How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is the culmination of a nearly two decades Carolyn Howard-Johnson spent helping writers avoid pitfalls, misconceptions, and out-and-out scams perpetrated on unsuspecting authors . . . and helping them reach their dreams of great reviews, great book tours, and great launches. It turns out that Getting Great Book Reviews is the essence for a successful marketing campaign that includes all those things and—more importantly—for building the readership necessary for a prosperous writing career.
Excerpt
Before We Get Started
“The old idea that this is the best of times and the worst of times is too simple for the publishing world. This is the first time since the early days of printing that authors have as much control over their own success as they are ever likely to have.” ~ CHJ
Reviews have traditionally been the critiques your book receives from professionals in the publishing industry. In this age of indie films, indie music, and indie publishing we have indie reviewers, too. That is, readers get to critique your work publicly, primarily on online bookstores and blogs.
Reviews can be magic (and they can be downers). They can bring you as much joy (and as much pain) as the actual writing process. They can be the instruments of your book’s success. They can inform, change, and mold your future writing technique. Poor reviews (or the lack of reviews) are sometimes blamed for a failed writing career. If that seems like an overstatement consider this. Marketing is a huge part of a book’s success, and getting reviews is a huge part of marketing a book or any other business. If you don’t believe it, ask a plumber who has had poor reviews on Yelp.
Many authors grew up dreaming of one day having a book reviewed in the book section of their local newspaper. It may surprise them that traditional book reviews that once determined the trajectory of a book’s success aren’t as important as they once were because there are now so many other ways to reach readers beyond traditional bookish journals. We talk about some of those alternatives in this book.
That’s not to suggest authors should give up on getting reviews. Authoritative and credible reviews can be influential and one of the most useful tools in your marketing kit.
Most writers think of reviews as a way to inform prospective readers, but when a reviewer cares enough to critique a writer’s work—anything from dialogue to structure—it is a precious gift. (Later in this book, we’ll talk about ways to assure that they work for you and not against you.) When writers get in a huff and ignore these critiques, they do so at their own peril.
Would you get in a huff? Sure. Go ahead. Have a little tizzy. Get it off your chest (privately). But disregard or discount the critical parts of your reviews? Please don’t do that until you have given those critiques careful consideration, maybe even run them by an accomplished writer or editor to see if they think the criticism can be used for the betterment of your next work or if they warrant a rewrite of the book you (perhaps too hurriedly) published on your own.
If you decide the reviewers input is frivolous or uninformed after you have done due diligence then—and only then—should you discard (and forget) this unpleasant experience. More often reviews will be a source of pride and extremely useful. (This book shows you exactly how to put them to use.)
The review process is both collaborative and a networking effort. When we realize that reviewing—both the getting and giving of reviews—is a way to connect with others in the publishing industry, we become aware that we can learn from those who review our books. If we’re smart, we learn from them, keep in touch with them, and call upon them in need.
You may also be surprised that I include a section on writing reviews in this book when its title focuses on getting them. That discussion includes suggestions for developing your reviewing skills and there are suggestions in Appendix One that will hone your review-writing skills.
So just why should we care? Well, getting reviews is part of marketing a book and that includes the networking aspect of the process. But writing reviews can do that for us, too. It’s true. Writing reviews increases our review-getting success incrementally. Many writers may write reviews to help finance their love of writing in the early part of their careers.
Sometimes they love doing it and learn so much from doing it that they never give it up. Occasionally it is the writing of reviews that gives them the prestige they seek in the publishing industry.
But here’s the best reason for writing reviews of others’ books: It increases the chances for having our own books read more widely. Yes, that networking thing again, but also the magic of Internet links and Amazon. Keep reading.
We all know that publishing has made cosmic changes in the last decades. In the second edition of my multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter, I devote a section on how to get reviews and itemize some new methods that didn’t exist in the old traditional-publishing world—and that world wasn’t the good old days! Not when a few big publishers had complete control over the publishing of a book and a few big review journals had complete sway over whether a book would sell to bookstores or get shelf space in libraries and therefore be accessible to readers.
I don’t have to enumerate how different things are now—in terms of both publishing in general and of getting reviews—because you are in the throes of experiencing them. Thanks to self-publishing. Thanks to online bookstores and their reader reviews. Thanks to both grassroots bloggers and the big, powerful ones with many thousands of subscribers.
Of course, it’s always been true that authors who contributed to their own success had a better chance of seeing their writing stars rise and retain their sparkle for a long, long time. Think Charles Dickens. Or don’t. Think Mark Twain instead.
Laura Skandera Trombley, president of Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and a noted Mark Twain scholar, says the image we have of this American icon is the one we have “because that’s the image [Twain himself] wanted people to have,” and that Twain was a man “so gifted at marketing himself that nearly a century after his death, his name still evokes his white-haired likeness.”
You can do the same thing given the motivation and the knowledge necessary to sway the media. Reviewers are part of the media. By understanding marketing and PR and knowing the basic skills for getting reviews, we have in our hands the Mark Twain magic—only in many ways the new model offered by the world of computers is enormously more powerful and costs less in both time and money. Today we authors have even more power and control over creating, publishing, and promoting our own books from the moment they’re conceived to however long their theme or topic is pertinent. Twain would have been envious.
This book is structured so authors can select chapters that address aspects of their review-getting plan, aspects most needed at any given time. It’s meant to function as a perpetual reference for authors who want their books to soar and do not want their careers to languish. It shows authors how the review process can be one of the easiest and most successful tools for making that happen.
If I refer to something covered in depth elsewhere, I give you a prompt for finding it. I also include an Index—usually eliminated in e-books. In this e-book I adapted the traditional index to a list of keywords because many e-readers don’t support indexes with links to multiple pages. I hope the keywords make it easy for you to find tips for different kinds of review-getting situations as you need them. As an example: When you scan this e-book Index, you may notice the words “media kits” (less accurately known as press kits) and wonder what media kits have to do with reviews. I urge you to search on those words using your reader device’s finder so you can find every entry in this book. That way you can be sure you are applying the magic of reviews to your media kit in as many ways as possible. Without that cue, you may pass over the references to media kits as you read.
How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career is not a textbook. It contains opinions—some as black and white as the page you find them on. It is me talking to you, sharing with you. I had no desire to write a tome that would make people hearken back to their boring (and heavy!) high school texts.
I may not cover every possible idea for getting reviews. In fact I avoid anything I have not tried as a professional publicist in promoting my own books, in writing reviews for others’ books, and in managing my own New Book Review. I started that review blog because I could no longer accommodate all the requests I get from readers of my HowToDoItFrugally series of books for readers. My journalism training comes into play, too. Just as judges are expected to recuse themselves from cases where they may have a vested interest because they can’t be considered impartial, so it is for me with writers I know. You will, however, find lots of new (or rarely used) ways to get and use reviews that have not been scorched, stirred, and then warmed over.
Some of my business experience as founder and operator of my own retail chain comes into play, too. So much of what you learn here will help writers who are also professionals, manufacturers, and business people of any kind. We live in the World Wide Web these days, meaning we are all subject to endorsements and reviews on a wider scale than ever before. I often say, “marketing is marketing is marketing,” which is my way of telling you that this book—all my how-to books—are for you, too. Writers can learn tons from other industries—and vice versa.
You must find review-getting paths that fit your interests, skills, pocketbook, and your book’s title. I expect you to pick and choose from the many suggestions I give you for using reviews, too. I want my experience to save you time and heartache. I also don’t want you to spend money on a review that—if not downright fake—lacks credibility among the gatekeepers that many reviews are meant to persuade.
Fake reviews? Now that I have your attention, keep reading!
Professional Reviews
Letter and Review from Midwest Book Reviews
Dear Publisher Folk, Friends & Family:
We all know that book reviews can impact and influence librarians and the general reading public. What is perhaps underestimated is the impact and influence book reviews can have on the author. Last month I was vividly reminded of this fact while reading my review copy of "How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally And Ethically" by Carolyn Howard-Johnson.
Here's what I came across in the introduction on page VIII:
"We have all had disasters if we've been around very long. My book of poetry, "Imperfect Echoes" (bit.ly/ImperfectEchoes) was released just after my husband broke his back trouncing around on our roof to save $140 on solar repairs. I became a full time caretaker and part time writer and had not time to market my book. I did occasionally send out a query far a review and one was so special that it made up for the sad reality that few will read the book because few will have heard about it. So, thank you to Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Midwest Book review for that memorable gift."
I had no idea at the time who Carolyn was or anything about her circumstances. It was just another self-published book of considerable merit by an unknown author and I was trying to establish the Midwest Book Review as a champion of just such folk.
Since then Carolyn has gone on to a career of writing 'how to' books for authors and publishers and we became 'cyber-space pen pals'. When I thanked her for her very kind words in her introduction, she noted that we first met in person at a BEA convention in Chicago back in 2001. But as I was meeting hundreds (no exaggeration) of folks at that event I didn't remember her specifically.
But I did recall meeting Carolyn at John Poynter's ebook publishers convention in Santa Barbara, California in 2012 when I was awarded that Life Time Achievement in Publishing award.
I think she was also in the audience for my 'workshop' at that event -- I recall that one was 'standing room only' it was so crowded in that huge room. A few folks couldn't physically get in because there was no more room -- there was even a line of people standing along the back and side walls of the room.
Incidentally, that John Poynter convention was also the first time I met in person my managing editor Diane Donovan who for many years prior to our meeting in the flesh had (and continues to be) the editor for three of my nine monthly book review publication: The Bookwatch; California Bookwatch; Children's Bookwatch. Up until then she was a just a voice on the phone and an email correspondent only.
I'm now in my 41st year as the editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review. That means at the age of 74 I have now spent more than half my life in this position!
Every now and then I get an email or a letter expressing heartfelt appreciation for myself and the Midwest Book Review from authors and publishers for what we try to accomplish in their behalf. It's those messages of support and thanks that give me a reason to keep doing this job for as long as my health, my wife, and my daughter will allow.
Here is the review of Carolyn's most recent publication and the one that started me down memory lane:
How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Publishing
www.howtodoitfrugally.com
http://facebook.com/carolynhowardjohnson
9781536948370, $17.95, PB, 340pp, www.amazon.com
In the pages of "How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically", Carolyn Howard-Johnson draws upon her many years of professional experience and expertise spent helping writers to avoid pitfalls, misconceptions, and out-and-out scams perpetrated on unsuspecting authors -- and helping them reach their dreams of obtaining great reviews, going on great book tours, and experiencing great launches.
Simply stated "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" comprises the complete, comprehensive, and core manual for obtaining reviews and utilizing them in a practical, effective, and successful marketing campaign that includes all those things and for building the readership necessary for a financially prosperous and emotionally satisfying writing career.
Covering every aspect of the book review process from solicitation to exploitation, "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" is thoroughly 'user friendly' in tone, content, commentary, organization and presentation.
Basically, "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" is classified as a "must" for the instructional reference shelf of any and all authors and publishers be they novice beginners or seasoned professionals. While an essential and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Writing/Publishing collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.95).
Reviewed by Jim Cox, Editor-in_Chief Midwest Book Review
Owner of Compulsive Reader Praises Getting Great Reviews
Reviewed by Magdalena Ball Owner and Editor of The Compulsive Reader
How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally.com
ISBN-13: 978-1536948370
Reading Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s books is always a pleasurable experience. It’s not just because of her warm, intimate and accessible prose. Howard-Johnson is something of an industry expert, and she manages to make the most complex processes seem simple fun. Her How to do it Frugally series provides pretty much everything you need to know about all aspects of marketing your books without spending a fortune. The latest in the series, How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically, is no exception. This is a very thorough compendium that goes from importance of obtaining reviews through to building lists, writing query letters, using Amazon, how to deal with (and still use) negative reviews, and a whole lot more. How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is the most comprehensive book on getting book reviews I’ve ever come across. In her usual warm and easy-to-follow manner, Howard-Johnson outlines everything you need to know to maximise your book’s chances.
Some of the information is a tidy and helpful distillation of commonsense, such as “review trippers,” or how to deal with things like passed deadlines, book bigotry (or publisher bias), what an ARC is, and how to get e-book reviews, even from reviewers who only take hard copies. Other chapters are really innovative, such as creating an early series of contact lists and working them, even (ideally) before the book is written, and “magic bullets” (or bullet points) to ensuring that you get more positive responses to your review queries than negative ones. The latter point is crucial. I often think about what makes me accept a book for review – even when I have an already massive stack, and what makes me reject it immediately, and Howard-Johnson’s “legitimate hacks” are spot on. They really get to the crux of what a reviewer is looking for, not only in the approach or query, but in the way the book is packaged and presented. Howard-Johnson’s chapters on making use of Amazon are also particularly valuable, as this information is both key to sales, and not readily known or easy to find out.
The overall focus of the book is around getting reviews, but How to get Great Reviews Ethically and Frugally does more than simply focus on the review. It really parcels up the entire promotional process around a book and presents it in a handy format for new, and more experienced authors. There are chapters around book tours, quality control, what to do with the reviews you get, and even how you send your book, and I completely concur that parceling a book up nicely, and not stamping it all over with “Review copy” (including on the inner page where a reviewer might be trying to read, which has happened to me), makes a difference in terms of the reviewer’s personal experience with the book and how much value they assign to it.
Frugality is Howard-Johnson’s stock-in-trade, and since none of her suggestions involve a large outlay, I’d say that picking up a copy of this book is about the most frugal and valuable thing a new author can do in order to generate inexpensive and highly credible publicity. The book is easy to read, and rich with Howard-Johnson’s own considerable experience. Above all, I think the point that she makes about treating the acquiring of reviews, not as an ancillary activity, but an integral part of the promotional campaign and one that cannot be skimped on, is key. If you have a new book out, or are contemplating having a book out, you need this guide. How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is an excellent resource that both beginning and seasoned authors can return to again and again.
MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader Web site and edits its newsletter (http://compulsivereader.com). She is an author in her own right including a book on becoming a professional reviewer titled The Art of Assessment (http://bit.ly/ArtAssessment), and the author of several books of poetry an
Can't Wait
“I think Getting Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically will sell like hot cakes. It’s a chicken and egg situation. When you get reviews you get noticed and more people notice you from that. But how to get reviews without paying sometimes hundreds of dollars with no guarantee and how to ask without being a nuisance puts authors in a quandary. I will be first in line when it comes out! Please keep me posted!!!!”
~ Fiona Ingram, award winning children’s author of The Chronicles of the Stone middle grade adventure series, http://www.chroniclesofthestone.com
This book is for all first responders (law enforcement, fire, or other emergency personnel) who are or want to be supervisors in their agencies. It goes through all facets of good leadership.
