Stuff On Sunday: Advice for Authors

Despite offering clear guidelines for those seeking a review at Book’d Out which can be viewed here HERE they are often ignored, and I suspect quite often they go unread.

Reviewing any book is a significant time commitment. Each book review you see on Book’d Out represents around 6 hours of my time. On average a 300 page book will take me around 3 – 4 hours to read, a review for that book takes me around 2-3 hours to write and the actual posting of that review and promotion takes around an hour. If an author wants me to to commit my limited resources to reading, reviewing and promoting their book then they need to get my attention with the review request. The easiest way to do that is to provide me with the information I need about the book.

A week or two ago, Judith at Leeswammes blog asked me to cast an eye over an upcoming post she had planned titled “Authors: How To Pitch Your Book to Bloggers“. Many book bloggers receive email queries  from authors asking for a review of their book. On average I receive 20+ a week, but sometimes it can be double or even triple that. I love reading and I like to support authors but with so many appeals and only so much time, I have to carefully consider each request I receive. A well thought out pitch that meets the requirements of the individual blogger is essential and Judith’s post is a must read, offering sage advice for authors seeking reviews of their work.

Rather than repeat that advice here, I thought I would show what such a request may look like. This (entirely imagined) pitch is addressed to me from an author named Word Smith for a book called Dog Days.

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Subject: Review Request: Dog Days by Word Smith

Dear Shelleyrae,

My name is Word Smith and I would like to request a review of my book, Dog Days. I believe Dog Days will appeal to you because you list mystery as a genre you like to read in your review request policy and recently enjoyed similar titles, Collared and Buried Bones, reviewed at Book’d Out.

Dog Days is a mystery novel and is the story of a woman who went to see a man about a dog. The woman wishes to buy the dog, a dalmation, but the man refuses to sell him. Why is he so reluctant to part with the dog and what price is the woman willing to pay?

An excerpt of Dog Days is available to read online at my website, Mystery WordSmith. Dog Days is 280 pages long and was published in October 2011 by Printit. It is available for purchase at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords.

I can offer you Dog Days in digital (epub, mobi) or print (paperback/hardcover) format at your request.

I would be pleased to provide Dog Days for a giveaway at Book’d Out or provide you with guest post or interview should you wish.

Dog Days is my first novel. I worked for eleven years in a pet store but I am now retired. I live in Whoopi with my husband and three dogs and I am currently working on my second novel

For more information about myself or Dog Days please visit Mystery Wordsmith.

Thank you for your consideration of my request, I hope to hear from you soon.

Word Smith
Author of Dog Days
Mystery Wordsmith

[Cover attached]

{Assume the words underlines are linked appropriately}

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This is the type of request I prefer to receive and I am most likely to  give serious consideration. It is clear and concise and contains all the information I need to help with my decision making process. I don’t mind if it is embellished a little with some personality or additional information as long as what I need is there.

The truth is though an author might do everything right and I may still reject their request, for a variety of reasons. Often it is simply because my schedule is already overcrowded and I don’t have the space  (this years schedule has been full since April), at other times it may be because I have already accepted books of a similar genre in that time frame. It is also possible that perhaps after reading the synopsis, extract and other reviews the book just doesn’t appeal to me strongly enough for one reason or another.

However authors that do their research, choosing the most appropriate reviewers to approach,  reading and responding  to the review guidelines of book bloggers and submitting a considered request give themselves the best chance to gain a review for their work.

So tell me –

If you are an author, has this information been helpful?

If you are a book blogger what advice do you have for authors seeking reviews?