42 Rules

If you are looking for reviews and promotion of your book consider submitting to BookBrowse.  They have a fairly short list of topics they review and rigorous requirements.  You can learn what they are looking for at BookBrowse.

We’ve blogged about the issue of fake reviews on Amazon.com and other sites.  Amazon.com has decided to take action and we applaud them for trying to fix the problem but they might have gone too far.  According to the blog post “Amazon Tackles Review Problem, Deletes Wrong Reviews” Amazon is deleting reviews left by authors for other authors.

This makes no sense to us.  We are authors and we are avid book readers.  All authors are readers.  Naturally, if an author leaves a positive review for a book by a friend without reading the book then that is wrong.  Leaving a positive review for a stinker of a book is wrong too but deleting every author’s review is going to far in our opinion.  What do you think?

We discovered Critique Circle today and wanted to share it with you.  If you want to critique and be critiqued you’ll want to check out Critique Circle.  Anyone can join so long as they are willing to participate in giving and receiving.  To learn how the system works visit Critique Circle.

Are you looking for another book review opportunity?  Check out Facebook.  You’ll find that many book reviewers have Fan Pages that are quite popular.  Many of them have over a 1,000 fans and your book review will appear on many of their timelines.

Look at the Fan Page of each reviewer and contact the reviewer to ask for a review.  Be patient, it takes time for reviewers to work their way through a stack of books to review.  Some of the book reviewers we follow are:

Beth’s Book Reviews
Book Monster Reviews
MS Nonfiction Book Reviews

If you need your book reviewed consider sending it to Midwest Book Review.  This book review site has been around a long time and is a fan favorite.   To learn what to send with your book click here and follow the instructions.  It may take a few weeks to get a review so you have to be patient but it’s worth it!

The internet is chock full of stories about Todd Jason Rutherford.  Rutherford built a thriving business providing paid reviews that he and paid freelancers wrote.  In some cases the book was never read by the reviewer.  This worked very well for Rutherford until a displeased client posted complaints on consumer sites.  Although both Google and Amazon stepped in and effectively put him out of business he is still trying to make money from authors albeit in a smaller venture.  You can read the original article about Rutherford on The New York Times and a follow-up that prompted comments from Rutherford on Publishers Weekly.  42 Rules has never paid for reviews but we’d be interested in hearing an opinion of the practice from our readers!

Book Baby supports indie book authors and decries the lack of a large, trusted source for book reviews.  We think Amazon.com would fit this bill as it includes indie and traditionally published books.  Book Baby has five recommendations for indie authors for reviews that you can see here.  One note of caution, the last site in the list looks like a reader club and has no information on getting a book reviewed.

The New York Times book section is a great online resource for readers and authors.  They cover book news, have book reviews, best seller lists, podcasts and more.  If you love books as much as we do bookmark The New York Times Books.

If you are an avid reader like all of us at 42Rules then take a look at the HuffPost Book Club.  Started in December of 2011, the book club introduction says:

“Just like other book clubs, it’s a way for us to invite you to read books that you otherwise might not, and to be part of a larger community discussing their narratives and themes.

Unlike any other book club, we also want to hear about how your reading intersects with your experiences, your memories, your everyday life and with current events.”

If you’d like to join the club visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/book-club

One of the best ways to promote your book is to get it reviewed by readers.  It’s important to get feedback not only from experts in your field but also general readers who like the topic of the book.  If part of your marketing plan is getting reviews then you should read “5 Mistakes To Avoid When Requesting A Book Review” at Publishing A Book Is An Adventure.  The article offers some great advice to guide you to getting the most reviews possible.

The New York Journal of Books is an online repository of book reviews.  If you are an author or publisher you can submit your book for review.  They do want the book four weeks before publication so this is not an opportunity for already published books. To read the guidelines click here.

My Shelf is a popular book review site looking for current books to review. Submit your favorite 42Rules title Your review request will be circulated to volunteer reviewers and if someone is interested they will contact you. You can find out more at My Shelf.