Although I found this book interesting to read, I can't see myself suggesting that our store stocks it as it just wouldn't appeal to our local market. I hope to see it in some of our larger shops though.

Book Reviews for Author Success is a quick read craft book for Authors needing to enhance the number of reviews they receive for their book pre-publication and thereafter. A lot of the advice I'd already learned in my many years of self-publishing. There are some things not present that would be helpful for the newbie author. However, the dos and donts are standard, such as terms of service for Amazon, which a lot of people tend to violate, causing a loss of review rights. There are many creative ways to acquire a review, but the biggest thing the book will teach the reader is to respect the review no matter the opinion bc reviews are for readers and an author's complaint will ruin an author's career.

If you're an indie author and have little marketing experience, you must get this book.
You'll need reviews and this will give you a comprehensive overview.

Even authors who are published by a traditional publisher should read this because nowadays publishers do little for unknown authors.

Is the book perfect?

But it's a good start.

"Book Reviews for Author Success" is a worthwhile investment and it will help any author pursue reviews to help promote her book. Barb Drozdowich has done a fine job. I recommend this book to all authors who seek to strengthen their edge in promoting their books.

I'm a writer that just published her first book, so "Book Reviews for Author Success" showed up at the right time.

Sadly, I didn't find the book useful or offering me anything new, even as a newbie author. As a 20-year writing professional, I felt the book little more than a generic, long blog post.

Thank you Barb Drozdowich and Netgalley for an ARC in return for my unbiased review.

I was attracted to this book as a Book lover who is new to writing reviews. I had hoped that this book would offer some good tips on what should / could be included in an above average or better review. Since this book was targeted for authors it didn’t really cover this, however the book was useful as I learned a lot about the relevance of book reviews and who authors should consider as their best reviewing audience.

This book would be especially useful for new authors as it explains that there is more to getting reviews than just sheer reader numbers.

Thank you for the opportunity to experience reviews from the authors perspective.

Book Reviews for Author Success is author Barb Drozdowich's guide to indie authors on how to reach reviewers and increase exposure for their works. The book is aimed at creators who do not have a publishing marketing apparatus providing exposure

Released 9th October 2018 by Amazon publishing, it's 92 pages and available in electronic format.

The publishing industry has changed immensely over the last decades. Self publishing has made it possible for authors to produce and list their work directly on electronic media (i.e. Amazon, B&N, etc) and potentially reach millions of buyers, but without a significant online presence or active marketing plan, their would-be bestseller languishes, drowned in a sea of competition.

Ms. Drozdowich has written several guides and how-to books for new/indie authors on other aspects of the jobs of being a successful indie author, but this one deals mostly with several methods of 1)getting your book in the hands of reviewers, 2)getting those reviewers to successfully carry through in providing a review for your work and 3)leveraging those reviews into successful book 'buzz' which in turn generates sales.

This guide is written directly to its audience (other writers) and as such, it's not very slick or polished. What it does, and does well, is to gather online resources and sites together in one place. It's a great collection of website resources and how to utilize them to increase exposure. The book's chapters are arranged logically starting with the most basic (what is a review) through marketing and exposure, how to find bloggers and ask for (and recieve) reviews, and what reviews entail and what you can expect from reviewers.

This is a good resource, well written and accessible. I imagine it could be quite invaluable for a struggling author.

Four stars. Though I found no explanation for why the title given in the listings on Amazon/goodreads/etc is different than the stated title on the book itself. (I didn't detract anything from the review for that, but I did notice it, just a little quirky).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

As an indie author who’s been learning the industry for a few years now, one of the questions I most often see from folks who’ve just put their first book out is “How do I get reviews?” Well, if you’re lucky enough to be signed with one of the big publishers, they might do some of the work for you. Otherwise, dear rookie author, it’s all up to you, and Barb Drozdowich is here to guide you gently through the process.

First of all, what a lot of folks outside the industry don’t realize is that there are different types of reviews as well as different sources, and more places to share those reviews than you ever imagined. Drozdowich carefully explains the difference between professional or industry reviews, reader reviews, blogger reviews and others, and guides the rookie author to the right place to start looking for said reviews.

The most important chapter, in my opinion, is regarding author etiquette on dealing with negative reviews, and it’s covered pretty succinctly by the general advice; Don’t. DO NOT ENGAGE. Do not feed the trolls, if you think someone’s just being mean. And if they’ve got valid critique? Well, take that to heart and use it to become a better writer. Truth is, we’ve all got room for improvement, and nothing gets regular reviewers up in arms like an author on the attack. Trust me on this; there’s a new trashfire circulating every week on social media about an author who’s pulled an Anne Rice and attacked readers (google “interrogating the text from the wrong perspective” if you want to know why she’s synonymous with the practice). All I can say is, that behaviour only ever ends with the author doing it getting added to an awful lot of Do Not Read lists.

While Drozdowich does an excellent job of explaining what the different types of reviews are and how to get them, I do think the reference appendix falls a little short. There are plenty of professional trade review sites that don’t charge $200+ for reviews; Readers Favorite, Reading Alley are just a couple. She names sites which help you find reviewers and these stretch far beyond NetGalley too; BookSprout is a brilliant resource I highly recommend and a fraction the cost of NetGalley to get (for me) a far superior result.

I’m also a little surprised that the huge popularity of bookstagrammers and booktubers (Bloggers on, respectively, Instagram and YouTube) isn’t even mentioned, and there’s no advice for how to find and approach these incredible influencers. This is a fairly serious omission, and though it might be covered in one of her other books (there’s one about targeting bloggers) it would certainly make sense to at least discuss the topic in this one.

In the end, if you’re an author at the very start of your publishing journey wondering how to get reviews, this is a very handy resource. I’ll give it four stars, mainly because I think it’s lacking in the areas I mentioned above. If you’re a more experienced author? Well… you probably know most of it already. Just put it into practice. Oh, and join BookSprout. And no, I don’t get any kickback or anything from them. I just think they have a great service.

I've been a reviewer for more years than I care to remember, but a beta for a few authors for about 6yrs and I was after new tips for these indie guys. This book unfortunately taught me nothing that I didn't already know, and I also found it repetitive and a lot me, me, me.

Not one I'd recommend.

I made a video review which I shared here: https://www.facebook.com/TotallyOrganisedBlogging/videos/248920759118403/