Book Marketing, non fiction
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
If you're a self-published or indie press published author who has contemplated buying reviews, joining reviewing groups or doing review swaps, or if you've been googling 'book bloggers' and are not sure where to start, consider spending 99p/$1.49 on this before you go any further!
I've read a couple of Rayne Hall's other advice books, and what I like about them, this one included, is that she pulls no punches. If you've been at the marketing-your-own-books game for a while, you'll probably cringe at some of it, thinking "Ouch, I did that" - as does Rayne; she tells you about the mistakes she made so you don't make them too. This isn't theoretical advice; this is the real thing, from someone who's been there, done that, and bought the 'I've been scammed' t-shirt.
The book goes deep into the dos and don'ts of review-getting practices I knew nothing about, like review agencies and reviews via blog tours, though I imagine her experiences will be of great interest to others who have contemplated using them. Best of all, she tells you exactly why you shouldn't join reviewing groups, swap with other writers, and pay for fakes ~ or even do unofficial 5* swaps with friends (you know, when Writer A thinks "I'll give Writers B, C and D 5* so that they'll all give me 5* back").
When Rayne asked me to contribute to the book, she specified that I should write about how I get reviews, rather than say what not to do, and when I read the whole thing I understood why; people buy books like these to find out how to get positive results, not just to be told all the things they're doing wrong! There are plenty of good, practical suggestions, with positive action you can take. As with all advice books I didn't agree with all of it; I don't like the idea of asking for reviews on social networking sites, whereas Rayne finds it works well for her; however, there are right ways and wrong ways to do it, and she advises you of the right ones. I also felt that finding and building relationships with book bloggers could have been explored more - I love them, and often read several posts a day, as both a reader and a writer.
As with all works of this nature, there will be some advice within that doesn't gel with how you work, but you adapt to suit you, and I think you'll find some real gems; I am putting one piece of advice into action today! If you've been looking at others' books and wondering how come they've got 40 reviews when you've only got 2, or if you're just starting to self-publish and haven't got a clue how to go about it, or even if you've got a fair number of reviews but would like more, I'd recommend this book.
Please note: I contributed to this book at the request of the author and confirm that I have no financial interest in it. I was supplied with a review copy at my own request.
Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall reviewed HERE
