How to Get Your Book Reviewed

A Simple Guide to Book Reviews for Authors

It’s no secret that reviews play a critical role in the success of marketing and selling a book, especially for indie authors. Imagine trying to promote a book that has no comments or ratings. How can you convey to potential readers that your book is worth buying? Quality book reviews from readers and professional book reviewers can help authors sell more books by generating excitement and buzz, providing social proof in the form of real-life testimonials, and lending credibility, especially when received from reputable sources such as literary journals and book critics. By reaching out for book reviews, authors can also improve their visibility in Google and Amazon search results, helping further expand their audience.

Knowing the importance of book reviews for authors, you might be wondering how to go about getting your book reviewed. Below we explore how to get your book reviewed by third-party sites, audiobook review sites, and everyday readers, so that you can maximize your book marketing efforts.

How to Get Books Reviewed: 7 Easy Steps

Step 1: Make Sure Your Book Is Listed

Editorial book reviews aren’t effective if they don't have a visible platform. Before you ask for reviews, head over to the two major book recommendation platforms – Goodreads and BookBub – and make sure that you have an author profile set up and that your book listing is added and up-to-date so that readers can leave their feedback.

Step 2: Identify Potential Book Reviewers

There are two main types of book reviews, both equally important for creating hype for your book and helping you sell more copies:

Third-Party Book Review: Sometimes referred to as professional book reviews, these reviews are found on book websites, news outlets and magazines, industry blogs, publishing podcasts, and via review programs with retailers such as Amazon and Google Play.
Reader Book Reviews: These are the book reviews that you typically see displayed on your book listing page at online retailers. They come from individuals who have read your book but who aren’t associated with a third-party source.

As an author thinking about how to get book reviews, you want to target anyone who can have an impact on your book’s success, so you should reach out to both types of book reviewers in order to maximize your exposure.

Step 3: Reach Out to Readers

Starting with a known audience – your current readers – is a good way to ease into getting book reviews. You can use your social media channels, your email list, your website, even a call-to-action on the back of the book itself, to ask your readers to leave a review for your book at their favorite online retailer.

How to Get Your Book Reviewed By Readers – Additional Tips:

Use Goodreads: Goodreads has a dedicated Reviewers Group that authors can use to find reviewers for their book.
Use Amazon: This can be a little more time-consuming, but worth it if you’re looking for credible book reviews on Amazon. First, search for books in your genre similar to your own. Look at their reviews and see if the reviewers included their contact information via their profile. Use caution, as Amazon has strict guidelines around review solicitation.
Look for bloggers and influencers in your book’s genre with strong followings and ask them for a review. Try following the BookTok community on TikTok and the Bookstagram community on Instagram for helpful leads.
There are also a number of free book review sites and services that you can submit your book to. In particular, check out:
Don’t forget about your own personal network! Reaching out to your friends, family, and colleagues is a great, simple way to increase the number of reviews for your book.

Step 4: Reach Out to Third-Party Review Sites

Getting book reviews for authors can be time-consuming. If you want to fast-track getting editorial book reviews so you can sell more copies of your book, sometimes it can pay to invest in professional review services. Depending on your budget and your timeline, there are a variety of paid book review services you can use to help increase your book’s visibility. If you’re looking for how to get book reviews quickly to help with your marketing efforts, enlisting one of the following companies to provide professional editorial book reviews could be a good option for you:

Step 5: Reach out to Audiobook Review Sites

When it comes to getting book reviews for authors, you want to capitalize on every format and genre that applies to your work. If you’re an author with an audiobook format, there are several audiobook review sites that provide feedback on audio quality, narration, and the overall listening experience of audiobooks. AudioFile Magazine is a professional publication featuring reviews of audiobooks that accepts submissions for review consideration. BookRiot also provides reviews and commentary on audiobooks. And, while Goodreads is not exclusively for audiobooks, users can filter reviews by format and sort by audiobook, so it is worth reaching out to the community there for reviews.

Step 6: Utilize Advance Reader Copies

Also called advance review copies, advance reader copies (or ARCs) are copies of your book that you send out to librarians, book retailers, bloggers, and other reviewers ahead of your book release date to generate excitement. Typically sent out a few months before publication, ARCs can help generate early interest in your book through word-of-mouth promotion and online reviews. They can also provide valuable, constructive feedback from reviewers, allowing you to tweak and improve your manuscript before its official release.

Step 7: Make the Most of Your Editorial Book Reviews

Now that you know how to get book reviews, and have put your knowledge into action, it’s time to reap the rewards of your hard work. Go through all of the reviews you’ve received and collect the best ones – the ones that most accurately reflect your work and the ones that will make readers want to pick up a copy. Save them in a spreadsheet and be sure to include screenshots, which are great for using in promotional material.

Then, take those top editorial book reviews and:

Include them on your book cover, book description, and other promotional & marketing materials
Post them on social media and share them in your email newsletter
Add them to your author website and include them in your email signature

The more you share your book reviews, the more exposure they’ll get, and the more others will be encouraged to leave a review themselves. All of this helps to drive book sales and build your audience, which, in the end, is what it’s all about.

Have more questions about audiobook publishing and marketing? Discover how we help authors with audiobook production, distribution, and promotion at Author’s Republic.