As an avid reader I was always looking for ways to get a variety of books without spending my entire month’s income on them. A friend of mine introduced me to a couple of different emails where I could get reduced price or most often free books. At last count I’ve amassed a library of about 1,900 books. So my days turned in to reading anything and everything I could get my hands on.
I found more often than not that I seemed to be reading predominantly independently published authors. And it didn’t appear that, even when I’d just read a phenomenal book, they had hardly any reviews-positive or negative. And that bothered me greatly since so many times I’d just read a tremendous book and thought the world should know about it.
It was at this point I began posting reviews on Amazon and Goodreads then a Facebook page dedicated to indie writers. Through those outlets I was asked numerous times why I didn’t start a blog of my own, and Truth About Books was born. All I knew was that I felt indie authors weren’t given their credit due for the amazing works they create.
If you’re interested in getting your book read and reviewed by an indie reviewer the first thing I must say to you is to be patient! You may wait quite some time to have your piece reviewed – sometimes up to 18 months or longer even. And please be wary of those out there who take advantage of upcoming authors by charging exorbitant fees for reviews, promotions, editing and other services that are guaranteed to get your book sold. I know are some good reviewers who charge monies, but there are tons who will do it for free like we do, for the mere enjoyment of reading your work.
Finding someone to review your book should just be a matter of typing in keywords like “indie book reviewers”, “book review blogs”, “indie reviews” and the like. When you find a blog you are interested in having review your book, the most important thing AFTER making sure they have a quality blog to do is look over their review policies. Their review policies will tell you their expectations of you and help you establish expectations of them. It typically will include how to contact them; what genres they accept; what type of file they’ll need; how long before you can expect to hear from them. One extremely helpful resource many of my authors use is theindieview.com. It’s sort of a database of reviewers who have been vetted by the administration to look for all of the things I advised you to be cautious of.
The last thing I can say is that you shouldn’t get discouraged about a bad review. Each reviewer has their own criteria for how they rate books, particular things they look for. Just know that one poor review is far from meaning your book is no good. However, after a handful of reviews if you keep getting the same feedback it might be time to review your piece of work.
A. Fae