How to find book reviewers (in a kind of creepy and time-consuming way) #WriterWednesday #AmWriting #WritingCommunity
I have discovered a new way to find reviewers for my books. Warning: It’s super time-consuming and a bit stalkerish. If you’re okay with those conditions, read on.
Step #1 – Find a book similar to the book you want reviewed
In my case, I chose Jock Blocked by Pippa Grant. Although my upcoming release is not a sports romance, it is a romantic comedy and I fancy I’m funny. Not as funny as Pippa Grant (obviously, she’s make the big bucks) but funny in a similar way. WARNING: You should most definitely read the book to make sure it is indeed similar to your book.
Step #2 – Find the book in Goodreads and scroll the reviewers
I told you this would be time-consuming! You want me to go through every single review of the book on Goodreads? Have you lost your mind, Dena? Yes, probably. But it works. Trust me.
Step #3 – Find a reviewer who has a blog and stalk her!
Yes, you read that right. You are now going to stalk the reviewer. Go to her blog, her social media, etc. etc. Does she read similar books to yours or was the review a fluke? Is she accepting reviews at this time? Are her reviews good?
You will want to find a reviewer who loves your genre, writes fun reviews, shares them across her social media, and isn’t too critical.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not searching for five star reviews. Sure, I love five star reviews as much as the next writer, but what you are searching for here is honest reviews! Potential readers can sniff out false reviews a mile away. You don’t want those.
Step #4 – Approach your chosen blogger/reviewer
I am blatantly honest with potential reviewers. I tell them I saw their review of X book and I stalked them. If this turns them off, they are probably not going to like my books.
Step #5 – Offer a sacrifice to the gods
Cadmus is the Greek Literature God. Offering him a sacrifice (I usually go with wine) can’t hurt. And it’s yummy!
Good luck! Let me know how you get on.
Good advice in a fun way Dena.
I’m glad that you’d take the time to find out the kind of books the reviewer liked and if she was available for reviews. Many don’t. And many just send generic emails and obviously haven’t even looked at the blog in question. I much prefer your way 🙂
I hate those generic emails. I can’t hit delete fast enough.
Me too.
I was wondering what I could do with all that spare time!
Seriously though, could be a great idea, so thanks, Dena…
Spare time 😂
As a reader who likes to review, I get review requests often. But I had no idea how much work it took on the author’s part before they asked. Especially the ones saying, Because you read … you might like my book … If they had actually read my review, they would know I didn’t like …, so, no, I don’t want to review …
I just write back saying I’m not taking on any new books at this time. Which is often very true. Like right now. My list of promised reviews is too long to add any more.
I don’t actually do this, Dena, but I do look at book bloggers a lot – if any read anything approaching my genre, I’ll write to them. I’d say I get a ‘yes’ about 50% of the time, so it’s definitely worth doing!
The other thing I’d suggest is to support the blog – RT them, comment on their posts (and I mean properly, not just adding ‘great post’ without even reading it!).
You do have to seek them out – just tweeting ‘would any book bloggers like to review my book’, as I have seen some do, is unlikely to get any hits!!! Another thing I do is to give my book to @Shanannigans book blog – for around £20-30, she will put it out to book bloggers for you. This has resulted in some fabulous reviews for Hope, Blackthorn and Tipping Point for me, and I’m waiting for some for Wasteland – the bloggers have 3 months to read and review, so there’s no pressure on them, and they will only take the book if they actively want to read it. It also means that if they’ve liked it, they will be more 100% more likely to take another book from you, in the future.
Good point. I forgot to add supporting the blogger. Thanks for the reminder