Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hi everyone. Has anyone used Readers' Favorite for editing and/or proofreading or reviewing? They offer authors a single, free review (tho they also have pay-for options).

I'm more curious about their editing. They seem to only have one editor working for them.

I’ve never heard of them. Hoping to see what others say. It sounds promising.

I've used Reader's Favorite for a review. They only do editorial reviews and like Kirkus, do not guarantee a good review. I liked the honesty of the reviews I got back.

As for editing, if they only have one, you might want to steer clear of them. There are a lot of freelancers out there that are very good.

But are you really ready for editing? Have you had beta readers read it for you? Are you sure you have all your major revisions done? Do you have all you requisite scenes and all the plot points covered? Do you still need to go back and tighten and make it sound good?

As Carla King said in a group meeting, most authors have their editing done way to quickly. Do you even know how to self edit? I know I didn't. I wrote my way into the story which isn't good.

Before you pay that $800-$2000 for a proofreader or copy editor, make sure that book is as good as it can be. A developmental editor starts at $2000 for a 100K word book. A copy editor for that same book is $1000. If you have them edit the book too early, then you have just thrown away the $1000. The $2000 developmental editing is all about getting your book in shape for the copy editor.

I looked at the site, and wasn’t all that impressed. Lots of sprinkled on glitter and hype, but the primary product seems to be reviews that won’t appear on any bookseller’s site, at 3 for about $129. What does such paid praise do for you? Not a damn thing.

And there's an interesting statement in their come-on for readers: "We do require that you have good writing skills, not only so you can produce professional reviews, but so that you can recognize the quality of the work you are reviewing."

Interesting. A reviewer who has "good writing skills" produces "professional" reviews? Pushing the idea that the hopeful writer is somehow better at recognizing "quality" writing than the average reader, and will produce "professional" reviews is naked pandering. And of course they pay you to read, which means that unless you give reviews that will keep the customer on the hook, you're out.

I looked at a few of the books they rated as 5 star. Every one of them would have been rejected by an agent or acquiring editor on page one—most in paragraph one. They read like demonstrations of how not to write for publication. Many began with the dreaded info-dump of backstory, some read like a report, with declarative sentences lined up, one after another.

Here's what matters: If you make your money, and get repeat customers, by saying nice things about someone’s writing, you’re going to say nice things, no matter the skill of the author. It was no surprise to find that not one of the books I looked at were doing well on Amazon. In fact, I looked at the novel written by their “editor.” It too, opens with a multi-page info-dump of backstory, and it, too, is doing poorly on Amazon. So, I can't speak for anyone else, but I’d not pay for their editing services. And other than that, what do they offer? A lot of hype, and just another pay-to-play writing contest.

I've used them for reviews. The ones I received were thoughtful, and the criticism was on point. So for that, I'd use them again. As for the contest--nah. I don't see anything inherently wrong with pay-to-play, but if I'm going to spend the money, I'd rather spend it on a contest sponsored by respected organizations like the Independent Book Publishers Association (Ben Franklin Award, 33 years) or the Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY, 25 years).

Honestly, I love Readers' Favorite, but for reviews. I admittedly did pay for 1 review....it was a book that I was skeptical about. They went out of their way for me asking their top reviewer to read it and he obviously did, judging from his detailed review. I don't know about their contests or editing. I just found them very helpful and dedicated to helping the author.

Good to know, guys! Seems like a mixed bag.

Oh, definitely B.A. You bring up a valid point. I'm just asking around

I haven't heard of Readers' Favorite. But if you are looking for editing I have a suggestion. You can PM me if you like and I can tell you who I used.

Readers Favorite does nothing for sales in my experience. However they are a good source of editorial reviews which can be incorporated into the blurb.

Who's Carla King?

Laura wrote: "Readers Favorite does nothing for sales in my experience. However they are a good source of editorial reviews which can be incorporated into the blurb."

Precisely what I did. I've used them once for a review, and I added part of the best review to my books landing page. I haven't identified any sales that came from 'advertising,' on their website.

Carla King is an author who writes travel books and has a book for those who self publish. She was among the original self publishers so she had learned a lot about it along with having several traditionally published books. She has motorcycled across China on her own and done the Silk Road and visited a lot of places in India. I ran across her work when I was looking for books on self-publishing back in 2014.

However they are a good source of editorial reviews which can be incorporated into the blurb.

The thing to remember is that they are not editorial reviews, they're reader reactions. As Sol Stein put it: “Readers don’t notice point-of-view errors. They simply sense that the writing is bad.”

So they're not helpful so far as spotting specific problems. And as for quoting someone unknown as if they're giving a professional review, fools no one.

Promotion can get people to your site. And bad reviews there can kill sales. But...the way to boost sales to those who come to the page is to provide a sample that grabs the reader by the throat before the end of page one, and makes them say, "Damn...I have got to read this." Fail that, and who cares what the "reviews" say?

I used them for reviews, got some really good comments to advertise with or use as editorial reviews, and based on those, I entered their contest. I came in second in my category and got a cool sticker to put on my book. They also give you stickers for 5 star reviews. This will increase your "social proof," which is more important to older readers than younger.

B.A. wrote: "Carla King is an author who writes travel books and has a book for those who self publish. She was among the original self publishers so she had learned a lot about it along with having several tra..."

Thanks. I checked out her Boot Camp book and it looks interesting. It's expensive though and I wonder if that is why she is not as well-known (to me anyway) as David Gaughran and Creative Indie. Maybe she just doesn't publicize as much.

In general, I think all the information anyone needs to self-publish is here at SIA, it just takes time to find and read it, all the posts. It's worth it!

Anne wrote: "I used them for reviews, got some really good comments to advertise with or use as editorial reviews, and based on those, I entered their contest. I came in second in my category and got a cool sti..."

That makes sense.

I've used Readers' Favorite for two books now. The first time I was feeling like something was missing in my book and wanted feedback. Their reviews are from fellow authors and dedicated readers. The first book I submitted for just one express review, and I felt like the tips I received back were spot-on and very helpful in helping me identify what was 'off' about the book.

The second time I decided to pay for the three express reviews. You can sign up for a free review, but there isn't any guarantee that you'll get a review promptly. Reviewers search for books in the genre they enjoy, so you're getting feedback from someone that normally reads the type of book you've written.

On my book, Something Beautiful, I received one 4-star review and two 5-star reviews. The feedback was thorough and very helpful. They write up a free press release that you can use for free on your own social media/website.

Overall it's fairly inexpensive and provides great feedback. I will definitely use them again.

Another site I would definitely recommend is Voracious Readers Only. You can use them for one book. I received excellent response from this site. For my next book, I'm looking for a good book editing service.