Here is my 2c: do not pay for book reviews. Do not pay $50 for book reviews from "Xavier House Publishing". Do not pay $119 for an expedited review at Book Pleasures. Do not pay $400 for a review from Kirkus. Do not pay for reviews.
If the only way you can get a review is to bribe the reviewer you have bigger problems than the self-POD glass ceiling.
7 comments:
I would like to see you expound upon this subject in much more detail. How many POD authors are using these clowns because they know the reviews will be glowing like a lightning bug in heat? What do you think of businesses such as Reader Views that offer free (glowing) reviews, but their real business comes from selling speedier reviews and other promotional services?
Actually Readerviews does free reviews as well, and you have to query first. But they also provide promotional services that some pod-authors do not have the skill or the time to do themselves: interviews, galleys, press-releases ... etc. Not all places are rip-offs and Readerviews is one I can verify is a very professional business. When you compare the cost a traditional publisher spends to market their client, Readerviews is pretty reasonable for their services. Most of the people working there are authors themselves. You just have to be careful and select wisely, as in everything you purchase there is the risk of a buying a lemon. I have also seen free review sites that only give glowing reviews with no critical comments for fear of being sued.
I am not promoting Readerviews; I have experience in that they are doing some of the marketing for my new book coming out in January, and I have found them to be extremely professional and prompt. They are also very attentive to the authors needs, and nothing goes out without the author's approval. I will have more feedback on the experience when all is said and done in January -- to the fact whether or not any of the marketing actually helped sales.
I have no experience with the other places, but I do know that even in traditional publishing, book reviews and blurbs aren't always on the up and up.
Caution should be the word of the day. And make sure you check your marketing company out thoroughly before you pay for anything. But the sad fact still remains, you can't sell books without some kind of marketing strategy. Having it on Amazon does nothing unless people know about it, for that to happen, you need a little marketing.
My other review site is TCM Reviews. They offer a for-pay review program.
However, I as a (volunteer) reviewer don't know who's paid for a review. So if I don't like the book, I tell the proprietor, and she gives the author the option of "negative or nothing." (So far, everybody's chosen "nothing.")
Having said that, all review sites are not created equal, so one must do one's homework.
Hey, my friends at Front Street Reviews will be glad to review pretty much anything. Why pay for something you can get for free?
MAN, did that come out sounding wrong... But the site's a really cool one, and I've had a good time reviewing for them.
Xavier House Reviews does not charge.
Check out their web-site at www.xavier-house.com/review.html
They don't... now. To suggest their website never listed that charge would be disingenuous at best. I am glad they thought better of it.
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