Every artist, every creative person in this world yearns for just two things recognition and acceptance. After putting in loads of effort and spending hours and hours writing your book, perhaps the only thing you’d be looking forward to is getting the attention and recognition your book deserves.

The best way to achieve this is by getting your book reviewed online. Book reviews are part of the book promotion and marketing process and play an influential role in increasing the sales of your book. Specifically, being a self-published author, reviews are one of the best ways to increase the reach of your book and sell more copies.

Though there’s no formula or any secret ways to get your book reviewed, careful planning and a little research can work wonders for your book. Here are some tips on getting reviews for your book in case you’re wondering.

Reach out to the People on your List

Perhaps the first circle of people who would love to read your book and review it would be your friends, family, and your acquaintances. Reach out to people in your email list, your followers on Twitter, and your friends list on Facebook and send them a copy of your book. They’d read it and, for sure, leave a comment on your social media page. If you could ask them to leave a comment on an e-commerce portal, they would be happy to do it too. They are people you know. So, you have a bit of liberty in getting things done from them. Their reviews would indeed help your book get picked up by potential readers who would hesitate to do so otherwise. Try being good here and ask them to review your book genuinely.

Amazon’s Top Reviewers

This requires a bit of research. Look for books of the same genre as yours and do research on some top reviewers for such books. They are the ones you should be approaching first because they are open to reading new and fresh content and are more than willing to leave an honest comment on the same as well. Once you do your research and get their contact details, send them a request to read and review your book. However, the catch here is that top reviewers receive loads of requests every day and you’d probably have to wait for some time before they could review your book; but it’s definitely worth the effort because getting a review from them would help increase the credibility and visibility of your book. It’ll make readers compelled to pick your book up among others. Try it.

There’s a Book Blogging Community

Besides Amazon’s top reviewers, you could also approach book bloggers who read books and give their reviews. It’s similar to food blogging, where you try the food at different restaurants and leave a comment on your social media page or on online portals. Approach them by sending a well-written email, asking them to read your book and review it on their blog. The better you pitch your mail, the more the chances of your book getting reviewed. Do research, come up with a list of people you intend to approach for book reviews, send them requests, follow up in case of no response, and get your book reviewed.

Giveaways

Another effective way is to give your book for free for some time after its release. Being a new author, people would think twice before they pick your book for purchase. Make them come out of their hesitation by giving them your book for free. Chances are more that they’d pick and read your book. Moreover, they’d leave a comment for it as well. Once you get a good number of reviews, price your book as you intended. Also, read our post on ‘How to get reviews by running a Book Giveaway’.

Hat Tip: Approaching Amazon’s top reviewers and book bloggers and getting a reply from them takes some time. So, make sure you plan accordingly and start the process prior to the actual release of your book. When you approach them after your book’s release, your reviews would get delayed, in turn delaying the potential sales of your book. So, time things right.