GETTING BOOK REVIEWS by @RayneHall #WriterTips #SundayBlogShare

Getting Book Reviews: Easy, Ethical Strategies for Authors (Writer's Craft 14)Getting Book Reviews: Easy, Ethical Strategies for Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Getting Book Reviews is a book most suitable for Indie writers although there are some tips for published writers too. Rayne reminds the reader that reviews help sell books and with more people using online book shops for their purchases it is very noticeable that readers are drawn to the books with many reviews. She explains that this is a basic psychological buying factor, people are attracted to what others have and they too want to share the experience.

There then follows easy to read chapters with proven achievable strategies about how to get reviews. These include simple ideas like a polite paragraph at the end of your book asking readers to write a review, using your fans and followers, and asking your beta readers to write a review.

There are also chapters on the muddier waters of review swaps, review circles and paying for reviews. My favourite chapters were the “Approaching a book blogger”, as a book blogger I appreciate an author who is considerate and takes an interest in my blog and stays interested after my review. My other pick would be the “Ways to send a book to reviewers” I am astonished by the number of authors who approach me for a review with only a PDF or Word Document of their story.

I enjoys Rayne’s writer’s craft books because of their simple easy to use advice and common sense and I often recommend them to authors when I feel the advice they offer will be of help.

Book description

Reviews help sell books.
When browsing online for their next read, most readers are drawn to the books with many reviews. More and more readers glance at what other readers have to say about a book before they hit the ‘buy now’ button. The more people have read and liked the book, the more they want to experience it for themselves. This is a known psychological factor called ‘social evidence’, and it plays a big role in purchasing decisions.
The more reviews your book has, the better, especially if they are genuine, personal, thoughtful and positive. Reviews can multiply your sales and catapult your book to the top of bestseller lists – but how do you get them?
Perhaps you’re a new author and can’t get those crucial early reviews to start the train rolling. Maybe you’re a seasoned author and your books have garnered reviews, but not as many as you need to break out. Or perhaps you’ve gone the corporate publishing route, and find that your publisher’s publicist isn’t getting your book the attention it needs.
This book shows you many proven strategies to get the reviews your book deserves. Instead of urging you to labour through tedious, spirit-draining procedures, I’ll reveal quick, fun, empowering tricks.
All my suggestions are legitimate and ethical. In this book you won’t find methods for manipulating, faking and cheating. Strengthen your readers’ bond with you, don’t sabotage it.
Most of the methods I suggest are free, although some incur expenses. You will definitely need to spend time. You can apply them all these techniques, or cherry-pick the ones you like now and keep the rest for another time or a different book.
At the end of most chapters, I’m sharing mistakes I made and learnt from. They all seemed a good idea at the time.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

22 thoughts on “GETTING BOOK REVIEWS by @RayneHall #WriterTips #SundayBlogShare

  1. Okay, who’s going to pick Rosie up first? We are all ‘published’ writers!!! 😀 😀 Yes, I thought this book was so well done, it covered stuff I knew nothing about, too, and Rayne’s approach is so down to earth.

    You never know, one day all writers will read stuff like this, and blog posts, and discover how to do the book blogger thing…. one day!!! I know, I know – for that history awards panel thing I’ve been offered Smashwords coupons – which requires having a Smashwords account. What if I don’t want one? It’s up to the writer to provide a reviewable copy. So many small indie publishers don’t understand about their authors needing review copies, too.

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  2. No doubt about it: reviews are important. I’m thankful for every one I have…good, bad, or otherwise. Reviewing has become more controversial and complex. Authors whose titles are accepted at BookBub–and who can afford the site’s steep ad prices–can generate hundreds of reviews, especially if their books are FREE. Writers who become fans of other writers may find themselves unable to review the books on Amazon, no matter how much they enjoyed the stories.

    The world of self-publishing is constantly evolving. Indies have no choice but to adapt to the changes. It sounds like Rayne Hall’s book provides some helpful tips on how to solicit honest reviews. Thanks for recommending, Rosie. Will pin and share. 🙂

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  3. This is very interesting! I don’t get paid for my reviews, but have recently added that if an author wants their book moved up to ‘now’ (within a week or two) that they have the option of paying for that. It doesn’t buy a super good review. I can appreciate the “Approaching a book blogger” chapter. I’m sometimes asked to review a book and they author or publisher has not even mentioned the title. Receiving PDF is OK actually since we can ‘convert’ those over to kindle (not sure how it works with other e-readers).
    @dino0726 from 
    FictionZeal – Impartial, Straightforward Fiction Book Reviews

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