With the popularity of Print-on-Demand Publishing and scammers hacking the Amazon algorithm, I believe we have lost the plot of the book review. It is not just an accumulation of numbers and rankings. If used strategically, book reviews still hold significant marketing power. There is also more than one kind of review.
Independent Reviews
Unbiased professional assessments from services like Kirkus Indie or BlueInk that self-published authors can purchase to gain credibility.
Independent Reviews also cover blogs and genre sites, and can translate into sales and visibility.
Professional Critiques
Written by professional industry publications like Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist. Librarians and bookstore buyers use them to decide which books to stock.
Reader Reviews
Every day ratings and feedback left by buyers on retail sites like Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble.
Others are editorial reviews, endorsements, and starred reviews.
In one form or another, they all contribute to a single goal: establishing trust and credibility with your audience, leading to many more opportunities to share your message.
“Yecheilyah did an amazing job reviewing my self-published book. She was extremely thorough and brought forth all the important elements of the story. I would highly recommend her services to anyone in need of a book review.”
– John K. McLaughlin, Author, Lifeline to a Soul
Conversation Starter/Community Builder
As a conversation starter, book reviews help your book attract members of your specific community in what is still one of the best ways to do so: word of mouth.
This means a book review is not just a written report but can also be an oral testimony. This also means the way books are being reviewed is changing. There are thousands of bookish content creators who spend their time on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube promoting books and recommending them to their readers.
“As of writing this article, the hashtag #booktok has 165 billion hits on TikTok, and the hashtag #bookstagram has 93.5 million hits on Instagram. To say these are thriving and engaged communities would be an understatement. Avid users of these two hashtags are readers, writers, and publishers all bonded by a love of books. They provide a range of content—book reviews, lists of favorite books, shopping hauls of books one has purchased, writing tips, advice for how to get into reading, and more. BookTok and Bookstagram have become famous for inadvertently getting people back into reading, which is excellent news for authors.”
How BookTok and Bookstagram Are Changing Book Promotion
“A BookTok chart was also launched earlier this year, which combined data from traditional charts like the Sunday Times bestseller list along with UK sales data and analysis of the #BookTok hashtag.”
The truth is, family members, friends, and people you are cool with probably won’t review your book in public. Maybe, except for those who are already in the book space. But, this is not really a bad thing.
What it actually does for you is highlight another perk of book reviews: they offer a preview of how many people outside your immediate circle are part of your community.
A social media post doesn’t go viral because everyone following you engaged with it. A social media post goes viral because of the number of non-followers engaging with it.
“It’s not just because she reviewed my novelette, All Good Stories, and gave it 5 stars, I’m writing about her because she gives great (and helpful) reviews. In a market so full, it’s hard to choose what to read, isn’t it? We really need reviews these days that go beyond the minimalistic, “I liked it,” to know what we’re investing our money in. Because money doesn’t grow on trees. Neither do books anymore, for that matter.”
– Linda G. Hill, Author, All Good Stories
Social Proof Builds Trust
As an independently published author, I find reviews valuable for standing out at a time when people are still not sure whether to trust a self-published book.
Book reviews drive social proof and search visibility.
As social proof, reader reviews give you the chance to let other people share what they loved about the book instead of you having to always be the one to do it. As the scripture puts it: “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth.” (Prov. 27:2)
The social-proof part of a review isn’t there for you to bask in external validation. It isn’t there for you to measure your worth against. A good book with zero reviews is still a good book.
The review just shows that others know it, too. This is the visibility part. Unreviewed books don’t carry as much weight because they don’t appear as often in search results, making them harder to find for potential buyers.
Together, social proof + visibility says, “Look. My mother and I are not the only people who love this book.” And, even more valuable: “Look at all the people who are having this same problem talk about how this book has helped them.”
Repurpose. Repurpose. Repurpose.
Reviews do not live and die when the person writes them. Even a dope Amazon review won’t do much just sitting there.
The power of a review is also in how it can be repurposed beyond its original platform.
Editorial reviews, for example, are featured in literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and can even be posted to your Amazon buy page.
Written book reviews, in particular, can be used to extract short promotional quotes for media kits, websites, the inside cover or back of the book, social media content, and marketing materials.
Book reviews still hold much marketing power, shaping how readers discover, judge, and ultimately buy books. Reviews cover many different areas and serve a different purpose depending on who writes them and where they appear.
“Let’s be honest with each other! Your reviews are worth waiting for.”
-Terry Lister, Author, Immersed in West Africa
Our Review Service is Back!
The PBS Blog has been listed by Kindlepreneur as a top-tier book review blog and by Reedsy as one of its vetted, active book blogs that provide insightful, excellent book reviews. Many authors find me on their platform. I review traditionally and self-published/independently published books.
Important
Please review my book review policy before contacting me. I get tons of requests for reviews, and many of them do not follow the guidelines.
I do not have the time or capacity to read every book pitched to me. Please allow 3-5 business days for your approval status to be updated. Do not send payment for a review before your book is approved.
Turnaround times depend on the number of people in front of you, so be sure to check the queue at the bottom of the page. Books are read in the order they are received.
To maintain our commitment to and reputation for excellence, only books that fall within the 3-5-star range are promoted on this blog.
Apply Now
To learn more, apply at thepbsblog.com/book-reviews.
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