Bloggers Unite™ discussion

Have you received a book or even several books from Bostick Communications?

What books have you received?

I didn't know about them. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. I couldn't figure out what books they have published by the link you provided for them. Also, do they primarly publish Christian books? I won't read those.

You're welcome! :-)

They don't primarily promote Christian books, though are some that you can request if you want to.
I also try my best to stay away from Religious books.

Once you have registered with them they will send you e-mails, to let you know that a book is available.
If you want that particular book, you just reply to that e-mail saying so and make sure that you include your mailing address with EVERY reply.

It’s pretty simple to do.

-Bobbie

I signed up to receive the emails from Bostick a while back, and have requested three books, but so far haven't received a single one. Does anyone know if it's supposed to be a done deal if you reply to the email or is it more a drawing situation like with GR First Reads where not everyone who replies gets a copy? I wish they would give more feedback when a book is requested.

Jemima wrote: "I have signed up with Bostick and am reading one from them at the moment. It is non-fiction and about color in painting. Sort of a how-to book. I have also had a career focused non-fiction book fro..."

I think that I have the same book; as a hobby (watercolour) painter I thought that it was just wonderful! I'm looking forward to reviewing it before too long. :)

Julie (Mom2lnb) wrote: "I signed up to receive the emails from Bostick a while back, and have requested three books, but so far haven't received a single one. Does anyone know if it's supposed to be a done deal if you rep..."

That's strange that you haven't received the books. Did you include your full name, full mailing address with EACH reply and include your blog’s name and URL (to give your request more credibility)? If so I really don't know why you wouldn't have received at least some of the books. You may want to send another message letting Bostick know that you've never received the books (list each of the books and the authors) and see if there is anything they can do. As far as I can tell, the requests are sent through Bostick TO the people offering the books who have to send the book to you.
I have received each book that I have requested...more then 10 books in the last 8 months. I hope they can get everything straightened out for you very soon! As far as I know its a done deal as long as you are fairly quick about responding; I don't know how many people request the same books but it makes sense to get a request sent into them A.S.A.P. so you can beat the rush of people who might also be asking for a copy of the same book.
Bostick is a pretty laid back company and it's more of a learn-as-you-go system.
I hope this information helps out a bit.

Thanks for the info Bobbie. I did include my full name and mailing address with each request. It didn't mention including a URL in the emails, so I didn't send that. I'll do that in the future. Sometimes I get really busy and don't have time to read the emails when they come in, so I might have been a little slow about replying. When I get a chance I'll drop them an email to see if they can tell me what happened. Does it usually take very long to receive the books after you request them? I know with the Librarything early reviewers program, they warn that it can sometimes take several weeks.

You're welcome Julie. Okay, great...I wonder why you haven't received the books then. Hmmm...might be the late responses on your part, not that you can help it.
I usually receive the books in a few weeks; some of them arrived in a week.

A positive part of Bostick Communications is the variety of offers that come our way. I hope it works better for you from now on.

I was contacted by Bostick today. They had heard of my newly released book on amazon.com: Behind the Black Robes: Failed Justice. Like many authors, I am, being retired, financially "disabled." To send my book out to a reviewer, the print-on-demand publisher charges me close to $29. So the possible cost for sending out lots of FREE books for reviewers can add up to hundreds of dollars. I am going to guess that many authors cannot afford to send so many books to people who might do little or nothing to publicize the book. I am still thinking about the returns on my potential investment. Is it a good or bad idea? I do not yet know.

Hi Barbara,

I have reviewed some titles for Bostick Communication in the past and they send us (reviewers on their list) an email every time they have a book available for review. You can choose the number of copies that you send out and to whom you want to send them too. I'll bet that most authors who sign up with Bostick, will likely get a lot of responses and the author is not expected to reply to everyone with a review copy. If you decide to use Bostick’s services, I would recommend that you choose the reviewers who you can check out (by reading their review policy/viewing their site) and hope for the best.

Another option is to contact a company who will guarantee an honest review, if you are will to pay a nominal fee for the reviewer's time. It's going to cost money either way, unfortunately.

Congratulations on the release of Behind the Black Robes: Failed Justice!

All My Best,
Bobbie Crawford-McCoy

One correction to my post above. It costs me approximately $16, not $29 to send out each review copy.

It would be wonderful if potential reviewers were to narrow down their interests, i.e., narrow down the types of books they are interested in reading and reviewing. The time it would take to look at the websites of all reviewers would be enormous, probably largely unproductive.

If potential reviewers were to go to Amazon.com and look at the Table of Contents of, for instance, my book and then email me as to whether they would like to review it, my potential cost for reviewers would greatly decrease. THANKS. Here is the direct link for my book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Black-Ro...
/dp/1439241155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251668088&sr=1-1

My email address is barbaracjohnson74@gmail.com
Thanks,
Barbara

I know this is an old thread but I just recently got an email from Bostick Communications, about signing up reviewing books. I was wondering is this a free thing for book reviewers or is there a cost for us. I noticed that some of you have reviewed for them and I figured you would be the best to ask.

I'm an author who has used Bostick's service. We basically send them a press release, which they then send out to their email list. They claim the list goes to book reviewers and multiple media outlets like televisions news, but I'm not sure the latter is true, because I never received a response from one.

When I signed up, my hope was that I was going to get my book in front of a large group of bloggers all at once instead of having to Google and communicate to each blog. So, I got what I wanted.

The bloggers respond to the email they send out with their name, email, and mailing address (if they want a print copy). Many also explain where they post their reviews and provide a URL. When Bostick receives a reply from a book reviewer, they forward it to the author. Some reviewers are marked "priority" because they have a good history of following through with posting their reviews. The author then has the choice of how they respond.

I personally responded to every request I received and let them know when I was sending out their copy. I received about 50 requests from bloggers. I only turned down 2, because it was clear from their blogs that it wasn't a book they would remotely care for.

I received 2 emails from reviewers about a month and a half after my email went out saying they hadn't received my book. I checked my history and I had never received requests from them. So, I think that Bostick missed forwarding them to me initially.

It's been about 3 months since my email went out and, so far, about 10 people have followed through with posting reviews. I hope this improves, because I spent a lot of money on copies as many wanted a physical book to read. Also, 2 of those reviews I'll admit I wasn't too happy with, because they outright admitted they don't usually read my genre or like books about high school life or relationships, all of which are my book and were included in the synopsis, and then rated my book low for those reasons. So, I'm not sure why they requested it in the first place. But, I guess, that's just one of the drawbacks of using such a service.

Anyways, I hope this provides some insight into Bostick Communications.

I received an email from Bostick sometime back in March (way before I started blogging), and replied to at least 3 different books I wanted to review. I included all of the necessary information to receive the books in question and as of today, never received.

They again contacted me through my blog's email in July, but I never bothered to respond since the first time I tried I never heard back.

But for me, I thought it was a bit odd that they contacted me through an email that wasn't associated with blogging or reviews in any way, shape or form. I'd like to know how they got hold of that email address....

Thank you for your response Meghan. So far I have been I'm comunications with at least one author I requested to review. I haven't received too many emails yet but it could be a slower time for them.

Meghan wrote: "I'm an author who has used Bostick's service. We basically send them a press release, which they then send out to their email list. They claim the list goes to book reviewers and multiple media out..."

Thanks for this post, interesting. I have recently received an email from Bostock and was wondering whether to use them or not. So very interesting Meghan, thank you.

I requested a book from them, but I still haven't gotten it. I just read the emails, and delete them. There's nothing that really interests me.

But they do have someone friend request you on here if you sign up.

I wrote a review based on my experiences if anyone wants to read it: http://mmriley.com/2014/10/03/review-...

Meghan wrote: "I wrote a review based on my experiences if anyone wants to read it: http://mmriley.com/2014/10/03/review-..."

Hi Meghan,
Thank you so much for posting this.
I am not a blogger or author however I love reading any genre.

Bostick contacted me via email today and I was wondering how they got hold of my details since I only agreed to take part in reviewing a book for the first time yesterday in another Goodreads group as part as their Read for Review program.

After reading your comments, I think I will just stick with reviewing within Goodreads as I will always provide an honest review whether for books I purchased or even the ones which were gifted.

Thanks again for your posting.

Meghan wrote: "I'm an author who has used Bostick's service. We basically send them a press release, which they then send out to their email list. They claim the list goes to book reviewers and multiple media out..."

Hello to all, I'm an author who has used Bostick's press release service for two books in my new fifteen book crime novel series. Once a press release goes out from Bostick I have received dozens and dozens of requests for my books. I make sure to get back to those who email me through Bostick within 24 hours.

Once I have received a review request I vet the reviewer and then I have my books shipped two day in Hardcover from Amazon or Barnes and Noble to the person who requested a copy of my title. Now here is where things have gotten shaky for me with Bostick and their process.

As an author I pay Bostick a fee to do the press release then Bostick tells me to make sure to respond to review requests, especially from Bostick, "Priority" reviewers right away, as Bostick tells me those reviewers post reviews quickly usually in 30 days or less.

So when I receive a review request I spend additional money to have Amazon or Barnes and Noble send out a hardcover copy to the reviewer, (I have hardcover books sent instead of paperback for speed as the paperback version of my titles can take longer to get to a reviewer and I don't want them sitting around waiting, I want them to have what was promised so they can prioritize my book for their review)I then track the books to make sure the reviewers receive them and then I wait for reviews.

Now I have done two press release with Bostick one on August 8, 2014 for book one in my series and I received requests for books from 30 plus reviewers all have been sent and received by the reviewers and so far I have received a total of 6 reviews from Bostick reviewers, now I must admit as an author and the person fronting all of the money to get the books out to reviewers quickly to have only 6 reviews on Amazon and BN from Bostick reviewers in 90 days on the first book is really devastating to me.

The reviews that I have received on book one have been five stars and the reviewers loved the title but only 6 reviews in 90 days? Something seems a miss.

I have a second press release that I did through Bostick the end of August for book two in my series and so far I have received 8 reviews between Amazon and BN and all four and five stars. I sent out over 30 plus books for that title too and in over two months only eight reviews on Amazon and BN as well as Blog's?

So I email Bostick to find out why they would tell me to spend the time and money to send out "quickly" review copies of my books when even their "priority" reviewers are not keeping up with what Bostick promised, speedy reviews. The response from Bostick..."be patient reviewers can take as long as six months to post a review." Now hold everything...I have a fifteen book hard boiled crime novel series that I am releasing one book every 90 days, that is getting rave reviews in and out of Bostick but of the 70 plus books I sent out the first reviews on book one might not get posted for six months? By the time the review gets posted, (Assuming that it ever does) book four in the series will have released.

My lesson and a word of advice for other authors and reviewers. Authors, keep in mind that while the press release from Bostick is relatively competitive in the market place, and in my experience their press releases hit a large market, you have to first, put out the money to make sure all those people who contact you and want a review copy get one, and that costs you money.

Second, just because you sent out your books timely to reviewers of Bostick even to their "Priority" reviewers that does not mean that it will translate into timely reviews and in my experience in anyway enhance sales. Great reviews are wonderful, for great writing, but if the word isn't getting out about your book all the reviews in the world won't help.

Reviewers: First, for those reviewers who have been really proactive and timely in not only reviewing my books but also contacting me about ARC copies for review and other review services for my series thank you. To all other reviewers who use Bostick and review books. Please remember, when you request a copy of a book from an author whether that books is in epub, mobi, hardcover or paperback,that author has spent their time and money making sure you get the book you requested in the format that you requested. Please, have the courtesy to give a timely review. If you are unable to do so, or decide when you start reading it's not your cup of tea or just don't have time to read the book, return it to the author. I understand the the only compensation that a reviewer gets for their time is the book, but if you don't have the time or have no interest in the title remember that author is out the money for sending you the book and to do nothing with the title is unfair to an author.

I know many, many people who review books as both a hobby and professionally. I also know that many of the folks who review books if they don't keep them either trade them in through programs with Amazon or even return the books to a brick and mortar retailer and get the cash. As an author I have no problem with that, but if someone is taking books for review and not reviewing them and just piling them on a shelf or worse selling and or trading them without writing a review that's immoral and unethical and a violation of the author/publisher/reviewer model.

I'm looking to use Netgalley for reviews, it is an expensive venture for me as an indi author but their are great reviews about the service, has anyone had any experience with this platform? Both as an author and reviewer? I would love any feedback anyone has on Netgalley.

Peace,

Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr., Author
The Iron Eagle crime novel series.

Do I have to pay for a book from a author, or do I get it for free to review it?

Hi Weronika,

It depends on the author and what you are going to do with the book. In most cases if an author is looking for reviewers to review their books they will use a service like Bostick, NetGalley or other service and the books are FREE to the person doing the reviews for the author. If you sign up to be a book reviewer on these sites or others they vet you and monitor your review activity to make sure you are not just getting books for FREE and not writing reviews.

I have been very disappointed in Bostick as an author as I spent nearly a thousand dollars mailing out books to reviewers and out of several hundred books sent received all totaled about fifteen reviews on three titles. So the short answer is you should get the book for FREE from the author in exchange for an honest review which you would typically post on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and other platforms and you own blog if you have one. I hope this helps you out.

Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr., Author
The Iron Eagle Crime Novel Series.

Thank you Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr., it helped a lot! :)

Thank you for this feed. It has been very helpful. I recently published my first book, Water Yourself: A Practical Guide to Weed Out the Bad, Get More Good & Live Your Dreams, and received an email from Bostick about their press release services. I was curious so called and spoke to them to get a number of questions answered and clarify exactly what it is they do. After reading forums like this and speaking with them, I feel more comfortable. They are even researching how they feel my book would do with reviewers prior to me making a decision as to whether to use their services or not (their suggestion, not mine). This was comforting.

For authors: They will help you to formulate your press release (and even have a template) if you so choose. Once your press release is complete, they send it out to their database of reviewers. Your press release will not go to their entire database, rather it will only go to the people in their database who are interested in your genre. They then filter and prioritize reviewer responses before sending them to the author to respond. I asked if this meant that I, as an author, wouldn't get all responses. They said it's possible because if a reviewer has requested a number of books but has not responded to any of them, they would reach out to the reviewer first before sending it along to the author. This is the save the author from sending a book out to someone who may not be responding.

Reviewers: The books come from the authors themselves, not Bostick. So if you requested a book but did not receive one, it may be because the author opted not to send it along for one reason or another.

Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr., thank you for your post above. It was very helpful and appreciative. As an independent author myself, it does get expensive sending books out for review, and is frustrating when someone doesn't respond at all. I'd rather hear that the reviewer didn't like the book or the genre than radio silence.

Hi Shannon,

You are most welcome. I have used Bostick for several of my books but I have to be honest now nearly a year later and four books sent out to nearly 300 Bostick reviewers (at my own expense) the feed back was very, very poor.

Not the reviews, the few reviews I received from the reviewers that Bostick connected me with were four and five stars but at an average of 80 books sent out to Bostick reviewers per title and I only received about a half dozen reviews in ALL?

That was more than disheartening it was insulting. I addressed it with Bostick and the response was, "You haven't seen what we can do yet." I told them that I had seen what they could do and what they could do was not hold their reviewers accountable. Remember writing is a business and our books are a commodity. If you have an ISBN and bar-code on a paperback version that you send out to a reviewer that reviewer can take your book to most large brick and mortar stores or do online trading on platforms like Amazon for cash or product and never write a single review for you or anyone else.

Bostick charges you the flat rate for the press release and then they blast it out to ALL of their reviewers. I would be very, very leery if someone from Bostick told you they would customize your press release and promise they would send it to reviewers in your genera, that is not how Bostick operates and I know this from firsthand experience.

Also take note: If you choose to use Bostick once they release your press release they will send you requests for review copies from potential reviewers. Bostick advises that any reviewer that they flag as a "Priority Reviewer" should be responded to immediately by you as they post reviews typically within 30 days. I can tell you from firsthand experience with Bostick that this is NOT TRUE! I spent over a thousand dollars between books and postage sending physical books to Bostick "Priority Reviewers" and I tracked all of those copies to those reviewers who made up about 70% of the books I mailed out priority mail to insure that the reviewer received the copies and less than 5% left reviews.

As I state in my note: remember the money is out of your pocket to ship and supply books to Bostick reviewers, Bostick DOES NOT POLICE its reviewer force which means you have to and in my experience using Bostick was a very, very expensive venture in futility and I will never use them again.

There are other sites were you can post your books for FREE reviews such as NetGalley and others you can also send copies of your books to The Midwest Book Review for a FREE review if it makes the cut. There are a lot of sites that will charge you a fee for reviews but they are not credible especially if you are truly seeking unbiased reviews.

To give you an example of just how bizarre the review world is, Kirkus Reviews one of the most respected book reviewers in the country will review any book for a FEE and it is a very, very heavy fee "standard service (7-9 weeks) or express service (4-6 weeks) and pay for your review (standard service $425, express service $575). When you submit your order, you'll get a response from the Kirkus Indie team confirming receipt of your request." this is from the Kirkus Review site here is a link https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author-... This is one of the most reputable names in the review world and if you pay them they will write a review for you.

I wish you much success and suggest caution when seeking out reviewers for your titles, as stated writing is a business writing is the easy part marketing is when things get really really tough.

Peace,

Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr.
Member: Authors Guild
Member: IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association)
Member: Pen America Center

Thank you so much Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr. (should I address you as Dr. Roy, Roy, Dr. Teel, other?)! This has been very helpful. Bostick told me self-help type books aren't getting picked up by reviewers right now so we are not proceeding. I am going to start by sending copies of my books along with a press release and some other standard media kit items to some local media contacts I have. That's really the best place I can think to start. I have also created author accounts on goodreads and book daily as I research other review options. So thank you very much for your above suggestions!

I spent my career in sales, advertising and marketing before quitting my job to become a health & life coach and writer. And you're right, marketing a book is HARD. It should be a piece of cake given my background, but it's just different. So any insight fellow authors such as yourself can share is greatly appreciated - THANK YOU!

Health and happiness,

Shannon

Your welcome Shannon,

Please call me Roy and feel free to pick my brain any time. I have been publishing since 2005 and have 19 titles either in print or on their way to print with another fifteen in process. I'm glad that Bostick was honest with you, self help is a really, really crowded market right now.

My wife started her own writing and editing business in 2012 and she works with both self published and traditionally published authors and most of those are in the self help genera, I'm the only fiction author she edits for, so if you need assistance with editing or other guidance in that area feel free to contact her, Tracy Teel, Finesse Writing and Editing .com. Tracy was an English professor before we retired in 2011 and graduated from the University of California Irvine (the third best writing program in the country) with her MFA in English and creative writing so she is a great resource.

If your background is in sales and marketing you have an advantage over the average writer. As I stated in my reply to you writing is a business, I have found that the majority of people out there don't quite understand that. In my experience writing and editing is the simple part of what I do marketing and sales... well that's were the rubber meets the road and my wallet.

I have been on Goodreads for several years and have a great following. It's a great platform to gain attention but you are going to need a lot more in order to get the word out about your title. I retired in 2011 at the ripe old age of 45 and started writing professionally both fiction and non fiction its a dog eat dog world.

I hope that you are able to make the contacts that you need for your success and never give up. In many cases it can take two three four or more books before you start to get a following and hit your market. Your in a competitive market place with your subject matter so you have to help your readers see your writing as the wheat and not the chaff, I'm certain you will do well.

I wish you much success.

Peace,

Roy

Roy wrote: "Your welcome Shannon,

Please call me Roy and feel free to pick my brain any time. I have been publishing since 2005 and have 19 titles either in print or on their way to print with another fifteen..."

Roy wrote: "Hi Shannon,

You are most welcome. I have used Bostick for several of my books but I have to be honest now nearly a year later and four books sent out to nearly 300 Bostick reviewers (at my own exp..."

Dr. Teel's comments are inaccurate. To set the record straight we forwarded only 56 leads to him, not 300 as he stated. We also advise our clients not to send too many review copies out and DEFINITELY not priority mail to cut costs.

We "DO POLICE" (monitor) reviewer activity. When we detect
that a reviewer has requested a number of review copies and has not posted an adequate number of reviews, that reviewer is deleted from our database.

Dr. Teel, we would appreciate it if you would refrain from spreading inaccurate statements in these forums.

Best Regards,

Ken Eason
Bostick Communications

Dr. Teel's comments are inaccurate. To set the record straight we forwarded only 56 leads to him, not 300 as he stated. We also advise our clients not to send too many review copies out and DEFINITELY not priority mail to cut costs.

We "DO POLICE" (monitor) reviewer activity. When we detect
that a reviewer has requested a number of review copies and has not posted an adequate number of reviews, that reviewer is deleted from our database.

Dr. Teel, we would appreciate it if you would refrain from spreading inaccurate statements in these forums.

Best Regards,

Ken Eason
Bostick Communications

Dear Mr. Eason,

Your post here is completely inappropriate and I can provide documented emails from Bostick and spread sheets from Bostick that contradict your statments and that support a much larger number of supposed leads from Bostick. Would you like me to post all of the emails from Bostick, the promises from Bostick, the spread sheets from Bostick, and the costs I incurred based on Bostick's own recommendations to me for using your services?

If you want to try and cover Bostick's rear do it by providing a good product and information to authors.If Bostick wants to go toe to toe with me on my experience with your services and the damages that I suffered as a result of Bostick's representations I am more than prepared to take it to the next level.

I would argue heavily that Bostick DOES NOT POLICE reviewers and I have emails from Bostick that prove that. It is my right to "review" your services and to warn others of the expenses that can be incurred in using the same. The fact that you jumped onto this blog on behalf of Bostick and started spewing out even more inaccurate information on my business with you should be very telling to all who read this blog.

Mr. Eason I would strongly advise you on behalf of Bostick to remove your defensive and misleading post on this blog as it is misleading to readers and I have the evidence to support everything that I have posted on this platform, you have now made this a public issue for all readers do you really want to head down this road?

Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr.

This may sound like a dumb question but what really is the value of having reviews posted, such as on Amazon, by a professional reviewer?

Seems to me it would be nice to have maybe 5 or 6 good reviews from ordinary folks who have read and enjoyed the book.

If someone has already made it to the Amazon page and is reading the reviews, it seems like I'm already 90% of the way to a sale. I'm not sure that having tons of reviews or reviews from well known reviewers would make that much difference.

If it was me, I'd just want to make sure that a handful of people enjoyed the book and that the things they said about it sounded good to me.

Am I missing something?

Hi Jay,

Book reviews and their importance, this is not a dumb question at all. Is it okay to have four or five reviews on your book? That depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are writing as a hobby and self publishing for the enjoyment of it then you are on track with a few reviews.

If you are writing in the hopes of doing it for a living and to grow a following then you need reviews from reputable reviewers. You don't need "professional" reviewers per say you need honest reviews from folks who have read your book. This is a credibility issue for you and your writing it also gives you invaluable feedback on your content.

When I search for a title or look at products of any kind the first thing I do is read the reviews. I start with the lowest star review and work my way up, why the lowest star review? I want to see what the critical reviews look like right away. In the case of a book I want to see if the low stars are for important things like editing, story, plot, character development things like that. If a person is willing to take the time to post more than a generic review I want to know what they thought of the work. I go on from there to decide if the book is worth my time even reading a sample.

Most good reviewers are not professionals they are people like you and me and are passionate about reading and if they love or hate a book they post a review. Reviews give people guidance on the subject matter, and the reaction that the reader had to your book and therefore is a valuable asset to promoting your title/titles.

The more reviews you have on your work the better, this means that people are engaging with your content and indirectly with you as the author. Constructive reviews and criticism helps to make me a better writer.

There are those people who will post a nasty review just to be nasty and there is nothing you can do about that, and readers see through those reviews quickly and they have little impact sometimes they will actually help your sales.

So the long and short of it is, if writing is just a hobby for you, you are fine just letting the chips fall were they may. If you are a professional author as I am then you want as many reviews from credible sources as you can on your book/books this will increase sales and also lend credibility to you as an author.

I hope this helps you out.

Peace,

Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr., Author

Hello. I am a blogger from the Philippines and I was emailed by Bostick and they would like to add me to that database to receive releases from their clients. and your post here are very helpful because I am a bit dubious about Bostick for the main reason on how they found my blog- tho I don't mind that I got noticed because it means I could support indie authors and read more stories. I am emailing them right now and I am a bit nervous about it. This is my first time to go through this road so I want to ask some tips from you wonderful people.

Thank you! :)

Hi Raye,

There is no risk that I know of to working with Bostick on your side of the process. You are a blogger and reviewer so I can see no downside to you. If you do request review copies from writers please have the courtesy to follow through and write a review of the work sent to you by the author.

Remember that authors have spent time and money in putting their titles out there for review there is a contract formed between you and the author when you request a review copy of their title, whether in ebook or paperback and so long as the author provides you with the book it is your obligation to write a review and post it on all sites you post to, you also want to note on all reviews that you were provided a copy of the book to give a "fair and unbiased review" that way your reviews have less of a chance of being removed from sites like Amazon and others.

Also, just because you request a review copy you do not have to give a title a positive review if you did not like the book that's part of the review process. However, only request titles that are in your genera, and that you know you will read and review and if you receive a title that is not in your genera have the courtesy to notify the author and return the title to them rather than write a review that is out of your area of expertise.

I hope this helps you out.

Peace,

Dr. Teel

Roy wrote: "Hi Raye,

There is no risk that I know of to working with Bostick on your side of the process. You are a blogger and reviewer so I can see no downside to you. If you do request review copies from w..."

Yes it did! Thank you! I will send my respond to Bostick today :)

So far I have found them responsive. I replied to one of the emails looking for a review and got a reply back with a Kindle gift for the book and then a follow-up noting that I have been sent a Kindle gift.

I believe they are on the up and up.

Susan wrote: "So far I have found them responsive. I replied to one of the emails looking for a review and got a reply back with a Kindle gift for the book and then a follow-up noting that I have been sent a Kin..."

Hi Susan,

Bostick seems to be on the up and up one of the problems for us authors is the expense of using their service. The bulk of reviewers want paperback versions to read not eBook. That gets very expensive for an author, especially if they are writing a large series as I am doing. Those folks writing a single book will put out less money however we pay Bostick a fee, the last time I used them over a year ago it was $95 to put out the press release and then we have to respond to review requests, vet the reviewer and send them books. Then there is the other issues I ran into with Bostcik... out of some sixty to seventy review copies sent I received a total of six reviews. That in and of itself makes Bostick NOT a good investment for any author I recommend NetGalley.

Peace,


Dr. Teel

Do they promote YA books?

Hi Amena, I would assume they do, you can check with them directly to make sure. Remember that while Bostick's review deal may look like a deal, it is up to the author to mail out paperback copies of their books as that is the preferred reading compensation of their reviewers. So you need to factor in that expense, book cost and postage when doing a Bostick promotion. In my experience very, very few of their reviewers accepted eBook files. I highly recommend NetGalley if you are looking for reviews. It is a flat fee to put your book up there and they have all genera's covered. Plus NetGalley has a HUGE built in audience and they read and review eBooks in all formats. In the end it is most likely cheaper then Bostick. You can get a discount on NetGalley if you become a member of the IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association) anyone can join and the discounts you receive as an author/publisher are well worth the annual dues. I hope this helps you out. Dr. Teel

Roy wrote: "Hi Amena, I would assume they do, you can check with them directly to make sure. Remember that while Bostick's review deal may look like a deal, it is up to the author to mail out paperback copies ..."

Thannks Dr.Teely I recently got a email, and I said yes to them. But they haven't send me anything saying that "they dont promote my genere's"

Hi Amena, are you an author or a reviewer? Either way I would get in touch with NetGalley as they cover ALL genera's and are a good source to get reviews or for you to review the YA genera. Peace, Dr. Teel

Roy wrote: "Hi Amena, are you an author or a reviewer? Either way I would get in touch with NetGalley as they cover ALL genera's and are a good source to get reviews or for you to review the YA genera. Peace, ..."


Thanks for the advice I'm signing up for Net Galley already. I like to review print version of books, but neither Bostick, and Netgalley have them available. Do you know any other sites like those?

Hi Amena, You can try BookBub they are a credible book review service and have millions of reviewers. I've been trying to get the first novel in my new thirty novel series in with them but I have had no luck yet they only accept between 10 to 15% of books submitted to be listed in their email list. As for other review sites, you really have to be careful there are a lot of review sites that are scams and you don't want your name connected to them. You could also sign up to Publishers Weekly to be a reviewer. As far as getting print books as apposed to eBook, authors are opting the eBook route for several reasons, one it doesn't cost them anything, two, a large majority of books are only published in eBook and are never in print, I publish ALL of my titles in Hardcover, Paperback and eBook for ALL ereader platforms and my books release in ALL formats on the day of release so my readers have options. Very few authors and even publishers do that anymore. Three, it cuts down on piracy and copyright infringement by using these services as they encrypt the file and the title expires usually after thirty days. Good luck, Roy

Roy wrote: "Hi Amena, You can try BookBub they are a credible book review service and have millions of reviewers. I've been trying to get the first novel in my new thirty novel series in with them but I have h..."

Thanks for the advice. I'll make sure to check them out