By Sherrie Wilkolaski
It has come to my attention, on more than one occasion that authors like to nag potential book reviewers during the book review process. My advice. Please stop doing this; it is only going to hurt your potential for getting a review in the first place. You may also end up with a comment in your review like, “the book was a very good read, but the author was very impatient waiting for me to review his book.” That is negative. It says the author is difficult to work with.
Things you should NOT do when dealing with a book reviewer:
- Don’t ask when the review will be completed. Many book reviewers plan in advance, collecting manuscripts to put into their reading queue. I’ve had authors send a reviewer a book on a Monday and check back with them on Tuesday asking if they liked the book. Be realistic. You are not the only potential book they will be reviewing. It is OK to ask when it would be OK for you to check back with them, like in a few weeks or a month. Be conscious of their schedule.
- Don’t tell them you hope they like the book. This is a given. Every author wants every book reviewer to like their book. It sounds unprofessional. Instead let them know that you are available if they have any questions about the behind the scenes of your writing the book, character development, etc. Let them know you’re willing to give them something beyond the book.
- What do you mean you don’t like my book! If you pay attention to the flight attendant before take-off, she’ll tell you, “In the event of a water landing, your seat cushion can be used as floatation device.” Keep that in mind when you get that not-so-good review. It is OK to respond to the book reviewer to learn more about why they are not such a huge fan. It will help you as a writer. Take the constructive criticism. You still want to thank the reviewer for taking the time to do the review. Be polite and professional. That type of good will gets around. The reviewer may even post something about how gracious you were even after giving your title only one star.
- Don’t tell the reviewer what you want them to say. This is major no, no. Don’t do it.
- Don’t forget to send a thank you. No matter what the outcome of your review, be sure to send a thank you to the reviewer for taking the time to read your book and write up a review. It will go a long way.
Even if you have a review that is not as favorable as you would like it to be, you can always pull out the positive comments from the review and use those on your website, on your Amazon Author Central page, etc. It’s normal to have a few bad reviews, mixed in with the good. You need variety to create interest. How many times have you read a “bad review” and then decided the reviewer was not so bright and you bought that book anyway?
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Image courtesy of ehow.com.
8 comments
Esmirna says:
Mar 15, 2012
i’m glad i have seen this website. and i just want to thank you for taking time to write for us. cheers.
Addie says:
Apr 18, 2012
I make a distinction between big name professional book reviewers and those I’ve researched online. As far as I’ve encountered them, the named professionals never accept self-published books. Online reviewers range from professional to those hoping to turn a small profit from their reading passion to those voracious readers who just appreciate getting free books. I think the range of comments to this post reflect the policy differences of these various classes of reviewers.It seems fair, but I doubt it’s ever the case that any of them refund reading fees. If they charge the same fee no matter the length of the book, I imagine they see a one-minute read before rejecting a book equals out the long hours spent reading an epic. As for comparing them with agents, I once had a super agent tell me she knows within 20 seconds whether she’s interested in a book. Now, of course, an agent is looking only for saleability whereas I hope a reviewer is looking for the quality of the read.I hope it’s true that time will weed out those who don’t care enough to learn and hone their craft, thus letting the cream of the self-published rise to the top, but vanity presses have been kept in business a long time by those who only think they write well. The only difference now is that the wannabes have discovered that it costs them nothing to have their dream come true digitally. So, I think it’s more likely that those who write good books, but are lousy at marketing them or just don’t have the financial means, may once again seek other ways to see their work published. I hope you’re right and I’m wrong.Am I at the forefront? It seems more like the muddled middle from here.
Cassiana says:
Mar 15, 2012
you continually amazing me with amount of content you turn out without sacrificing quality.
Christina says:
Apr 18, 2012
You’re way ahead of me on this I can’t even bring myself to ask my friends to write reviews of Just Desserts, let alone strangers! But I’m happy to offer my opinion here, based on absolutely no actual knowledge/information. I can understand reviewers charging a fee, especially if they actually READ the book, since their time like yours and mine is valuable. So even browsing a crappy book takes time.There are plenty of crappy traditionally published books, IMHO, including many that stay on the top of best-seller lists for months. I love the internet and Amazon for giving me the opportunity to sample and read the first X pages of a book. So I can discard the pompous and self-important (Franzen’s Freedom comes to mind immediately) and the pedestrian (Nicholas Sparks) without spending any money.What I will say about most traditionally published books is that the author or editor at least ran the manuscript through a rudimentary spell/grammar checker before publishing it. This is NOT necessarily the case with self-published books and so that’s probably why reviewers, faced with a huge onslaught of incoming books, choose to eliminate the self-published works.It’s too bad, because there are a lot of self-published jewels. I’ve read debut novels this summer by you, Cathryn Grant, Michelle Davidson Argyle, David Kazzie and published my own novella and found all of them to be terrific, professional efforts well-worth broad exposure. I have a pile more on my TBR list.Ramble ramble I think as we continue to self-publish AND promote the work of other self-published authors review policies will change. I hope so!
Nandha says:
Apr 20, 2012
I’m a self-published author aaylws on the look out for reviewers. You use prejudice’ in your title, but I think we have to respect that it’s entirely their choice to make. In fact, the lot of an indie is even harder if you add reviewers who don’t read e-books. That’s a whole load of book sites closed to indie writers.But self-published-friendly book blogs do exist, and in some significant numbers. The ones I’ve encountered are friendly, supportive and committed to helping self-published authors find an audience. I wish more reviewers would consider self-published works, but at the same time sympathize with reviewers like Wist who is tired of dealing with unpolished writers and writing.Sometimes, a well-targeted, friendly email goes a long way. I’m at the back of the line, but a reviewer who doesn’t usually read self-published and is no fan of e-books has agreed to review my novel. Maybe if she likes it, she’ll do more. Maybe not. We have to nibble away at the review world’s (understandable) resistance until they can trust that self-published work is worth their time and effort.
Bernardina says:
Mar 17, 2012
i totally agree with you!
Shahzada says:
Apr 18, 2012
This is a tough question, Linda. One I wdloun’t answer on my own, so I’ll base my comment on what I’ve read or heard second hand. The problem seems to stem from having to make generalized decisions on a not so general subject. For instance, not all self-published books are low quality. Then again, not all are of high (or even good) quality. The generalized consensus is that the majority don’t meet the expectations of publishing standards. There are always the exceptions to the rules, of course. We’ve discussed that before on this and several other blogs. Professional reviewers take their jobs seriously. Asking a series of questions about each manuscript they review. These questions analyze the book in regards to character, theme, plot, style, and setting. Then, the reviewer reflects on their reading experience and intertwines their analysis with commentary on how the book personally affected them. There isn’t a huge difference between how a reviewer analyses a book and the system used by agents to work through the slush pile. My guess would be that in discounting the self-published books, reviewers believe they’re saving themselves a lot of time analyzing manuscripts that fall short in one or more of those developmental categories, which would lead to a bad review. Book reviewers don’t like to or want to give a bad review if possible. They have to maintain an approachable reputation. Would you send your book to a reviewer that gives a large number of harsh reviews? I know I wdloun’t.However, I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel. As more people self-publish and gather, and as time tests self-published authors, there will be a more pronounced need for reviewers that focus on self-published manuscripts. Initially, I see a need for reading fees, as they are basically becoming a books agent in a fuzzy sort of way, and unfortunately they will be reading a lot of …. I also believe they should have the right to reject a manuscript and refund the reading fee if they feel a need to do so. But over time as the “not-so-good” self published authors realize they will never achieve the sales required to cover their time, the expense of self-publishing, and marketing, the rush of self-published authors that we’re experiencing now will wane and diminish. This will leave a larger opportunity for exposure to those who are accomplished writers that withstand this test. The system needs time to balance itself. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Be happy you’re at the forefront of a swiftly changing industry.
axel says:
Apr 20, 2012
There is a rising list of arosens why self-published books are being rejected by book blogs. After running my book blog for three months now, and receiving over 150 requests, I’ve come to see and understand why some bloggers have dropped the hammer on indies.One of the major arosens is politeness. 90% of the review requests I get are friendly, guideline-following, lovable people. 10% are arrogant, constantly bothersome or just flat-out rude. This is the small population that needs a publicist, desperately, as they lack the communication skills to get results on their own, whether they have a future bestseller or not.Second is quality. I don’t over nit-pick on grammar and spelling as long as it doesn’t derail my reading, (I’m an indie author myself) but when I get a review copy with formatting that can make my eyes bleed, I start crying. When a book has a horribad cover, it’s hard to promote on a professional level, let alone pin up for all to see on my blog.Third is market and popularity. A lot of indie books sell for really low prices, which is great unless you’re a blogger who wants to make a decent affiliate cut for your efforts. Trad-pubs often sell at high prices, which means instead of getting 6 cents for a referral to a book’s purchase, I can get over a dollar. I review as a hobby, but a lot of bloggers don’t.These are just my thoughts on the table. =)