DON'T DO IT!
I know I have visited the subject before, but I have to do it again because I am absolutely aghast at the sheer number of writers who self publish or were published through a small press and then IMMEDIATELY begin to devalue their work by sending free copies of their book hither and yon to anyone and everyone in order to get a review. This does not get you anywhere!
Yes, reviews are important. And it takes a while to get them. There have also been some interesting business models to come along that seemed like they would produce legitimate reviews, but end up being disastrous. However, regardless of the many different things you might try, the worst thing you can POSSIBLY do is shove your books at people for free in exchange for reviews. This is equivalent to going down to a local tattoo shop and having "Desperate" stamped on your forehead. It's demeaning. PERIOD.
It's the tendency of every new writer to do this, because the author is thinking "okay, my book is out there now. If I get a few good reviews, I'll start selling a bunch of copies."
That's just not how it works.
I have 40 reviews on Amazon. It's technically 55, but I was caught in the crossfire of several of Amazon's infamous "review purges" (where they allow software to determine that this review and that review is "fake" and delete them.) Nevertheless, at the moment, I'm sitting at a net of 40 reviews. I also have quite a few sales. The majority of the sales did NOT come from the reviews. They came from MARKETING the book. And all the reviews that are on Amazon are from people who PURCHASED the book. So there is living proof that you do NOT have to give your book away to get reviews. If you do proper marketing, and encourage the people who VALUED YOUR BOOK ENOUGH TO BUY IT to also leave a review, the reviews will eventually take care of themselves.
Focus on advertising, because ultimately, ADVERTISING is the ONLY way to get your book into the hands of the people you most want to reach, which is readers with a true interest in your genre, and who are willing to pay for it like everyone else.
Yes, reviews are important. And it takes a while to get them. There have also been some interesting business models to come along that seemed like they would produce legitimate reviews, but end up being disastrous. However, regardless of the many different things you might try, the worst thing you can POSSIBLY do is shove your books at people for free in exchange for reviews. This is equivalent to going down to a local tattoo shop and having "Desperate" stamped on your forehead. It's demeaning. PERIOD.
It's the tendency of every new writer to do this, because the author is thinking "okay, my book is out there now. If I get a few good reviews, I'll start selling a bunch of copies."
That's just not how it works.
I have 40 reviews on Amazon. It's technically 55, but I was caught in the crossfire of several of Amazon's infamous "review purges" (where they allow software to determine that this review and that review is "fake" and delete them.) Nevertheless, at the moment, I'm sitting at a net of 40 reviews. I also have quite a few sales. The majority of the sales did NOT come from the reviews. They came from MARKETING the book. And all the reviews that are on Amazon are from people who PURCHASED the book. So there is living proof that you do NOT have to give your book away to get reviews. If you do proper marketing, and encourage the people who VALUED YOUR BOOK ENOUGH TO BUY IT to also leave a review, the reviews will eventually take care of themselves.
Focus on advertising, because ultimately, ADVERTISING is the ONLY way to get your book into the hands of the people you most want to reach, which is readers with a true interest in your genre, and who are willing to pay for it like everyone else.
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