It’s a noble effort.

Not to boast, but I’ve done it, although no one has given me the title to land upon my completion of any one of my ten novels. That’s not to say I wasn’t inwardly proud. All authors should be.

 Being a native of Ireland, the tale of Irish author who sailed to New York City has always haunted me. He toiled to complete four novels and died believing he’d been a failure. Yet, after his death, his novels became bestsellers.

 It reminds one of Vincent Van Gogh. One afternoon I sat beneath an awning at café table in Arles, France, the exact site of an image Van Gogh painted that admirers today still love. The point is Van Gogh and the New York City Irish novelist, being that their brilliance was unrecognized by the buying public only after their death.

 These two examples are sad, but reality.

 The difference today is that there are those who would prey, yes, it’s an e, not an a, on those who write. There are multiple terms, but the most common is professional reviewer.

 That all is not right in the world of professional reviews has been recognized by Amazon, who once allowed them to post reviews, but now bans their efforts, i.e., “review.”

 Has that eliminated professional reviews? No. Blocked from their original pitch of getting reviews of an author’s book posted on Amazon, they had to find new ways to entice authors to pay them money. Have they done so? Yes.

 The most prevalent today is for the professional reviewer to offer extras. That is, an author interview. Who reads it? Hard to say. Of course, the professional reviewer offers their own website. Is that important, could be, if the reviewer advertises the website to potential book buyers, but don’t count on it. Why? The website is to attract money from authors, not sell books.

 The most beguiling professional reviewer extra is to create a contest. The straightforward way is to offer a contest with honest-to-goodness judges, not an anonymous friend who revels in the excitement of being a “contest judge.”

 Years ago, when a member of the Romance Writers of America, I served as a writing contest judge. My instructions were tightly controlled, rigorous, and weighted along with multiple other judges. I was accepted to be a RWA judge after I’d placed seven entries in the winner’s circle of the Dixie Kane Memorial Writing Contest. Excuse me if I digressed, back to the crucial point.

 Not only do the professional reviewers offer a contest, with an entry fee, the insidious extra is that they offer, for the entry, a “free” review. Who does the review? A professional editor? A professional book reviewer? No, anyone who says to them they want to do it. And, to get a sufficient quantity, the professional reviewer offers not only the chance to read books, but extra benefits that the professional reviewer can offer at little cost.

To be put in perspective, the professional reviewer offers the best marketing tool available, i.e., free service, at a minimal cost.

 What does the author who slaved to devise a plot, design a premise, and completed the writing get? Well, a chance in a contest. Very few winners, actually only one. And, a “free” review by a reader enticed to read books, but not receiving any of the money the professional reviewer cashed from earnest book authors, when there are countless free books available online.

 Although on a much smaller economic scale, this professional reviewer requirement to buy a contest entry to obtain a “free” review is akin to what the Sherman Anti-trust Act in the United States declared illegal. If a company sold pepper, the sale could not be conditioned on the purchaser also being required to buy the shaker. Yes, pepper and shaker are integral to each other, but the illegality was the requirement to buy both from the same seller.

 I go back again to the professional reviewer. Is a “free” review actually “free” when you must buy a contest entry to obtain it?

 I will assume any author will say no.

 With that understanding, I advocate all authors say no to professional reviewers who slyly offer a “freebie.”

 If the professional reviewer is truly a professional reviewer, he/she can charge for their services. And an author will benefit from the expertise.

 Authors, however should be aware of schemes that offer “freebies” like reviews if they have to pay for an added “benefit” to obtain the “freebie.”

 To all authors: congratulations on completing your novella, short story or novel. Obtain the full value of your effort. Don’t be compromised.