There are many ways to market a book or e-book, but one thing I’ve figured out: Early reviews are critical for attracting readers and making sales.
Recently, on a Goodreads thread, I discovered one book-marketing strategy I’ve used with great success is considered scammy by some authors.
It’s recruiting readers prior to the book’s release who get a free draft copy of your book or e-book in exchange for a promise to leave a review on publication day.
Do your peeps leave false raves?
Complaints about authors who ballot-stuff their reviews with gushy raves from their personal friends abound on the GoodReads author forums. “It’s not fair!” one writer groused.
There is an ongoing scandal about authors (and business owners, too) who simply create fake identities to post fake raves.
The whole flameup reminds me of another book-marketing tip I gave recently, about how I got great marketing help for my new print business book on shoestring startups by mass-mailing my LinkedIn connections.
Worked great for me, but some writers thought I was just being a spammer on LinkedIn. Even though none of my connections were bothered by it.
It had never occurred to me that there was anything wrong with asking a group of early readers to review your book. I still don’t see what’s wrong with it. But apparently that’s not a universal opinion.
How to do early reviews right
My take on the early-reader review controversy: I think it’s fine if:
- You don’t tell reviewers what to say or how to rate your book
- They’re free to say whatever they want, including something negative
- Early readers aren’t your personal best friends
- Don’t post any fake reviews by pretend people, or encourage anyone to do that for you
In other words, put out a general call for signups for free copies, and take who you get. Don’t email the family with suggested language for their five-star reviews.
It’s vitally important to have a lot of reviews the day your book or e-book goes on sale, and I don’t see any other way to get those. Every author I know who has sold well has opened with a ton of rave reviews.
How else can you have reviews on Day One and make sales besides asking your fans to read it and review it before it comes out?
Some authors may think it’s a form of cheating, but this marketing technique is here to stay, until there’s a better way to make more sales on opening week and get your book ranked well on Amazon for your category.
How to do early reviews better
If the idea of handing out free copies in exchange for reviews makes you queasy, you might resolve it this way — simply ask that your free readers disclose in their review that they were given a promotional copy.
In checking out my recent biz book’s Amazon reviews and GoodReads reviews, I discovered more than one of my reviewers had done this on their own:
I loved that. This way, it’s totally transparent how the reader came to be leaving a day-one review.
I think most readers probably won’t even notice, but you’re hiding nothing if you encourage reviewers to come clean about how they got your book.
Are free “early reader” reviews ethical? Leave a comment and share your view.
