A good book review can be the difference between success and failure for an author.

I’m guessing we’ve all realised it at some point or another, but you don’t get anywhere without trying. I mean, think about it. It’s rare to be handed stuff on a plate these days. You have to work your ass off for your success, but, when you finally get it, there’s no better feeling in the world. This goes for pretty much anything you set your sights on in life!

Authors – I understand how important book reviews are to you. Without them, you have a very slim chance of someone finding your book and putting it in their GoodReads ‘Want To Read’ list. This is one of the main reasons why I set up my book club, A Quintillion Reads, with my awesome reviewers Danielle and Vikkie. You can read the blog post I wrote about how you can get three free book reviews from us here.

I’m not a published author just yet, but I’m well aware of how valuable a good review can be. I’m pretty sure all you authors can relate! But, just how important is a review and how can you go about getting more?

Promotion is key. 

Okay, you’ve only gone an published your first book! Before you crack open the wine and celebrate, you need to get the right plan in place to promote your book. Not so easy.

Book reviews are the perfect way to increase the popularity of your book. Not only can readers share their thoughts with their friends and the book community, but they can also slap their reviews all over the internet for other book lovers to see. Combine this with a social media presence and there’s so much you can achieve. 

Reviews speak volumes.

If a book receives a lot of high ratings, other readers are going to choose your book over others, hands down. The right reviews will be detailed and include all the things they think other readers should be aware of. They’ll help another reader decide whether your book is something that they’d be interested in reading, or if it’s not quite what they’re looking for. Reviews give your readers the chance to express their thoughts, whatever they might be.

They’re filled with honesty.

This is one of the things that worry authors a little – honesty. If a reader loved your book – great! They’ll write a smashing review that will encourage others to pick up your book. However, if they didn’t love your book that much, some will not refrain from leaving a poor review. Some would argue that you need these negative reviews to improve, so you can always find a balance somewhere. It’s helpful to encourage your reviewers to leave reviews that don’t slate your book. Instead, get them to explain why certain parts of your book weren’t to their taste – it may be perfect for someone else! You can’t please everyone all the time, remember that. 

Gain a great author reputation.

The more honest and detailed reviews you get, the more you’ll increase that positive reputation. Great book reviews act as a kind of safety blanket for readers; they know they’ll be purchasing or reading a great book because of all of the reviews it’s had! You’ll instantly gain their trust, which is crucial when you’re an author.

Encourage your readers to leave a review.

A lot of readers don’t leave reviews. That’s the sad truth! Either they genuinely forget, or they may simply not have the time. However, leaving a review means to world to an author, so please take a moment out of your day to help! If you’ve gifted out books, always follow up and ask what they thought by leaving a little review in all the right places. Explain to them how much it means to authors like yourselves!

How can I get a review for my novel?

The simple way? Ask. 

I’m sure you’ll have seen authors over on Twitter asking for book reviews, or giving out free copies of their book in return for an honest review. You’ve worked extremely hard to bring a little entertainment in the form of a book to your readers, so you don’t need to feel bad about asking for something back.

Aside from simply asking for a review, you’ll have to promote like crazy on all your social channels. Engage with your followers, ask them their opinions, and build up a relationship with them. It won’t hurt, and you’ve got nothing to lose.

A Quintillion Reads – get three FREE reviews for your novel. (Because we’re kind like that.)

Sorry not sorry – I’m doing a bit of book club promotion now. 

Because myself and the A Quintillion Words team love to read and love to write about all things bookish, we’re offering our services to you – indie authors, fiction authors, new authors, established authors – everyone, really!

We’re a trio of authors in search of new books to read! In return for sharing your stories with us we’ll give you three honest reviews. We’ll detail exactly what we loved and why we loved it. Not only will we write on our own personal blogs about your book and share it across social media, but we’ll also write reviews on Amazon and GoodReads. Some of us are authors too, so we want to support you!

Need honest book reviews?

Gathering a set of great reviews isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Reach out to your readers, spark up that conversation and make them think, ‘Hey, you know what? I’m going to support that great author by leaving a review!’ If you need a starting point, the A Quintillion Reads review team will be more than happy to help you out!

If you want to be added to our list, drop us an email to aquintillionreads@gmail.com, either with any questions or with a .mobi file of your novel and suitable imagery if possible. It’s as simple as that 🙂