25. Sep, 2022

Week Two: The reviews are in! Sort of....

Waiting for those crucial first reviews of a new book can be an unnerving time for an author. And this is certainly true for me. I can see from my sales dashboard that people are buying my book, but I don’t yet know if they are enjoying it. And positive reader reviews on sites like Amazon and Goodreads can be incredibly important in gaining interest and, hopefully, more readers.

I have received some great feedback this week, and although it has been from friends and family members, it has made me feel more confident. When it comes to books, my family and friends are a tough crowd and would not offer false praise if they had thought Exposed was bad. One friend (who gave me a running commentary by text as he read it) finished yesterday and told me he thought crime fiction might be my forte, which was very flattering. 

I have also had my first reader rating on Goodreads – and it’s five stars! So, the signs are good. The big test comes this week, as my Goodreads giveaway has finished, and 100 Goodreads members now have a free Kindle version of Exposed. However, there are four important things to remember about a Goodreads giveaway:

1. Of the 100 who now have a free copy of my book, many won't read it for weeks or months - or possibly not at all. Some Goodreads members enter multiple giveaways simply to build up their library and may have dozens of free books to get through.
2. However, it’s not just about giving away free copies of your book. A giveaway raises awareness of a book across the Goodreads site, and so there are now hundreds of other members who have tagged Exposed ‘to read’
3. In terms of a review, Giveaway winners are not obliged to leave one
4. Also, and this is crucial, Giveaway winners are not obliged to leave a positive review. Indeed, some of the negative reviews for my first book, Exposé, were from Giveaway winners.

I have also sent a free print copy of Exposed to quite a few people who write reviews for national and even international publications. Again, they may not even read it but for independent authors like me, you know, it’s always worth a shot!