I know people who will pound through three or four romance
novels a week. The problem is, a book habit like that can get rather expensive.
So, they focus their reading on 99 cent books or those that are available
through Kindle Unlimited. Both are excellent ways to discover some great
authors!
But sometimes, there’s a great book you want to read that is
listed at full price. For a historical romance, that can be as much as $17.99 these
days. Don’t know about you, but three or four of those a week would put a
considerable dent in my latte budget.
What readers often don’t know is that many authors have
review copies available for free.
 |
| Request a review copy |
My publisher, The Wild Rose Press, provides
me with electronic review copies – some of my contracts allow for an unlimited
number of them. I also have a manuscript that I am querying right now – The Rebel’s Kiss, for which I am more than happy to provide review copies.
To join my mailing list and request a review copy of The Rebel’s Kiss or any of my other titles,
email me at mj@maryjeanadams.com.
If you see something you want to read, but are reaching the
end of your funds for the month, it doesn’t hurt to ask if the author has
review copies available.
A few pointers:
Don’t ask for a “free” book. There’s a difference between
asking an author to give you a copy of their book, and asking an author if they
have review copies available. If that
difference is too subtle for you, you may want to just wait until your next pay
check and buy your books the old-fashioned way. ;-)
E-book is better. Some authors have paperbacks available for
review, but it’s far easier to fulfill a request for an e-book. You don’t have to
package the book, go to the post office, pay for postage, etc.
Fulfill your end of
the bargain. You’re asking for a book in exchange for a review, and while
you probably won’t have a contract that hold you to it, common courtesy
suggests that you should do whatever it takes to get that review written.
Write a few reviews.
You don’t have to be a full-time “book reviewer” or have your own website or
blog. But, before you request a review copy, take the time to review a few of
the books you’ve already read and post your reviews on Amazon. (Posting them on
other sites like Barnes and Noble and Goodreads isn’t necessary, but they can
earn you brownie points!)
A couple more pointers about what’s expected/not expected in
your review:
Reviews do not have
to be 5 stars. I think you need to have fifty reviews before Amazon will
promote your book. These could all be 1-star reviews, so most authors don’t care
if you hate their book. They want you to write that review anyway. (Well, we do care, but we still want the reviews.)
One line is good enough. If you’re
concerned that you don’t have the time or skill to write a “real review,” don’t
be. Just as Amazon doesn’t look at how many starts a book gets, they also don’t
care how long the review is. Even just an “I couldn’t put it down!” counts.
It's never too late.
You’re busy. I can relate to that, and so can most other authors. Yes, we want
to get as many reviews as possible as quickly as possible, but even if you
finally finished that book you requested six months ago, go ahead and write the
review. Chances are, the author will have forgotten they sent you a review
copy, and it will be a pleasant surprise.
Mention the review copy. Proper etiquette also requires you to mention that the author supplied you with a review copy. I suspect most authors would prefer you leave that part out because it makes it sound like they paid for the review. (Totally not the same thing!) But, in my opinion, mentioning it is still the right thing to do.
The one caveat to this is that some publishers have review
programs that require you to write the review within a certain amount of time.
For example, I belong to the Bethany House book reviewers group and I think
they give you about a month or so. Every month, I look at the books they have
available for review and only request those that I know I have enough interest
in to finish the project according to their timeline.
For you avid readers, who give this a try, I would love to
hear how it works for you. I suspect you’ll have more luck with indie or
boutique publishers. (Although, not all authors know whether or not they have
review copies available – some need to read their contracts more closely!)
The big book publishers and authors represented by agents may be a
little harder to reach. Or, they may be so caught up in the “process of book
marketing” that they can’t be bothered. Still, it never hurts to try.
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