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Tag: book review

  • How to Market Your Book with Book Reviews

    How to Market Your Book with Book Reviews

    Marketing your book is as essential as writing one. To know how the masses respond to it and what’s trending is another.

    Book reviews not only lend a helping hand in devising great marketing strategies but by all means are responsible for improving the quality of the author’s work. They are the driving force behind millions buying a single book based on trust and goodwill they have on the ratings and quality of reviews given by other readers. Reviews make your book discoverable and enhance its credibility to readers.

    Simply letting people talk about your book and this discussion to be extended on social media platforms with influencers stepping in to express their views upon our writings will jointly serve our book marketing purpose.

    Understanding the Reviews and Reviewers:

    First, let us build a basic understanding of our reviewers and the type of reviews we get from our readers-

    1. Make a list of reviewers who have or are reviewing books in your book genre or niche.

    First, we have to identify who reads in our genre then where we might find them. Pitching the right reviewer that includes professionals will help us get the desired result. Finally, Reaching out to Amazon “top reviewers” is the best strategy for multiplying the conversion rate of visitors to paid readers.

    2. Search the key message and the common substance all reviews are pointing to.

    Whatever is common among the reviews both the pros and cons should be jotted down and used for further improvement in content. Those could be flaws in your writing style, loopholes in comprehensiveness and consistency of the storyline, missing, distasteful or attractive segments – everything that needs to be taken care of from the next time.

    3. Clearly describe what the book is all about in a simple and meaningful way.

    Sometimes your writings are not properly conveyed to the readers. They fail to connect with your book and the conception, mannerism in which you relay your writings, lines of formation, dialogue delivery and so on. Sometimes the book cover gives no information about the genre and what’s inside it. They might not be interested in reading fiction, romance or something else based on their choices. Do make sure that your book description mentions what it is all about.

    4. Improving your work and writings based on these book reviews.

    To make the most out of the book reviews by analyzing the feedback received and using criticism most constructively to work upon your writings.

    5. Stay updated on reviews and ratings of Competitive Books floating around in the market.

    This exercise is very important to learn about various aspects and ways in which reviewers resonate with the readings of any book belonging to the same genre. Embedding them in your writings will help in achieving the desired result by filling the gap that connects the writer to the readers.

    6. Categorising and Using all book reviews wisely-

    • Professional Book Reviews- They are considered highly reliable as reviewed by experts and thus indirectly used to solicit other reviews. Booksellers and librarians trust them for further suggesting purposes also.
    • Crowd-sourced reviews- These convince readers to buy your book and help you rank higher on online platforms increasing the sales of a particular book.

    Effective Ways in which Book Reviews can help you Market your Book-

    1.  Sections from Rave Reviews can be used on Book Covers

    Positive professional reviews are bound to catch any visitor’s eye and thus provide a credible rating to your book.

    2. Using Book Reviews as Social Media Headers

    Using book reviews as Cover Images, Twitter and LinkedIn Headers increases the fascination of readers toward the book.

    3. Mentioning Book Reviews on Author Website

    On the author’s page, a tab must be present on the top of the website labeled as “Book Reviews”. Anyone that clicks on that tab should be redirected to excerpts or links to full reviews without any delay. The more the merrier.

    4. Incorporate Book Reviews on Social Media Platforms.

    Post book reviews on Facebook pages, Twitter and other social media channels. Join book clubs and share teasers plus responses you received with your fan base now and then.

    5. Include Book Reviews in Press Releases

    If you are trying to contact bloggers, digital print media, bookstores regarding sales of your book – Send the press release your title with a striking excerpt stated by a professional writer that surely draws them in.

    6. Use reviews to improve books description here and there.

    A great marketing strategy to include excerpts of reviews wherever detailing your book like in the email subject, phrases in posts, comments and so on. Keep on updating your online explanation of the book with short, catchy phrases you love the most from the best reviews your book receives.

    7. Add your best Book Reviews on Marketing Materials(like postcards)

    A positive review on postcards announcing book signings, informational sheets, shelf talkers and other marketing materials will intensify book sales in the market.

    8. Promoting Book Reviews to Get More Reviews

    One positive review and a true admiration of your work from a professional critic will automatically ensure that more readers read and review your writings. This review will awaken other reviewers’ interest in your book (especially of those who review similar books in your genre) to delve into deeper details of this book.

    9. Video chat with topmost reviewers.

    Post recordings of yourself reading reviews and thanking the reviewer on your active social media platforms. Post and share this video in as many places as possible including your website and all social media handles tagging the reviewers alongside yourself.

    10. Use Professional Book Reviews to approach Librarians and other Established Booksellers.

    Nobody can possibly read all the books that hit the shelves in the market sooner or later. Booksellers and Librarians sought to rely on established reviewers’ reviews for their assessment of the book. Positive professional reviews in ample will surely turn out to be a more convincing option rather than approaching them empty-handed with prospects in the future regarding the marketing of the book.

    11. Ensure your Book Reviews are present on Amazon, Flipkart, Goodreads and Kindle

    Making sure that your book reviews are available on all online selling platforms along with the book so that more and more people get motivated to read it – should be your utmost priority.

    12. Update your Book Metadata(ebook files) with book reviews.

    This technique is extremely helpful in advertising your book to retailers, readers and librarians.

    13. Print book reviews on bookmarks.

    A reader review quote especially a punchy one should be used as a bookmark for books. An effective way to market your book indeed.

    14. Include snippets of the best reviews and links to longer reviews in email newsletters.

    Tracking your newsletters to get information about reviews as to where they are read and discussed is a common strategy. This enables an author to determine on which social websites should they invest money and interact the most with their readers.

    15. Use Reviews to drive traffic to your listings.

    Reviews play an indispensable role in boosting organic rankings and driving internal as well as external traffic to your listings of the book on every online venue that is available for customers to buy and read it.

    16. Create image quote cards with book reviews.

    Use quote cards to share positive reviews with reviewer names on various social media platforms. You can use Canva for images and text.

    17. Add the previous book reviews to your next book’s marketing campaign. 

    Reviews of earlier books can be added in-

    • The inside pages of your newest book
    • To the back pages of the series edition
    • Printed marketing materials
    • On the Website
    • Facebook page

    18. Share Book reviews on your youtube channel 

    Communicate effectively and efficiently with your followers. With their help spread the word far and wide. Don’t feel shy in publicizing or weird in creating hype about the good, people say about your book. Stay open to discussions and indulge in frequent question answering sessions with your fan base

    19. Let Reviews guide you on what to write in your next book.

    Reviews help in fueling ideas for an author’s new book by helping them work around characters or themes their readers have appreciated the most and avoiding sections they found as unnecessary or distasteful.

    20. Get selected for BookHub featured deal

    Many book advertising sites like BookHub, KindleNation require a minimum number of book reviews before they accept books. People hit the bestseller list with a BookHub featured deal because of a multifold increase in book sales and revenue.

    Positive reviews act as bait for selling and convincing readers as well as retailers that the book is worthy of spending their time and money. Reviews are a true indicator of a book’s class and the measure of indomitable talent of authors including their flair for writing.

  • Anne Frank: The Ultimate Optimist

    Anne Frank: The Ultimate Optimist

    This isn’t that much of a summary than my thoughts on The Diary of a Young Girl, a diary written by Anne Frank throughout the years 1942 to 1944, but I respect this girl and here are my thoughts as a tribute to the girl who could have been so much more than just a Jewish girl who died during the Holocaust, were she given a chance.

    I’m going to be more focused on emotions than facts but just in case you don’t know who she is, let me properly introduce her to you(these are all facts, mind you). Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank was a German-born Jewish girl born to Edith and Otto Frank on 12th June 1929. She lived in or near Amsterdam until 1942, when persecutions of Jews reached a sky-limit. (If you’ve studied history then you probably know about the Holocaust. If not, I suggest you check it out whenever possible) Then, she and family had to go into hiding in her father’s former workplace where some loyal friends kept them a secret. She recorded her daily life in a journal until the day they were caught (from 12 June 1942 to 1st August 1944) She was then transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camps along with her sister, where, they were rumored to died of typhus a few months later. It was tragic. Tragic but factual. Now that we have all the formal introductions aside, let me tell you what a jem of a person she truly was and what she had endured just because a certain person wanted a significant part of the population to be destroyed, for whatever deranged reason.

    I read this novel in 10th grade as it was necessary for us to. Until then I wasn’t properly introduced to reading and writing. All we knew were textbooks and that was that. But then Anne Franks’s diary came into my hands and has always had a special place since then and will continue to do so always. I was in my beginning teen years myself when I first read it, and I related to it so much that I felt myself reflected through those words. Anne Frank was a popular girl in the school, always smiling and having a lot of admirers. However, she always felt that she never had a true friend. Maybe it was her own fault but she could never tell. So she received this diary on her 13th birthday and started writing her feelings right away. Throughout the whole time span of this diary we see how she transforms from a loud, ‘rebellious’ teenager to a person with depth and compassion, all the while never losing her spirit. She was the epitome of optimism and was a kind soul, always encouraging others to stay positive. The evidence of her development as a person can be shown from the following passages in the novel.

    “Everyone thinks I’m showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I’m silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I’m tired, selfish when I eat one bite more than I should.”- Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

    Here, Anne tells us how the adults usually operate. Being a teenager myself, I quite agree to this, though this unjustness is not just limited to the family but to the whole society and their ‘norms’. A person loses all sense of self in trying to fit in with everyone. Another passage says,

    “I’ve reached the point where I hardly care whether I live or die. The world will keep on turning without me; I can’t do anything to change events anyway.”― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

    This was the truth she kept hidden from everyone; how worthless and insignificant she felt. Even though on the surface, she was always smiling, she couldn’t help feeling down because deep down, she knew their ugly reality. The innocent, playful girl was lost in the midst of all this and was replaced by a mature, understanding girl who knew the value of life. She kept struggling with her inner self, forcing herself not to lose hope and just keep going. She didn’t have a particularly good relationship with her mother but she grew respectful after knowing the hardships endured by her parents. She wanted everyone to just quit fighting and live peacefully, with just love amongst them. She never really wrote about political issues, until one day that she wrote two letters expressing exactly how she felt about the political situation in Germany. She fell in love with Peter (another Jew occupant living with the Franks), improvised her relationship with her sister and overall understood the power of self love and appreciation. Anne was a great judge of her own character and always kept a critic’s eye upon herself. It always breaks my heart that this wonderful person died just a few months before they all were freed. She could been such a great person Following are a few excerpts which show that she was a girl who could appreciate little things while remaining head-strong.

    “As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?”

    “People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn’t stop you from having your own opinion.”

    “I’ve found that there is always some beauty left — in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

    At last I’d just like to say that Anne Frank taught me a lot of things. Compassion, holding on to your thoughts, self-love, loving others, appreciating small things, to name a few. No matter how hard the situation is, no matter how bad you feel, always stay positive, find something to be happy about and live life to the fullest. If a Jewish girl, during the Holocaust, which meant eventual death for her, can stay positive and appreciate everything, so can you.