In the current digital and social media age, it is essential to seek and secure reviews and endorsements to raise awareness of your book – not just any reviews from anybody, but positive reviews from literary experts in the field and high profile endorsements. There are many pitfalls to avoid in this regard, like responding badly to negative reviews and leaving adverse reviews of other authors’ books. In this ebook, we explain how best to obtain the sort of reviews that are going to work for you and generate more sales for your book.

We discuss who to seek reviews from and who to avoid, as there are plenty of book trolls on the Internet looking to criticize you if you over-engage in self-promotion or word your approach in an overtly self-centred way. We explain how best to approach those likely to provide positive reviews and endorsements by making it easy for them to review your book and spelling out the benefits to them in doing so, and we debate whether you should endorse your own book.

Often, it helps to set yourself up as an expert book reviewer first to lend credibility both to your writing and your reviews. We explain how to achieve this by joining Goodreads and Shelfari, writing good reviews, hosting or being a guest on a talk radio programme and always responding to critics in a respectful manner. A good review travels fast, but a poor review or a bad response to a negative review travels faster.

Darin Jewell is a professional literary agent and author of ‘How to Sell and Market Your Book’.  He is a regular speaker in writing seminars and writing groups, and represents bestselling authors Fergus O’Connell, Michael G. R. Tolkien, Mark Leigh and Simon Brown.

Conrad Jones is a bestselling ebook author, and has been interviewed on the BBC and radio as an ebook specialist.  His ‘Soft Target’ thrillers were in the top 40 for nearly 12 months, with ‘The Child Taker’ reaching #1 in thriller law books, and ‘Tank’ reaching #1 in thriller war books.

IN A DAY Series

Where to Start; The Nature of Book Reviews; Whom and How to Ask for Reviews; Checklist of Details to Include in Your Review Request; Sample Review-Request Letter; 10 Best Practices for Seeking Book Reviews; Getting the Most from Your Book Reviews; Have Your Book Reviewed on Goodreads; Have Your Book Reviewed on Shelfari; Other Book Review Sites; Set Yourself Up as a Reviewer; Move Up the Review Ladder; Book Endorsements; Blog Reviews