Review: Nuggets of helpful information for writers
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2014
This book is packed with links that may be helpful to a self publishing author. There are hundreds of links to book blogs in many genres, sample letters asking for a review, writing a blurb, developing an author's page, and just about anything an author may need.There is a section on Goodreads which was very informative and gives just about everything you need to know about that site. The book is probably worth buying to unravel the useful actions a writer can implement there. She did mention that Goodreads says that about 60% of the people who get a free book submit a review. From talking to authors who have the numbers of books they have sold or given away and the number of reviews garnered, I think it's a much lower percentage.As others have noted, there is some conflicting advice on gifts or no gifts. I also noticed that one part said getting reviews was difficult in a highly competitive market, and another section said it was surprisingly easy to get them. That didn't bother me, because readers can make up their own mind.There is one chapter that offered an interesting way to double your reviews, and I think it would be very helpful. It relies on human nature, and I haven't seen anything like it in similar books.The area that I disagreed with most was getting reviews on Amazon. I'm not a marketer, just a reviewer. However, the author suggested contacting the top 500 reviewers in the same genre as the author writes. For one thing, in order to contact a reviewer, there needs to be an email listed. Another problem is that the top 500 reviewers get hundreds of requests to review books each month.In his bookHow to Get Good Reviews on Amazon: A Guide for Independent Authors & Sellersthe author suggests a more fruitful approach. Look for reviewers in your genre that are excellent, and contact them, even if they aren't a very top reviewer. Many of them will be thrilled to be offered a book for review. Also, I've noticed that some of the very best reviews are written by lower ranked reviewers. It's the review itself that will bring interest to a book, and not the ranking of the reviewer.Another tip that bothered me was to ask for a review between 100 and 400 words. While that would be nice, the authors I've seen who say they appreciate any review, even if it's very short, do better racking up reviews.The author does back up her advice by offering a money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose by reading. Though it's packed with a lot of information, the book can be read in about an hour.I would recommend for writers interested in promoting their own book.