Reviews are the lifeblood of publicity. This section just covers print reviews, in magazines/newspapers/journals.
One or two reviews are unlikely to make any difference to sales, but cumulatively they can add up, increasing your profile. Last year we offered 5,500 copies, and had 1,500 print reviews.
- Do not expect reviews in national or general trade media unless you have already published, are well known, and have had such reviews before. It is a waste of time sending to the New York Times Book Review (and if you try and are disappointed, cheer yourself up by reading The Death of the New York Times Book Review.
- More limited-circulation media whose readers are interested in your particular subject offer by far the best chance of reviews. In the truly specialist journals, blogs and magazines, with circulations of less than 1000, the chances are higher.
- We naturally focus on the media where we get most reviews. With some, our interests coincide closely, we work with them constantly, and they review most of the titles we publish in the relevant subject areas.
- Online customer reviews in places like Amazon, Hive, Apple, Google, Powell’s , Barnes & Noble, Blackwell’s and Waterstones now have more effect on sales than print reviews by professional journalists. 90% of book buyers in 2011 who were influenced by book reviews read them online. Amazon is increasingly the main online space for reviews, particularly for debut authors.
- Readers tend not to buy books without good reviews. The minimum for “legitimacy” is variously put somewhere between 10 and 20.
- Book Bloggers have proliferated the internet, and some have got themselves quite a following and reputation for reviewing. Many are genre specific; this is particularly so in fiction, which covers so many genres. Most review not only on their site, but also on Amazon, Goodreads or at NetGalley. We will target bloggers in your genre for reviews and we suggest that you pursue this yourself when doing your own publicity. Pay attention to how current the blog is, and the kind of followers they have. Always pay attention to their Review Policy and ensure your book is a match for them. Don’t blanket mail contacts.
The number of print books we send out, and digital review copies
We haven’t put a limit on review copies in the past, but with “professional” reviews becoming less important than reader reviews and feedback, online reviews now more important than print, we have had to cap the number of print copies being sent out for review at 15. We do not have a limit on digital review copies, PDF or EPUB (please note that the EPUB will not be available until a few weeks before publication date; you will find it in the ebook section of your Production page, see below).
Format
The default will be a EPUB, even if you add a request for a hard copy. We realise the offices of national press, TV stations etc. tend to want printed copies, and we do send printed books, if the media themselves ask, but we never send on spec. To all other contacts we will send a PDF and will offer them the option of a hard copy or EPUB if they prefer. More on how to send out digital review copies below.
- Remember that though a review obtained by sending a printed copy might not result in a single extra sale, it will probably result in one less. Most review copies end up for sale as used books on eBay, Amazon and others.
- When a reviewer wants a hard printed copy of the book rather than a PDF sent electronically we refer to it as “HC”.
- We cannot send out a press release or similar with the printed copy. Printed copies go out from one of the distributor’s warehouses, depending on which country the request is from, and there is no facility for requesting that a particular bit of paper gets inserted into the package. That is the same for virtually all publishers.
To anyone who requests one. We do not send them “blind,” as a rule. Apart from:
Which trade journals will my book be submitted to?
We submit qualifying titles for review to the trade journals Publishers Weekly & Booklife, Library Journal, School Library Journal, American Libraries Association’s Booklist and Kirkus Reviews in the USA and The Bookseller in the UK.
Publishers Weekly: all new titles. Titles with other contracts are submitted to PW’s sister review journal for indie publishers, Booklife.
Library Journal: new academic titles or ones for mainstream general libraries for US readers – adult.
Booklist( American Libraries Assoc): new academic titles or ones for mainstream general libraries for US readers of all ages.
Kirkus Reviews: new adult hardcover or original trade-paperback fiction, general-audience nonfiction and children’s and young adult books suited to US readers.
The Bookseller: all new titles are submitted for featuring in the Preview sections of this UK trade magazine.
If you see that your title has been submitted for review in a particular trade journal, please follow the guidelines on the Contact page for the journal to follow its progress.
This article posted back in 2011 has some good points: http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2011/04/how-to-get-your-book-reviewed-by-avoiding-book-reviewers/.
Novelist Florence Osmund also makes some good points on reviewing http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2015/09/florence-osmund/
Reviews are important but how to get them is a question most authors ask. It does depend on genre and on the individual author and their standing in their market.
Starting from scratch is scary, and a first port of call is you own community, your friends, family and colleagues.
Sending review copies to individuals
If there are key individuals whose approval of the book you think could make a difference to sales, it makes more sense to send them the manuscript earlier and ask if they can provide an endorsement. We can then use it on the book or in the marketing material.
If you are starting this from scratch, then your task is a hard one. But if you are planning on a writing career, then it is an important part of your own marketing.
Finally, keep your own spreadsheet of reviewers, identifying your ideal reader, by genre is important.
- We do not as a general rule send free hard copies to people who have kindly provided endorsements. It works much better if you send one yourself, from your free copies or a digital copy, with a personal note.
- It is quite safe to send out PDFs for review, as far as possible piracy goes. Or as safe as can be. If someone is going to pirate your title there are easier ways of doing it.
- We encourage authors to review each other’s books. The principle here is that we are collaborative as a group. So reviews can be shared on blogs, Facebook, Good Reads, Twitter, LibraryThing and other social media, and don’t forget to post your reviews on any online retail sites where you buy books, e.g. Apple, Google Play, Sainsbury’s, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Hive, Powell’s. Amazon has issues with authors reviewing other books – check their Customer Review Guidelines (UK here, US here). Online retailers may remove reviews they deem to be used as promotion.
Reviewing another Crystal Peake title
Every author and user of our system can access a review copy of every title:
- From your Crystal Peake account login.
- Go to Book downloads.
- Start with a sentence saying what the book is about.
- Say what you liked, which chapter, character, setting, argument, style or literary device.
- Did it change how you think or feel about anything?
- Say what you disliked.
- Round off your review with advice for the reader or author and a snappy soundbite summing up why you liked the book.
- Rate the book out of five.
Here are some more tips from the Huffington Post.