Asking for Reviews for Your Book? Avoid These 3 Pitfalls

You've published your book on Amazon? Congratulations!

Now that the hard work is done, you can focus on marketing your book. (Well, technically, you should have been marketing your book long before you hit the publish button.)

One option you can use to market your published book is through book reviews as they lend credibility to you as an author and translate into increased sales.

Let’s talk about how you can avoid some common pitfalls when marketing with reviews.

First, I want to touch on who you can reach out to.

Asking for Book Reviews

One of the best and easiest ways to get a review is to ask your book-buying readers to provide one. Just ask them if they would mind posting an honest review after reading your book. It sparks engagement with your audience.

You could also ask influencers in your market to review your book.

This leads me to the first pitfall.

Pitfall #1: Failing to Hand Out Complimentary Copies

I’m frequently approached to review books from new authors. Honestly, I get asked a lot to review books. And I wish I had the time to review them all as I know that these authors will benefit from my review.

Just keep in mind that you benefit more from an influencer’s name and market position than they will benefit from reading your book. So, don’t expect them to buy a copy of your book to review.

In other words, give them a complimentary copy of your book.

Pitfall #2: Failing to Budget for Review Copies

When planning your book marketing strategy, consider budgeting for the cost of review copies. These are copies you’ll send out to the media, industry experts, and influencers.

For example, I made sure to be extremely generous with review copies when my book Power Up for Profits was published. I understood that getting good reviews from the media and influencers was important to the success of my book.

Remember, you are not the only one approaching influencers, experts, and the media to review your book. I highly suggest you plan your marketing budget to include review copies.

When I’m asked to review a new author’s book, I expect to be given a complimentary copy. As an author your goal should be to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes to a review; therefore, be willing to give out copies.

Pitfall #3: Overpricing Your Book

If you do expect reviewers to buy a copy of your book – don’t overprice your book.

For instance, I was asked to review a book for an author. I headed over to her Amazon page in order to determine if my time would be well spent reading and reviewing her work.

Imagine my shock when I found her paperback book priced at $25 and her Kindle version priced at $19.99! She just wasn’t keeping within the market. (In most cases, a Kindle book priced at almost $20 is too expensive.)

Understand that overpricing your book will result in reduced sales. Price your book according to the market.

Savvy Marketing with Book Reviews

Asking for reviews is one way to boost sales of your book, as long as you avoid the common pitfalls.

Remember when asking for reviews, be willing to hand out a copy of your book. This will take some budget planning, but it is worth it. Definitely, no matter if you hand out review copies or not, do not overprice your book.

Be savvy when marketing your book with reviews.

To learn more on marketing your book with reviews, check out my FREE report at www.oneonamazon.com