time by not reading the books and instead just write the reviews and collect the payments so you can make more money. Trust me; this situation happens all the time.

Other reviewers do not charge for reviews but they request multiple copies of books. Why do they need multiple copies when they don't read those books? So they can resell them online and make more money while writing fake reviews.

But won't people catch on to these fake reviews? Yes, most people should, but not everyone does. Most of these fake reviewers consist of the so-called reviewer copying and paraphrasing what's on the back cover and then adding some flowery caveat like "This book is a must-read for its thrilling action" or "An enjoyable and moving love story you won't want to miss" to make it look like the reviewer actually read the book. Of course, whether the book is thrilling or enjoyable or not, the reviewer has no idea-he may not even have cracked open the book.

So how can you as an author, who wants legitimate reviews, or as a reader wanting a good book to read, actually tell if a review is legitimate? Here are five simple guidelines for spotting fake book reviews:

Ignore reviews written by authors, their friends, and family:I cringe whenever I see a five star review written by the author; usually it's done under the guise of the author wanting to provide readers with more information about the book, but the place for that is in the product description. Any author who gives his own book five stars is clueless about the publishing industry and what is ethical, or he's just tactless. Sometimes a legitimate review will be written by a colleague, such as "I have known Barbara for fifteen years and I know her business advice works because...." But I've also seen ones that say things like, "This book is a lot of fun because it describes the places the author and I used to hang out as kids when we were growing up." That's great but it's not a reason why anyone who isn't friends with the author should read the book.

Be skeptical of totally positive reviews. Okay, don't be totally skeptical, but beyond the "Best book ever" and "a wonderful, compelling story" comments, look for signs that the positive review is legitimate-discussions of the characters and plot that make it clear the book was read. After all, there are good books out there that deserve positive reviews. Don't be satisfied with "This wonderful story" but look for explanations of why the story is wonderful.

Be skeptical of totally negative reviews.Some reviewers and customers have axes to grind. I can't tell you how many times I've seen one-star reviews given at online bookstores because "the book never arrived." That's the fault of the bookstore's delivery system, not the author or book's fault. At other times, a person may just not like the author so he wants to slam the book, or he may not like the subject matter, saying something like, "Homosexuality is a sin and there's a gay couple in this book so I gave it one star" or "The main character had an abortion. That's wrong! One star." You may even agree with the reviewers on these issues but are these reviews really fair? Do they take into account the book's plot, characters, structure, style, originality, or themes to provide a thorough or accurate review?

Watch out for plot summaries.A book review is not an elementary school book report. Yes, there are lots of readers out there posting book reviews who don't know how to write well or how to write a book review, but there are also phony reviewers who simply copy the text off the back cover that summarizes the plot to write a review. A good review will mention a detail in the plot or even quote an effective passage from the book. It will also tell you not only what happens in the book but how the reader felt (was moved) by what happened.

If a review looks like a fake, look to see what other books the person has reviewed. Are all the person's reviews short and glowing? It's possible this one review could just be a badly written, fake-looking one while other reviews look well-written and are legitimate. Has the reviewer posted more than one book review today, or been posting several every day? (Seriously, how many books can a person read in a week?) And don't be afraid to google the reviewer to see whether you can find complaints about him or her online.

What can you do about fake reviews?

Now that you know how to spot a fake review, and even that fake reviews exist, you may feel a bit outraged-I know I do. So what can you do about such reviews? Here are a few suggestions:

If you are an author and you get a fake review, call the reviewer on it-especially if you paid for a review. But even if the person reviews the book by his own decision, without having contact with you, if the review is fake, you can request that the website where the review is posted remove the review. Decide whether the situation is worth getting into an argument with the phony reviewer. Will the review hurt your book's credibility? If it is negative but shows evidence that the book was not read, it might. You might also feel called upon to fight the good fight for the rest of the authors out there who could suffer as a result of the reviewer's behavior.

If you are a reader, check to see verification of purchase, which is sometimes a feature at various online bookstores. If the person bought the book, it's likely he or she read it. That said, remember that reviewers generally receive complimentary copies. However, to get around this situation, I know some authors have requested reviewers purchase their books at online bookstores and then have compensated the author for the cost of the book so a purchase verification notice shows up on the review.

If you are an author or a reader, often at online bookstores you can vote on whether the review was helpful or not, so go ahead and click that NO button. This form of voting helps determine the placement of the review as at the top or bottom of the reviews so it is more or less likely to be seen by others. And don't forget to vote YES for the well-written positive reviews, or even the well-written legitimate negative reviews.

Fake reviews do not help anyone except for the fake reviewers who write them. Even glowing fake reviews hurt authors and readers by getting people to buy books that turn out to be mediocre, which only then result in readers feeling misled and hurt and more likely to write their own negative reviews. Avoid phony reviewers and you will avoid a lot of frustration.

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Steps on Becoming a Book Reviewer

So you want to be a book reviewer. You love to read books and you think you can make some extra money by writing book reviews, or maybe you're an author who is a bit frustrated that you can't get reviews so you decide to start reviewing books yourself, or you think by writing reviews, you might get people interested in reading your books.

Those are all great reasons to become a book reviewer, but how do you go about it, and what standards or guidelines do you need to follow?

Book Reviewer Qualifications
In this Internet age, anyone can be a book reviewer, but some basic qualifications are needed to become established as a reputable and reliable one. You don't need a Ph.D. in English, you don't have to be an expert in anything, and you don't have to be an author. But you do need to have a good command of the English language and be able to express yourself well. You also want to have a professional attitude, be fair, and be thoughtful about how you express your opinion, not only reacting based upon your own preferences but also considering the book's intended audience and what you think the majority opinion may be toward the book. In short, being balanced yet honest are key qualities for a successful book reviewer.

Getting Started
People get started reviewing books in numerous ways. Many authors begin by swapping books and writing reviews for each other as a way of mutually supporting their fellow authors. You might want to begin by writing reviews and posting them at Amazon or Barnes & Noble's websites, or any of the reader/book lover sites such as LibraryThing. You might even decide to set up your own blog or website where you can post your book reviews. Today, many bloggers are their own independent book reviewers. If you don't want to run your own blog, you might connect with bloggers to be their guest book reviewer. Don't overlook the possibilities of reviewing online or in print-potential homes for your book reviews are endless.

If you really want to learn the ropes of book reviewing, you may want to start out by writing reviews for an established book review service or publication. While print publications are phasing out book reviews, many magazines and newspapers still carry reviews. Some of these publications have an established book reviewer or book review team while others solicit reviews. Send a query to the publication and ask whether it would be interested in a review of a specific book, or whether you can write reviews for them-many of them receive books in the mail that they might be willing to send you. Online review services, including Reader Views, Review the Book, and Feathered Quill Reviews also have book review teams. Many of these services are set up so readers can choose the books they want to review. Some of these services offer monetary compensation for reviewing books while others offer only a copy of the book to be reviewed as compensation. In either case, it's a great way to get started earning your book reviewer credentials.

Finding Your Niche as a Reviewer
At first, you might want to review any book you can to earn your credentials and become known as a book reviewer, but over time, you might decide you want to become an expert reviewer for certain types of books, such as romance novels or self-help. Several reviewers/bloggers exist who focus solely on one type of book. If you are already an author, you may want to review books similar to yours, whether they are mysteries, thrillers, or cookbooks. If you have certain credentials, such as being an archeologist, a history professor, or a licensed psychologist, you may want to focus on reviewing books in those fields. If you're a stay-at-home mom, you may want to review children's books or parenting books. And by all means, don't forget the self-published authors. Yes, you might like to read John Grisham's novels, but he probably doesn't need your book reviews to boost sales, so consider writing a review for a self-published author who just wrote his first thriller and is trying to get exposure. That way, you will both be doing each other a favor, promoting the book together through your review. Self-published authors can be extremely grateful for your help and then refer their friends to you so you can quickly build your credentials and clientele.

Reviewing for Money
When you start out being a reviewer, you probably want to review some books for free just to get your name out there and build up your credentials. You might offer your services to the members of an authors association and give a special low price for a review. Many authors are not going to pay $50, much less $600 for a book review (yes, there are reviewers who charge $600), but they might be willing to give you a copy of their book and $25. As you become known and increase your credentials, you can always charge more. Don't be embarrassed about charging to write reviews. You are committing your time to reading the book, and it can take anywhere from a couple of hours to more than twenty to read a book, not to mention the time you spend writing the review and preparing it for publication, whether online or in print.

Good and Bad Reviews
Be prepared that if you decide to write negative reviews, some authors and readers will be angry. If you are charging for a review, you may especially have problems here. You will need to decide whether you will only write reviews of books you like, or be honest regardless of whether you like the book. You should always be ethical and not write good reviews just for the money-readers who find you have praised a book that is poorly written will quickly quit reading your reviews. Be upfront with authors and let them know you will be honest in your opinions. You might establish a policy that if you can't give three stars or higher in a review, you'll still write the review but not publish it, and that the author can consider the review as an evaluation with pointers for making the book better. You're bound to have someone not like a review you wrote, but while reviewers should be professional in what they say, reviews are also subjective and understood to be based in personal opinion.

Let the Book Reviewing Begin
I hope these few tips will help you get started on your career as a book reviewer. You will find that book reviewing can be time-consuming, but it can also be enjoyable and enlightening; you will probably become much more knowledgeable about topics that interest you while your horizons expand as you read new books you otherwise never would have experienced. Books can change the world, and by helping readers select the best books to read, you are doing your part to make the world a better place.

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Book Marketing - 3 Tips For an Online Book Review

Book marketing used to require live book tours, where authors visited bookstores all over the country, making speeches and reading from their books. These tours were supplemented by book reviews in newspapers and magazines. Reviewers in those print media would receive complimentary review copies, often in pre-publication form as Advance Reading Copies (ARCs).

Today fewer publishers are willing to pay for live book tours and few authors enjoy the hassles of 21st century air travel followed by impersonal hotel rooms. These days more and more authors and publishers are turning to online reviews, especially reviews published in the Amazon online community.

Amazon has become so critical to book sales that publishers now send ARCs to ordinary people who are the most prolific and effective online reviewers. Authors allocate a hefty portion of their publishing budget to getting online book reviews.

Yet many authors hold inaccurate beliefs about what they need to get an online book review. The steps are actually quite simple and easy to follow.

First, there is no need to pay anyone to write a review for your book. You will be wasting money and you will most likely not get a quality review.

A better idea: Use your book review budget to buy extra review copies and send them to the reviewers who seem most suited to review books in your field. If your book is a how-to manual for training an adopted dog, look for reviewers who seem to like books about dogs. Some will even mention the breed of their dog in their reviews and/or online bios.

Second, offer reviewers a complete hard copy of your book. A hard copy doesn't mean a hard back book; most reviewers will work with paperbacks. However, reviewers often resist reading pdf copies online and they most likely will balk at the idea of printing their own copy of a 250-page book at their expense.

With the increasing popularity of readers, these preferences may change. Always ask before sending a pdf file and be prepared to offer a print copy.

Third, after someone agrees to review your book, simply send the book. You do not need to send promotional material. Editors of print book review sections and managers of book stores will be concerned with the book's publicity plans. Most online reviewers are ordinary people who just want a good book.

Do not write to the reviewer asking, "Where is my review?" Reviewers tend to have stacks of books on their coffee tables, all awaiting review. They may choose not to review a book if they realize they would have to write a negative review, especially if the book appears self-published or from a very small press.

While it's nice to get a thank you note after a review, this step is not at all necessary. Even more important, do not complain about your review. A few negative or neutral reviews might actually help your book. Readers realize you didn't get all your friends to write puff pieces.

Some authors actually write reviews of their own books to respond to reviewers. They write comments on reviews to defend themselves. These efforts nearly always backfire. If the reviewer was wrong, others will jump in to make corrections. As an author, you would not make a favorable impression by attacking the reviewer (although it can be tempting to do so).

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