You Imagine discussion

Even if it's one silly little poem. Or a short story that you think stinks. Or a chapter of a novel you're about to submit to an agent.

Check this out: I just discovered Urbis. It's AMAZING! It's like GoodReads for writers who want to have their work honestly reviewed. I've had four incredibly helpful reviews in one day.

Here's my page so you can see what it's like. There's a sign up button somewhere on the page. http://www.urbis.com/ksr_kingworth

Post here to let us know how many reviews you're getting. Let's test this thing out!

I wasn't too sure where to post this but one thing I'd like to know is the URLs of sites where you can submit a finished book for review. There are plenty of sites that do book reviews but where are the sites that make a difference, the ones who are getting thousands of hits not dozens? And what's the best way to grab their attention?

Great question, Jim. One that I'm aware of is http://www.critiquecircle.com.

You've got a lot of choices there. You can submit just a few paragraphs for review.

Or in your instance, since you want to submit a finished book. You can do that and choose whether you want just anyone to look at it, or seasoned reviewers.

It seems to have a lot more hits than Urbis, I've noticed. As for thousands? I don't know. Does anyone have a better suggestion?

I don't know how many hits it gets, but I like to use Fanstory (http://www.fanstory.com) to post my writing. It's free to review other people's writing, but there is a fee to become a Premiere Member which allows you to post your own writing: screenplays, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, novels.

I've had a lot of really great review critiques on that site which have helped a lot with editing and breaking down any "roadblocks" I've come upon.

I also have reviewed (but never posted) on Writers BBS (http://www.writersbbs.com). You can post in different genre links as well as ask for assistance if you get stuck. I've noticed that people on there are very friendly and offer pretty good advice. They also have challenges and contests.

I'm going to have to check out Urbis too.

Thanks for that, both of you, but I didn't make myself clear - bad writer - I was talking about a published book not a manuscript. I keep reading that more people are looking on-line for books but I'd love to know where. I trip over reviews of interesting stuff. I don't actively look for anything and if I do then I rely on Amazon. Where are all the good book review sites?

Ahh...I've been doing tons of research. The best place I've discovered is http://www.morganjamespublishing. MJP is an entrepreneurial publisher that gives you a 40% royalty, you retain the copyright, AND they teach you how to get the kind of reviews you're talking about, Jim, and how to market. They take books that have already been published and backlisted, I believe. They'll keep a book in print as even if it's bringing in a small amount of money.

It's the best model I've found anywhere. Maybe someone knows of something better?

This might not be exactly what you were hoping for, but if so, tell David Hancock I sent you :O)

Jim,
While it is nice if a site gets a lot of hits, usually they have so many books, hits won't help that much except with the dedicated site browser.

I use reviews to generate buzz, to post on my site and to add to my ezine. You pick the best pull quote from the overall review (need permission to post the whole thing) and then use it as a tag line in my sig line, and everywhere I can.

All your efforts should be directed at building your name recognition and buzz about your work.

I have a friend that will go look at reviews of books she's interested in buying, but she already has a title. Now, while she's there, she might look at other books reviewed, but not always.

Now, if you want to get into libraries, Booklist and Kirkus are where you need a good review.

Thanks for that, Pauline, that was informative. I'll check out the two sites you mentioned.

As mentioned in another post-check out bookpleasures.com for quality reviews.

Norm, Publisher & Editor bookpleasures.com

Not sure if this will be of interest to anyone, but experience is a good teacher.

When considering putting work that you are going to want to publish later on any site on the internet for reviews, critiques, and such, consider whether or not this is a good idea.

I did this with a manuscript before I submitted it for publication and was rejected by several publishers who considered the book already published. Some sites require that you agree to give them non-exclusive epublication rights in order to post your material. Make sure to check this out before putting your complete work on the internet.

There are publishers who will work around this, and I'm happy to say that I found one for my book, but still, I wish I'd known that it might cause me problems down the road before I did it.

If you're not going to submit for publication, or you're going to self-publish, I don't suppose it matters.

Author Lynda Coker

I've just uploaded to Urbis and now I'm wondering if it was the right choice? Any other authors out there that have a good experience with Urbis?