No matter a book’s publishing path and genre, reader reviews are an essential component of the marketing plan and overall success. This is because readers often rely on reviews to determine whether or not they will purchase a book, and key decision-makers such as literary agents, book buyers, and librarians rely on reviews to demonstrate an author’s credibility and quality of writing. Reader reviews can also impact a book’s discoverability on retailer websites such as Amazon, as the algorithms favor books with a large number of positive reviews.
Getting readers to post reviews can be challenging because it requires them to read the book and then compose a thoughtful critique of the content. It can become a numbers game, really, where you are asking every reader you encounter online or in-person to leave a review so that the small percentage that actually do start to add up over time. There is a strategy to it, however, that should ideally start before your book is even released.
An ARC team is a group of people who have agreed to read your book in advance of publication and follow up with a review immediately after the book is live. When it comes to creating this team, it is about building relationships over time and utilizing your extended network. You’ll want to start assembling your team as soon as you have a polished manuscript and a book publication date. So, how do you find these reviewers? By tapping into your network of followers, fellow writers, coworkers, clients, and more. Your friends and family may not be the best candidates for your ARC team, unless they are avid readers of your genre and can leave an unbiased review.
The key to a good ARC team strategy is to start early and communicate clearly to your team members. Make it easy for them to participate by providing a free copy of your book with plenty of time to read it, and simple instructions on how and when to leave a review. Your goal is to have at least 10 - 20 Amazon reader reviews shortly after launch. This will get the momentum going for your book, improving your book’s ranking and visibility.
If your book has already been released, it’s not too late to launch a coordinated effort to garner more reader reviews! You can still reach out to select individuals in your network and ask for an honest review in exchange for a free copy. This approach can be very effective when releasing a new or special edition of the book, which can be treated as a “relaunch”.
Include a personal note in your book’s back matter that requests reviews Your book’s back matter is the ideal place to include a personal note to your readers, thanking them for purchasing and reading your book, and emphasizing how much reviews help your author career. For example: “Thank you for purchasing and reading my book. I am extremely grateful and hope you found value in reading it. Please consider sharing it with friends or family and leaving a review online. Your feedback and support are always appreciated, and allow me to continue doing what I love. Please go to (link) if you’d like to leave a review.” Use this opportunity to share a little about your writing journey with the reader, or what inspired your story, but most importantly, be authentic. Be sure to include this note and the review link in the back matter of all formats of your book. Claim your Author Profile on Goodreads and start interacting with readers Goodreads is the social media platform for power readers. With over 80 million members, the platform allows readers to post book reviews, find their next read, see what friends are reading, form and join book clubs, connect with authors, and more. Although it’s owned by Amazon, the reader reviews from Amazon do not transfer to Goodreads, and Goodreads reader reviews do not transfer to Amazon. This means if you want readers talking about and reviewing your book on Goodreads, you’ll have to start establishing a presence there. For authors, Goodreads offers the opportunity to claim their books and set up an Author Profile through their Author Program. Once set up, authors can interact with readers, participate in “Ask the Author”, connect their profile page to their blog, run giveaways, and advertise their books. Goodreads is an ideal book marketing tool for finding their niche audience, building deeper connections with their readers, and gaining exposure. Readers are more inclined to leave book reviews for authors that they feel a personal connection with and like. The more active you are on Goodreads sharing the books you’ve read and enjoyed, leaving reviews for other authors, and authentically interacting with readers, the more they will want to follow you and spread the word about your work. And, hopefully post a review! We encourage you to check out the Authors and Advertisers blog on the Goodreads website to learn more about the Author Program and how to optimize your presence. Ask your beta readers or anyone that read your book and provided feedback before publishing Beta readers are individuals you ask to read your book manuscript and provide feedback before you send it off for professional editing and publishing. Similar to an ARC team, these may be individuals from your extended network such as writing group connections or social media followers. If you utilized beta readers during the editing and revision process, these readers are the perfect candidates to leave a reader review for your book on platforms such as Amazon or Goodreads. You can simply reach out and offer a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Make it as easy as possible by providing direct links to the review pages for your book, and give them a time frame to complete the task. Ask for reviews on social media One of the toughest challenges for authors on social media is creating and maintaining a portfolio of engaging content to share with potential readers and fans. While you should be posting a good mix of entertaining, inspiring, and educational content, you’ll also want to utilize these platforms as a marketing tool. Don’t be shy about sharing some of the rave reader reviews you’ve received, and reminding your followers how much reviews mean to you. Readers get busy and forget to write reviews for the books they read. Sometimes a little nudge and a direct link to the review page for your book is all they need. Ask for reviews in your author newsletter If you haven't already started building an email marketing list, start now. Email marketing can be even more effective than social media and can help an author build lasting relationships with his or her audience through weekly, monthly, or quarterly newsletters. The author newsletter can also be a great way to subtlety remind those that have purchased your book to please leave a review. You can also let your followers know when you have a new book coming out, offering the opportunity to be a part of your ARC team. As with the note in the back matter of your book, use your newsletter to share a little about your writing journey or what inspired your story. If you let your readers get to know you personally, they will be more inclined to take the time and leave a review. Find book bloggers or social influencers who love to read your genre Another great way to garner reviews is by connecting with bloggers or social media influencers that are known for reading and reviewing books in your genre. A book blogger is defined as an avid reader who volunteers to write or blog about books on a regular basis to a constantly growing audience. Social media influencers are often “vloggers” with a large following who are recording videos about the books they read, and sharing these videos on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. The best way to identify bloggers or influencers that are a good fit for your genre is to start researching and following people online. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with their activity so you can reference specific books they’ve reviewed when you reach out to see if they would like to read and review yours. You’ll want to be prepared to send a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Use paid platforms like Booksprout, BookSirens, StoryOrigin, or NetGalley that connect authors and eager readers If you’re still struggling to garner reader reviews on your own or need help with managing your ARC plan, you can sign up for paid services such as Booksprout, BookSirens, StoryOrigin, or NetGalley. These services help automate and streamline the process, while also introducing you to a huge pool of potential readers and reviewers. In addition, some of these platforms offer helpful author tools such as seamless digital file delivery, group promotions, newsletter management and swaps, and more. Booksprout – With over 4.1 million reader reviews distributed and an average review rate of over 75%, plans for this platform start at $9 per month. This allows for one review campaign and up to 25 reviewers. Upgraded plans start at $19 per month and offer Audiobook reviews and vetted Top Reviewers. BookSirens – With over 50,000 reviewers in its community, this platform focuses more on ARC team building prior to a book’s release, but will accept books that have already been published. Plans start at $10 per ARC, $2 per reviewer, with an upgraded plan that offers unlimited ARCs for $100 per year. There is a free plan for setting up and managing your own ARC team. StoryOrigin – This platform is a one-stop shop for authors, offering ARC team building and management, email marketing management, website building, group promotions, and more. The Basic plan for setting up and managing an ARC team is free, while the Standard plan with extra features starts at $10 per month. NetGalley – For book advocates or industry professionals (book buyers, librarians, journalists, and more) wanting to discover and recommend new books, this platform allows publishers and independent authors to offer free eBooks and Audiobooks, pre- or post-publication, in exchange for an honest review. Due to the caliber of its reviewing members, NetGalley is a more expensive option. Plans start at a pay-per-title rate of $499 for six months, but you may be able to find a co-op deal with other authors starting at about $50 per month. These services do follow all Amazon and Goodreads review guidelines, as you are paying the company for their assistance, and are not paying the reviewers in exchange for an honest review. A great way to see how these platforms work is to sign up for free as a reader/reviewer.
Include a personal note in your book’s back matter that requests reviews
Your book’s back matter is the ideal place to include a personal note to your readers, thanking them for purchasing and reading your book, and emphasizing how much reviews help your author career. For example:
“Thank you for purchasing and reading my book. I am extremely grateful and hope you found value in reading it. Please consider sharing it with friends or family and leaving a review online. Your feedback and support are always appreciated, and allow me to continue doing what I love. Please go to (link) if you’d like to leave a review.”
Use this opportunity to share a little about your writing journey with the reader, or what inspired your story, but most importantly, be authentic. Be sure to include this note and the review link in the back matter of all formats of your book.
Claim your Author Profile on Goodreads and start interacting with readers
Goodreads is the social media platform for power readers. With over 80 million members, the platform allows readers to post book reviews, find their next read, see what friends are reading, form and join book clubs, connect with authors, and more. Although it’s owned by Amazon, the reader reviews from Amazon do not transfer to Goodreads, and Goodreads reader reviews do not transfer to Amazon. This means if you want readers talking about and reviewing your book on Goodreads, you’ll have to start establishing a presence there.
For authors, Goodreads offers the opportunity to claim their books and set up an Author Profile through their Author Program. Once set up, authors can interact with readers, participate in “Ask the Author”, connect their profile page to their blog, run giveaways, and advertise their books. Goodreads is an ideal book marketing tool for finding their niche audience, building deeper connections with their readers, and gaining exposure. Readers are more inclined to leave book reviews for authors that they feel a personal connection with and like. The more active you are on Goodreads sharing the books you’ve read and enjoyed, leaving reviews for other authors, and authentically interacting with readers, the more they will want to follow you and spread the word about your work. And, hopefully post a review!
We encourage you to check out the Authors and Advertisers blog on the Goodreads website to learn more about the Author Program and how to optimize your presence.
Ask your beta readers or anyone that read your book and provided feedback before publishing
Beta readers are individuals you ask to read your book manuscript and provide feedback before you send it off for professional editing and publishing. Similar to an ARC team, these may be individuals from your extended network such as writing group connections or social media followers. If you utilized beta readers during the editing and revision process, these readers are the perfect candidates to leave a reader review for your book on platforms such as Amazon or Goodreads.
You can simply reach out and offer a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Make it as easy as possible by providing direct links to the review pages for your book, and give them a time frame to complete the task.
Ask for reviews on social media
One of the toughest challenges for authors on social media is creating and maintaining a portfolio of engaging content to share with potential readers and fans. While you should be posting a good mix of entertaining, inspiring, and educational content, you’ll also want to utilize these platforms as a marketing tool. Don’t be shy about sharing some of the rave reader reviews you’ve received, and reminding your followers how much reviews mean to you. Readers get busy and forget to write reviews for the books they read. Sometimes a little nudge and a direct link to the review page for your book is all they need.
Ask for reviews in your author newsletter
If you haven't already started building an email marketing list, start now. Email marketing can be even more effective than social media and can help an author build lasting relationships with his or her audience through weekly, monthly, or quarterly newsletters. The author newsletter can also be a great way to subtlety remind those that have purchased your book to please leave a review. You can also let your followers know when you have a new book coming out, offering the opportunity to be a part of your ARC team.
As with the note in the back matter of your book, use your newsletter to share a little about your writing journey or what inspired your story. If you let your readers get to know you personally, they will be more inclined to take the time and leave a review.
Find book bloggers or social influencers who love to read your genre
Another great way to garner reviews is by connecting with bloggers or social media influencers that are known for reading and reviewing books in your genre. A book blogger is defined as an avid reader who volunteers to write or blog about books on a regular basis to a constantly growing audience. Social media influencers are often “vloggers” with a large following who are recording videos about the books they read, and sharing these videos on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
The best way to identify bloggers or influencers that are a good fit for your genre is to start researching and following people online. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with their activity so you can reference specific books they’ve reviewed when you reach out to see if they would like to read and review yours. You’ll want to be prepared to send a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Use paid platforms like Booksprout, BookSirens, StoryOrigin, or NetGalley that connect authors and eager readers
If you’re still struggling to garner reader reviews on your own or need help with managing your ARC plan, you can sign up for paid services such as Booksprout, BookSirens, StoryOrigin, or NetGalley. These services help automate and streamline the process, while also introducing you to a huge pool of potential readers and reviewers. In addition, some of these platforms offer helpful author tools such as seamless digital file delivery, group promotions, newsletter management and swaps, and more.
Booksprout – With over 4.1 million reader reviews distributed and an average review rate of over 75%, plans for this platform start at $9 per month. This allows for one review campaign and up to 25 reviewers. Upgraded plans start at $19 per month and offer Audiobook reviews and vetted Top Reviewers.
BookSirens – With over 50,000 reviewers in its community, this platform focuses more on ARC team building prior to a book’s release, but will accept books that have already been published. Plans start at $10 per ARC, $2 per reviewer, with an upgraded plan that offers unlimited ARCs for $100 per year. There is a free plan for setting up and managing your own ARC team.
StoryOrigin – This platform is a one-stop shop for authors, offering ARC team building and management, email marketing management, website building, group promotions, and more. The Basic plan for setting up and managing an ARC team is free, while the Standard plan with extra features starts at $10 per month.
NetGalley – For book advocates or industry professionals (book buyers, librarians, journalists, and more) wanting to discover and recommend new books, this platform allows publishers and independent authors to offer free eBooks and Audiobooks, pre- or post-publication, in exchange for an honest review. Due to the caliber of its reviewing members, NetGalley is a more expensive option. Plans start at a pay-per-title rate of $499 for six months, but you may be able to find a co-op deal with other authors starting at about $50 per month.
These services do follow all Amazon and Goodreads review guidelines, as you are paying the company for their assistance, and are not paying the reviewers in exchange for an honest review. A great way to see how these platforms work is to sign up for free as a reader/reviewer.
Once you’ve acquired some positive reader reviews, be sure to use this social proof to your advantage. These types of accolades may help you get media attention, speaking opportunities, additional distribution, and of course, more sales! Here are eight ways to use these reviews in your marketing efforts:
1. Add to your book cover and/or inside front matter2. Include on your author website3. Share on social media4. Use excerpts in promotions and advertising5. Add a few to your author one sheet/sell sheet in your media kit6. Include in the Editorial section of your Amazon book page - In this section, the author gets to choose and list meaningful reviews, comments, or testimonials. It's the perfect place to include blurbs of notable reviews from other sites such as Goodreads.7. Add a snippet to your email signature8. Include excerpts on marketing materials such as bookmarks and postcards
As with most book marketing initiatives, acquiring reader reviews is an ongoing effort that requires strategic thinking and planning. It can be as simple as just asking for reviews, but is most effective when you are genuinely connecting with readers and earning their support. Just remember, it’s never too late to start campaigning for book reviews! Use the above strategies to help get you started.
Photo credit: 1001Love via Getty ImagesPhoto credit: Wirestock via Getty ImagesPhoto credit: Kenstocker via Getty Images
GO BACK TO THE MAIN BLOG PAGE