Have you noticed how people choose movies to watch? Reviews work wonders not just for restaurants and movies but also for books. One of the most important criteria in the process of buying books is reviews.
People choose to buy books based on the following:
- A friend’s recommendation
- A book review published on a website they love
- A “Best Seller” list
- Recommendations from bookstore staff
- Books featured in a display
If you notice, you will see that most of the choices result in reviews. And that is why getting the right reviews from the right people is important. Choosing the right mediums to get reviews is the first step. Read on to understand how you can solicit reviews for your book.
How do I get reviews for my book?
- Start with your friends and family and their network.
- Request your friends to read your book and post a customer review on your Amazon page.
- They can also write a review or a recommendation on their social media profiles and share it with their followers. That way your friends will be able to easily recommend your book to their other friends.
- Share your book with your office colleagues and ask them to review your book on Amazon/Flipkart/Kobo etc.
- Create a list of bloggers, and book bloggers and send them your book along with a personalised email asking for reviews. These people love to read and will usually respond back to inquiries like this.
- Make use of Indiblogger.in. It is a blogger directory that will help you in your hunt for bloggers to review your book.
- You can also reach out to sites like Writermelon, Bookgeeks etc. and request them to review your book. These sites are followed by a lot of people that love books. And that way you will be reaching out to people who will review your book and also talk about your book to their book-loving followers.
The process of getting a solid number of reviews will take time; however, the value that it adds to your book marketing cannot be undermined. Reviews add credibility to your book and as an Indie author credibility is what will help you build a strong author brand in the future. Not just that, reviews are an also an excellent opportunity for you to get feedback from their readers. Push past your natural fear of criticism and get those reviews.
