Heather Hart - Book marketing survival guide 01 - how to get honest reviews

Praise for How to Get Honest Reviews

In this informative, easy-to-read book, Shelley Hitz and Heather Hart not only share a wealth of ideas as to how to get honest reviews, they also share why having book reviews is so important and how reviews can have a positive (or negative) effect on your book sales. Readers will LOVE the comprehensive list of places they can go online to get honest reviews for their books. I was excited to discover many online communities of authors who are dedicated to helping other authors. This book is based on practical advice from two educators who are dedicated to supporting authors on their success journey.

- Dvorah Lansky , M.Ed., and bestselling author of

Book Marketing Made Easy,

www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com

"Shelley and Heather have done it again. This easy-to-follow guide gives you the resources you need to get your book dozens of reviews. I fully recommend 'How to Get Honest Reviews' for any author looking to separate from the pack."

- Bryan Cohen

www.BuildCreativeWritingIdeas.com

How To Get Honest Reviews

Book Marketing Survival Guide Series Volume 1

Copyright 2014 Training Authors, a division of
Body and Soul Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the author.

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Table of Contents

Before You Begin

If you are just getting started on your book marketing journey, we highly recommend reading the Gear Up post on our blog before you begin this book. That post will give you a good understanding of the foundation needed to successfully market your book.

Check out our four tips for beginners here:

http://www.trainingauthors.com/book-marketing-journey/

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Before you dig in to the information in this book, how would you like to score a $27 author training course - FREE?

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We want to give you our master book marketing plan template with a PDF training report free of charge.

Why?

Simply because we enjoy helping other authors succeed.

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Part One:
Getting Started

Why Honest Reviews Are Important

Getting reviews for your book is an essential part of the publishing and marketing process. However, this is a step that many authors choose to skip or ignore. I believe this happens because of the reasons I have listed below.

1. Authors underestimate the importance and power of customer reviews.
OR
2. Authors know the importance of reviews, but do not know where to start.

The good news?

We address both of these issues within this book.

Why Are Reviews Important?

First of all, reviews help customers make buying decisions online. In fact, a research study conducted by Dimensional Research showed that 90% of customers reported that reading positive reviews online impacted their buying decisions. In the same way, 86% of customers said that reading negative reviews online impacted their buying decisions as well.

Personally, I know that I (Shelley) am impacted by reading reviews online when making my purchasing decisions. Many times, I will skim the positive reviews and then go straight to the negative reviews to see what people do not like about the product I am researching.

As an author, I make it a goal to have a minimum of 5-10 reviews posted online for each of my published books prior to a book launch. After getting 10 reviews, I then allow the reviews to come in organically.

When I see an Amazon book sales page without any reviews, it reminds me of a ghost town.

No one is there .

Reviews provide social proof that people are actually buying and reading your book. If you have no reviews or very few reviews, it may cause your potential customers to wonder if your book is even worth reading.

Finally, there are certain advertising opportunities you will miss out on if you do not have a minimum of 10 reviews. For example, Ereader News Today (ENT) has a bargain book of the day promotion they offer to authors. When our books are featured on ENT, we usually sell hundreds of copies, which I consider a success. However, your book needs a minimum of 10 reviews in order to even be considered for this promotion. There are also other opportunities you will miss out on if you do not have a certain number of reviews.

Therefore, make sure to do your part to get honest book reviews. It does take effort on your part, but it is well worth it!

Why Does Honesty Matter?

There are a ton of different options available to get reviews for your book. In this book, we will only cover options that provide honest reviews. We never recommend paying for a review or asking someone to write a review without first reading your book. There are two main reasons for that.

1. Dishonest reviews can ruin your credibility, making readers doubt you as an author as well as the quality of your book.
2. Dishonest reviews can cause repercussions from Amazon and other retailersincluding the deletion of your books and Amazon account.

You should also consider that dishonest reviews are unethical and illegal. The Federal Trade Commission has specific rules for review products that you must adhere to as an author (more on this later). Dishonest reviews that violate their guidelines can bring legal ramifications and cost you thousands of dollars.

Join us in this book as we take you step-by-step through the process of how to get honest reviews.

Know That You Will Get a Variety of Reviews

When writing, publishing, and marketing your book it is good to know upfront that you will get both positive and negative reviews. After pouring your time and talent into your book (and some of your hard earned money), it is natural to want to see all 4 and 5 star reviews. However, the reality is that you will NOT please every reader who buys your book. Even the very best authors still get 1, 2, and 3 star reviews on their books.

I (Shelley) remember vividly one of the first bad reviews I received. I was devastated for days. However, I now understand and expect some low reviews on my books. I do not let it get me down like I did at first.

Helpful Reviews on Amazon

Did you know that Amazon customers can vote a review as helpful or not? At the bottom of each review is this question:

- Was this review helpful? Yes or No

You can click on the Yes or No buttons to let Amazon know which reviews are most helpful. They will then list the reviews that get the most Yes votes first on your book sales page.

Why Negative Reviews May Be Beneficial

Sometimes negative reviews can actually be helpful. If your book has all 5 star reviews, people may think your reviews are only from supporters: your family and friends.

Therefore, I encourage you to not be afraid of getting negative reviews. Expect that they will come and then move on. If you have written a good book, good reviews will continue to come in faster than the bad reviews and your overall rating will still remain high.

Should You Respond to Reviews?

If you ask 100 authors this question, you will be given many different responses.

- No

Some authors argue that you should never respond to a review. Instead of responding yourself, they would encourage you to let your fans defend you. Sometimes you can appear desperate for approval when you reply to bad reviews to try to convince the reader to change their opinion.

I do have one piece of advice for you.

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