Self-published and independent authors face a tough challenge. Even after all the effort spent writing, revising and rewriting their book, plus the time and money spent editing, proofreading and formatting it, they face perhaps their biggest obstacle to success: marketing. Many readers are unwilling to take a risk on an unknown author, unless they can read some positive reviews. However, without readers willing to try their book out, authors cannot get any reviews. Some call it an inability to gain traction. Others refer to it as a catch-22. Regardless of what you call it, in order to market your book effectively, you will need Amazon reviews, which leaves you with the question: “How do I get book reviews? And who are the best book reviewers for independent authors?”
Book reviews come in various forms. A few examples of the review options available are Amazon customer reviews, Goodreads reviews, book blogger posts and editorial reviews, and sometimes these options overlap. For instance, many book bloggers, besides posting their reviews on their blog, will post their reviews on platforms such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or LibraryThing. Similarly, while most editorial reviewers only post their reviews on their websites, Amazon and other retailers allow authors to share editorial reviews of their books.
There are many book reviewers and book bloggers that will read and review independent authors. If you’ve never requested a review before, be sure to check out our best practices when contacting book bloggers. Whether your book is a fantasy, mystery, nonfiction, poetry collection, romance, science fiction, thriller, or any other genre, as an indie author, you’ll need to discover the best book reviewers to submit your book to. A great resource available to you is our complete list of indie book reviewers. To help you out further, we have taken the time to sort through the hundreds of book reviewers on the list to identify some of the top book reviewers for self-published and independent authors.
TOP BOOK REVIEWERS FOR INDEPENDENT AUTHORS
- BooksAndPals.blogspot.com Big Al and his friends (aka Big Al’s Books and Pals) have been great supporters of independent and self-published authors for a long time. Since there are multiple reviewers working on the Books And Pals blog, they consider basically all genres and book reviews are posted frequently. The reviews are very thorough, include a 1 to 5 star rating, and are posted to Amazon in addition to their blog.
- IndieFantasyReview.home.blog If you’re an indie author and you write fantasy, this blogger’s name says it all. Indie Fantasy Review provides honest reviews that are posted both on their blog and on Goodreads.
- IndieReader.com Indie Reader provides editorial reviews for independent authors at a rate of $275 per review. If you want the added prestige of possibly winning an award, they also offer a book award contest entry for an additional $175. As with all editorial reviews, you can add quotes from an Indie Reader review to your Amazon book page.
- IndiesToday.com Indies Today offers a great value for independent and self-published authors by maintaining highly competitive pricing for their services. Editorial reviews are $99, or for just $129 you not only get an editorial review but your book is also entered in an annual book award contest! Indies Today’s editorial reviews include quotable phrases that you can add to Amazon or other retailers to influence potential customers.
- ReadersFavorite.com Readers’ Favorite, while not exclusive to self-published authors and having a few notable names as customers, in actuality posts reviews mostly of indie books. This is likely because, like Indies Today, they are one of the more affordable options at just $59 for a guaranteed review. To also be included in their annual award contest is an additional $99. Readers’ Favorite reviews follow a similar pattern to Indies Today, giving each book a star rating, a concise summary of the book and a brief paragraph of opinion.
- IndieBookReviewer.com Indie Book Reviewer provides reviews for independent authors in a wide variety of genres, and they post their reviews to Amazon and Goodreads in addition to the blog.
- IndieAuthorBookReviews.com Indie Author Book Reviews (much like the aforementioned Indie Book Reviewer) provides reviews for independent authors in a wide variety of genres, and they also post their reviews to their blog, Amazon and Goodreads.
