You need readers sharing their opinions for many reasons, including:

• They provide others with evidence that they won’t be wasting their time or money on your book. Marketers call this “social proof.”
• Your advertising dollars will be wasted without them.
• You can often use reader feedback to tweak your description or correct mistakes.

It’s one thing to know this and another to know how to make it happen. Often, the big question is: “Where can I find readers to review my book?”

Where are the readers?

Here are nine places you can look to find the right readers to review your book. To save this article as a PDF so it’s always handy, click on the blue bar below.

Please note that in all cases, you’re offering a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review posted on Amazon or Goodreads.

Why those two sites? Amazon sells the most books online; Goodreads is where readers gather to discuss books. You want your readers to review your book on either or both.

1. Social media

Offer a free copy in exchange for an honest review on the network or platform where you have the highest quality connections – the right types of readers.

If you don’t have a strong online following, ask a friend who does to make the offer for you.

2. Your email list

People who add themselves to your email list are interested in what you write about it. Take advantage of that and use your list to find reviewers.

Ask for more volunteers than you need, because a significant percentage won’t follow through.

3. Online reader groups

Online groups can be an excellent resource for reviews.

For novels, use genre-specific or reader review groups on Facebook. Search there for your genre — for example, “romance book reviews” — or “Kindle reviews” — and select “Groups” in the top menu.

You’ll have to ask to join a private group before you can see the group’s content and its rules for soliciting reviews. (You’ll know that it’s private when you click on the group name and get a “Sorry, this content isn’t available right now” message.) The Kindle/Ebook/Book Promo & Reviews group is public, though.

If yours is a business book, use the groups you belong to on LinkedIn.

When your book is related to your profession, offer a review copy in forums hosted by trade associations you belong to, also.

4. Public speaking audiences

When you’re speaking at conferences or other events, ask for volunteers from the audience. That’s what life coach and speaker Andrieka J. Austin, author of Secrets of a Socialprenista, does.

“I’ve used several of my past clients and event attendees for reviews,” she says.

Use a signup form or collect business cards.

5. Free book offer newsletters and websites

The first step is setting your sales price as free so it’s easy for readers to use their favorite online retail sites to get it.

Once it’s free, advertise in newsletters and on reader sites that tell readers about free e-book offers. (The Digital Reader has done a lot of the work for you; scroll down to “Free Book Promotion Sites.”) In addition, let your email list and social networks know that the book is free so that they may also download it.

Keep in mind, though, that many people grab a free book simply because it’s free. And, even if they intend to read it, it might not be for months. This means you won’t see instant results.

6. Services that send e-books to readers for reviews

One of the best ways to reach new-to-you readers who review books is to pay for a service that connects authors looking for reviews with readers who agree to write them.

Options include:

• Bookfunnel
• NetGalley
• The Kindle Book Review
• BookRazor
• Edelweiss
• Hidden Gems Books
• Book Boast
• Book Sprout
• Prolific Works
• Book Sirens

7. A request at the end of the book

As a reader, I love it when I see a personal request from the author at the end of the book.

Make yours heartfelt and specific. Tell readers how much it would mean to you to learn what they thought of your book.

Be certain to provide a direct link to your book’s page on Amazon and/or Goodreads. For the print version, use a URL shortener such as TinyUrl or Bit.ly so it’s easy for readers to type into a browser.

8. Bloggers

Do a Google search to find two types of bloggers: those who review books in your category or genre and those who blog about your book’s topic. (See the “Tip of the Month” below for a list of bloggers who review books.)

A topic blogger receives fewer review requests and is therefore more likely to be willing to review a free book that’s related to the blog’s subject.

9. Influencers

For fiction, people who influence your ideal readers are often popular authors in your genre. You aren’t going to get Danielle Steele or Stephenie Meyer to review your book, of course. You have a much better chance of connecting with authors who are doing well, but are still on their way up.

Nonfiction writers can approach thought leaders in their fields, as Sonia Frontera does for Solve the Divorce Dilemma: Do You Keep Your Husband or Do You Post Him on Craigslist? In her case, that’s divorce and domestic violence professionals.

To save this article as a PDF so it’s always handy, click on the blue bar below.

Make it easy for readers write reviews

Your goal whenever you’re asking anyone to do a favor for you (and writing a review is a favor) is to make it as easy as possible for them. It’s the best way to ensure that they follow through with their commitment.

That’s why when you send a free copy of your book in exchange for an honest review, you want to include a Build Book Buzz Reader Book Review Form.

This fill-in-the-blanks PDF document saves readers time by walking them through the review process. Simply by answering a few questions that helps them focus their thoughts on what other readers want to know, they can write a meaningful review in less than 10 minutes.

Buy your Reader Book Review Form once; send it to as many readers as you need to.

Learn more at www.ReaderBookReviewForm.com.

Where do you find readers to review your books? Please tell us in a comment!

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

Today it’s Reedsy’s “Best Book Review Blogs of 2019,” a sortable list that offers a short blog description, the blog URL, and the blogger’s name. You’ll need to visit each blog to get contact information.

The list is primarily for fiction writers, but does include a couple of nonfiction categories. Use the category drop-down menu to select your book’s category — children’s, horror, young adult, and so on.

You can also sort the list according to domain authority, average visits, and when the blog was added to this database. The first two will help you gauge which of the blogs are more popular.

The Reedsy blog is an excellent source of helpful information in general, so while you’re using the bloggers list, be sure to see what else is there.

“How do I find reviewers for my book?”

I get this question from authors all the time. And it’s a good one.

I often suggest that they follow this three-step process:

1. Find similar books on Amazon.
2. Track down the four- and five-star reviewers for those books.
3. Ask those reviewers to consider reviewing their book, too.

Not surprisingly, the response is usually, “Won’t that take a lot of time?”

Until now, I’d say “Yes” and suggest that they hire a student to do the digging.

Until now.

Now, I’ve got a much better solution. It’s quick, thorough,  easy, and automated (my new favorite word).

Reviewer Grabber tool demonstration

It’s the very cool “Reviewer Grabber” tool — software — created by the team at the Author Marketing Club (affiliate link). The image above is a screenshot of the software in action as it searches for self-publishing book reviewers.

I asked Author Marketing Club founder Jim Kukral to demonstrate how it works so I could videotape it and share it here with you.

Try to see past my “ooooooh, ahhhhhhh” reaction when you watch. I admit I was pretty amazed by how easy it is to use and how helpful it will be in snagging book reviews from the right reviewers.

Watch our Reviewer Grabber demonstration here. It’s long enough to answer all of your questions about the tool while still showing its power pretty soon after Jim starts the demonstration.

Use it yourself

One survey of 300,000 book readers revealed that they are more interested in Amazon reviews than any other kind of review. This tool will help you snag those influential reviews. They’re the ones that give your book credibility with readers and reassure them that they will like it.

The Reviewer Grabber and the corresponding email templates you can use to request reviews are only available to Author Marketing Club (AMC) members. Get all the details at my affiliate link.

Got questions about the Reviewer Grabber?  I’ve used it several times and should be able to help. Just ask them in a comment. 

Tip of the Month

I always share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month’s comes from Louise Myers’ “Visual Social Media” blog. It’s loaded with information that will help you improve your visual communication.

The resource is a blog post and corresponding white paper on “How to Create an Infographic People Will Rave About.” The post outlines the steps to follow and it links to a site where you can download the white paper. (An infographic is an image-based presentation of information that provides a visual “at a glance” overview of a concept or process.)

Whether you plan to design your own or collaborate with a designer, you’ll get how-to information and advice that will help you make sure the end result is effective . . . and not a waste of time. Have fun with it!

Learn more and get the download link at the Visual Social Media blog.