Book Reviews are Manna from Heaven if You Can Get Them
Welcome to 2026 at Master Book Builders!
Let’s start the year with something important: book reviews.
Book reviews, as the title of this post says, are manna from heaven if you can get them.📝
Sadly, I see too many authors rely on family and friends to provide shining reviews of their newly launched book.
While that isn’t totally wrong, the fact is that Amazon will deny a review if they believe your sister wrote it just to be nice – the truth is, you need book reviews from readers who are not related to you (unless they have a different last name – and they remember not to mention the familial relationship in their review).
Another truth is, on Amazon, those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews are pure gold! The more you have, the more Amazon pays attention to you. The rule of thumb is 50 -100 will get Amazon’s algorithm humming for you!
Why are Book Reviews Important? 👇🏼
I have yet to meet an author who doesn’t want more book reviews. Even authors with dozens of reviews want more.
Good book reviews can convince someone on the fence about your book that it’s a good buy. She should buy it. It’s exactly what she’s looking for. Let me check the reviews, she thinks. And she does. And if there are a lot of them, it impresses her. “People really like this book,” she thinks. “I should buy it.”
Look at what others say about the power of book reviews:
Book Award Pro says book reviews “increase author recognition,” and I agree. But they do more than that. By having book reviews, you increase attention to your book and raise your visibility as an author. Book Award pro goes on to say:
“The more buzz and interest you can create around your book, the more likely you’ll maintain long-term benefits. You worked hard on your book, and you deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor. That could mean increasing your book’s visibility, receiving professional acknowledgment, or selling more books.
“We know that success means different things to different authors. No matter your unique goals, receiving the professional recognition you deserve can bring fulfillment, confidence, and a sense of pride.”
Barnes & Noble reports that “When a book receives reviews, it gains visibility. Readers searching for their next read often rely on reviews to make informed decisions. Reviews can highlight the unique qualities of a book, its genre, and its target audience. This information helps potential readers find books that align with their interests and preferences.”
In those long-ago days of book review writing, before I was born, book reviews were done by a professional at a newspaper or magazine.
The New York Times, McCall’s magazine, or The New Yorker would have someone on staff who did nothing but read books and write book reviews.
These were sought-after folk. Having a book reviewed in said publication could mean thousands of dollars in sales. A good or bad word from an established book reviewer could make or break an author!
Major publishers seem to have cornered the market on this, as the books they send to these reviewers get priority attention. However, it is possible to be reviewed by the likes of the New York Times, according to this link on their site.
Here are their instructions:
“Submit a Book to Book Review
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, The New York Times Book Review is operating remotely and will accept physical submissions by request only.
“If you wish to submit a book for review consideration, please email a PDF of the galley at least three months prior to scheduled publication to booksassistant@nytimes.com. (Hmmm, it does look like they need to update their site, as Covid has been over for a good long time now!)
“Include the publication date and any related press materials, along with links to NetGalley or Edelweiss if applicable. Due to the volume of books we receive, we cannot respond to individual requests about our plans for coverage.”
Note that they require a galley at least three months prior to publication.
What I want you to remember is that these book reviewers are paid to write the review. These erstwhile ‘celebrities’ in the world of books are paid for their opinion and their time. They are not paid to be nice to the authors. They have always brought thoughtful, focused attention to books, and at no time have they shied away from controversy.
But they don’t do it for free.
I mention this to prepare you for what I’m about to say next.
Book Reviewers Deserve to be Paid.💰
I do book reviews. I have done a fair number of them over the years. Today, I most often do them on LinkedIn.
I never asked anyone to pay me.
I am happy to get a free book.
But that’s because I don’t do them that often. And many of the reviews I do are for friends who have published a book, or as a favor to a friend whose friend has published a book.
And I only review books I like. If I read a book and I don’t like it, I don’t review it. I am not, nor do I want to be, a professional book reviewer.
Do not compare me to bloggers who take the time to read the book and then offer a well-crafted review, complete with images and perhaps video. These people deserve to be paid.
They aren’t paid to write nice things, as I hear too many new authors say. “Don’t pay for a review,” they write on Reddit or other places. “Those people just get paid to say nice things.”
Hogwash. Professional reviewers, those who do it all the time and those who are part of a network like Book Sirens, are paid for their honest opinion, just like the reviewers we just talked about in the NY Times and other publications. The review is a professional reviewer’s testimony on the plot, the theme, the storyline, the characters, what the author did right, why they liked or didn’t like it, and what the author might have done better.
These are serious reviewers. These are writers who treat their craft seriously.
I’m mentioning this because I know there’s still some stigma around paying for a book review. As if dollars exchanging hands means you’re throwing integrity out the door.
I want you to stop thinking that way. Stop asking people to work for free. And no, a free copy, or two, of your book is not payment enough. Join the rest of us in the 21st century and understand that people who write reviews are a valuable part of your team, now.
Think of it this way: you’re asking for a solid review. An honest review. You’re asking someone who does this on a regular basis to put time and effort into crafting a book review you will then use in your book promotional materials.
Why shouldn’t that person be paid for what they do? Treat these people with the respect they deserve, please. Oh, and remember, they have readers. When they write a review, they share it with their platform, which is often quite large.
How to Find Good Book Reviewers 🔍
Discovering the best book reviewers, those who are established and not willing to be ‘bought’ – in other words, no matter what you pay them, they will write an honest review, not fluff or nonsense – isn’t all that hard.
You could start with a Google search. “Bloggers who do book reviews.”
I did, and this is a little bit of what I got:
Notice “That Artsy Reader Girl”. I’d be tapping into her right away.
Do the search yourself. Google serves up quite a good bit of valid content.
Here’s the caveat – don’t try to get a hundred reviews by sending your book – sometimes they’ll ask for a print copy, other times a PDF – to all the places you discover in your search.
Be selective.
Review their terms and conditions.
Ask how they want the book delivered. A PDF would be great, as you won’t have to ship the physical book. But be prepared to ship a physical copy if necessary. Yes, build this into your budget. Have a good many author copies on hand for this. Or, just go to Amazon and ship it to the address from there.
☑️ Remember to look at some of their other book reviews.
☑️ Ask about lead time – will it be weeks or months before the book is reviewed?
☑️ Don’t let the network sites upsell you until you’re ready. Yes, there are other ways book review groups can help market your book. But get the review first.
☑️ Also, find out if they have a gift guide you can be included in. (Need more on gift guides? Visit the link here where I talk about them with a book marketer.)
How Else Can You Find Reviewers 🤔
A good place to check is Amazon.
Look at the reviews of your latest favorite read. A book you bought and liked. Maybe because of the great reviews.
If the reviewer’s name is a link, click through to their Amazon reviewer page. You will see how many reviews they’ve done, and you can read them all. Including product reviews that they do. Some reviewers are very active, others are not.
While most of these reviewers don’t leave contact information – lest they be inundated with requests – they are open to comments on their current reviews.
You could politely say, “I read the review you did of XYZ, and it inspired me to ask if you would consider reviewing my book.”
Many of these reviewers are the ‘free’ kind. So, your success may be hit-or-miss. It will depend on how many books they have on the growing stack next to their bed.
This task is time-consuming and might be better done by your VA.
What Other Places Do Reviews👀
I have a growing list of places to explore for getting your book reviewed.
It’s part of the package you get when you become a client.
Today, I thought I would share 5 out of 25 ‘other places’ to get a review.
In no particular order:
https://www.forewordreviews.com
https://indiereader.com/book_review
https://independentbookreview.com
https://booklife.com/about-us/how-to-submit-your-book-to-booklife-reviews-and-publishers-weekly.html
Are these legitimate book reviews? Yes. Will they be on Amazon? Remember, Amazon only allows ‘verified purchasers’ to submit reviews, so many of these reviews might not appear on Amazon.
I do want to mention that you can get a (paid) book review at Publisher’s Weekly now at Booklife. Click the link and give it some serious thought; it comes with perks.
Even if a reviewer does not post a review on Amazon, you can post a snippet of their review on your book’s sales page under Editorial Reviews. Just as the publisher did here, for a favorite book of mine, The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict.
Since you are your own publisher, you are entitled to do the same.
To help you a bit further, here’s a link to a site with a long list of book reviewers: these folks should be able to write Amazon reviews for you.
http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers/
When you contact them, be friendly. Supportive. Engaging. And not too wordy.
Book Reviews Do Help Sell Books 💲💲💲
Let’s face it, we’re all influenced by what other people say.
Certainly, the most influence comes from friends and family.
If my sister recommends a book, I am sure to look it up and am likely to buy it.
🌻 This is why book reviews work. 🌻 The people you want to read your book will see good reviews and not only buy a copy for themselves but also tell their family and friends about it.
NOTE: If there are bad reviews, it’s best to let them be – unless they are totally out in left field – then you can remove them. Visit this link to learn how to do that.
Understand that not everyone will love your book. Criticism is a gift. When someone criticized my first book, it hurt. I admit it. But after rereading the comment he made, I realized he was right. I had overused a particular phrase. It taught me not to do that again.
Many people who land on your book page will look for the bad reviews because, for them, those reviews legitimize your standing as an author. Books with no bad reviews are suspect to these readers, given that not everyone can 💖a book. Even famous folk like Stephen King and James Clear have their naysayers.
The message today is to start researching where to get book reviews while you’re writing the book. And not to be swayed by those voices saying, “I would never pay to have my book reviewed!”
You expect people to pay for the book you wrote, don’t you? Then why complain when you are asked to pay for a review of that book? Time is money.
That free book those nay-sayers tell us is all anyone needs won’t pay the light bill, or the internet fee, or the heat for the writer doing the review. Now, will it?
Okay, go out and get those reviews!
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