Reviews add credibility to your work and help readers determine what to expect if they were to read your work. Reviews can boost book sales, even if they are not four and five-star reviews.
While some books can sell well without reviews, particularly those that come with a recommendation, books sell even better if they have good reviews— the more early reviews there are, the better. Having early reviews is critical if a book is going to climb the bestseller list without hindrance.
In this article, I will show you how to get legitimate reviews that make readers want to buy your books, and how to get them fast. Some methods will test your patience; some are downright simple but they are all effective.
Ask Your Fans
The best people to ask for reviews are those who are already familiar with your work. Here are some options:
Put a review request at the back of your book
The best time to ask for a review is just after someone has finished reading your work. This is because the book, its characters, plots, and your writing style are fresh in the reader's mind just after they finish reading your work. Hopefully, you've made a good impression.
Just after the story ends ask for the review. Here is a sample of how you could craft the review request:
"Thank you for reading x. If you enjoyed reading this book PLEASE leave a review..."
Ask your mailing list
Invite some of your subscribers to join an advance-readers list. Send these advance readers copies of your work so they can read the book and be ready to post a review once the book is released.
While it is true that these reviews won't have the 'Verified Purchase' badge they nonetheless will help boost sales. As a bonus, some of these reviewers will still purchase your book even though you sent them a free copy. BookFunnel is a great tool for managing the release and delivery of ebook ARC's.
Get in touch with the book blogger community
Contact bloggers who review books in your genre. While less than 10% of the bloggers you contact will post a review, contacting them is still worth the effort.
Make it clear that you are seeking an honest review of the book you'll send but that there is no obligation on their part to give a positive review. You are inviting reviews not demanding it in exchange for a gift.
Pay attention to the average star rating of reviewers. Don't ask for reviews from someone who routinely gives one and two-star reviews. You are unlike to get a favorable review from such reviewers.
Some bloggers have a good following so reviews that they post to their channels have the potential to send you buyers and fans.
Do not buy reviews
It may be tempting to skip the work and use online gigs to quickly amass reviews, but the risks surrounding the buy-reviews strategy are too great.
Amazon and astute readers will find and expose your transgressions. The retailer will remove your reviews and you will have spent your money in vain, not to mention the embarrassment of getting called out in a very public way. The greatest transgression of all is that you would have abused a system of trust by which readers can have confidence in the quality of the purchase decisions that they make.
Now it's your turn. Go get some reviews.