I’ve touched on this subject many times but it warrants repeating. Never pay someone to read and review one of your books. Paid reviewers give glowing reports on the books they read even if the books are terrible. Why? Because they want your repeat business. Would you pay someone a second time if they gave your book a bad review the first time? Of course not!
Fake reviews are one of the main reasons why indie books have been getting a bad rap. For sometimes enormous fees an author can get several good reviews based solely on what the author paid for the review and not the content of the book. The reader buys the book because so many other “readers” said it’s great and then is horribly disappointed by the content inside.
If you want real reviews then ask someone you don’t know who read your book. How do you do this? Enclose this handy paragraph after the end of your novel and see if it works. It did for Jackie Weger, bestselling indie romance author:
Thank you for taking time to read “Title of book”. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
http://authors.choosybookworm.com/book-reviews-where-do-you-get-them-and-why-do-you-need-them
I truly believe a good, honest review is a large part of garnering initial interest in the book and making it successful. Real reviews have passion for the story that comes across in the way the review was written.
Most of my ten published novels have reviews from readers. These reviews come from all over the world, from real readers, real people, and without a price tag attached.
To read more about me and my books please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
Typical As ADA' Reviews
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TRASK...
However, I have noticed that most movies that are newly released spend a lot of time with "paid" advertising proclaiming how good the movie is, regardless what the advance reviews by critics say. Unless, of course, those critics say something good, and then the advertisements pounce on those good words and repeat them over and over. There is something to be said about repeat advertising for some of the trash movies out there. They tend to bring in big bucks from their target audience. Perhaps they have down the gullibility of people, particularly young people with disposable cash. Perhaps that's why this type of paid advertising for books doesn't work for young people with disposable cash. They simply can't read or don't, but prefer dumbed down, drug addled visual action, hard to put into a serious novel in a way that first grade readers can understand.
Ron
interesting article, and I agree, hiring a paid site to write a review may or may not lead to an honest assessment of the book
when I review I do not charge for the review, but I do list it on several sites, and send it to others including Jandy's Reading Room, Compulsive Reader, BookLoreUK, Midwest Reviews, VeryHelpful, my blog, etc., it takes time to read the book, write the review, and send out.
My time for sending out is worth something, and I happily accept payment for my helping to advertise the works of fellow writers.