Protecting Book Review

Let me give you some inside info about Kirkus. Kirkus always comes up when new authors mention paid reviews. But do you know that Kirkus doesn't charge everyone for reviews? No, they only charge self-published authors because in their minds I guess they see SP authors as desperate. This is not fair at all. This is one of my points. Some review places that charge have different rules for different people. Most of them charge authors who are self-published but do not charge authors coming from houses, especially big houses. I learned this because my book was reviewed by a reviewer (who I didn't know charged for reviews) for free. I found out after the fact. I contacted them for a review because they were popular, they reviewed the book and that's it.

Next thing I know, I find out they charge authors for reviews. I did some digging and it seemed that they were only targeting authors they felt were really hungry for reviews. Mostly Indie authors struggling to get mainstream readership. It's not fair is it? The point is, they knew I've been out for a while AND I was traditionally published with a big house. They knew not to DARE come to me with a price because I would have known, (you don't pay for reviews), but a lot of new authors think they HAVE to. See, they showed me respect because they knew where I came from and that I know the business. But they don't show that same respect to Indie writers or writers who "don't know" you don't pay or else they wouldn't be charging them. To me, an author who pays doesn't seem to have faith in their books and act like any review is better than no review, paid for or not.

See, it's an inside game, Christy. These paid reviewers know that authors from houses, especially big pubs have many doors open to them concerning reviews. So, they prey and rely on the fact that a lot of indie authors can't get reviews. So they make it look like they are doing you a favor. Nope, you shouldn't ever feel like someone giving you a review is a favor. It's a two-way street.

The author receives promotion and in return the reviewer receives pleasure and promotion for reading the book. That is what drives reviewers to review, they enjoy doing it. How many reviewers do you read that say, "I do this for the money" or "If I hadn't gotten paid, I wouldn't have read this book?" Not a one because most reviewers love to review. Even big time reviewers for big magazines and sites like to review or they wouldn't be reviewing. They love to read books and most of them are book addicts, LOL.

About the reviewers selling your books, I feel ya. But there is nothing we can do about that. I've had my books sold from reviewers and I've also had some placed on ebay. I knew they were review copies. They had to be. I used to be very upset about it but I visit a lot of reviewers' blogs and sites and most of them don't have the space for all the books they review. So, I can kind of understand them selling it. But I can take that more than I can someone who just bought my book USED and I didn't see a dime from it. At least the reviewer gave me something in return.

My publisher would send out copies and I'd send out some. When I sent them out, guess what? I autographed them and the reviewers loved it! I also figured that would cut down on them selling them. It did. Most will not sell a copy that's autographed.

The point is that you shouldn't feel that paying is an option. You don't "owe" a book reviewer money for reading your book just like they don't owe you a positive review when they read it. You should build a relationship with reviewers and you'll have a place to send books in the future as well.

I wouldn't even visit a review site if I knew they charged authors for reviews. And I LOVE reading book reviews, but not enough to entertain a "fake" reviewer. To me if an author pays a reviewer, it's no better than him or her rating their own book on Amazon. It's still a level of trust between the authors' readers and the author that's being damaged. The readers will feel dishonesty towards that author if they find their methods of obtaining reviews questionable or unethical.

You deserve better and there are so many free sites that paying shouldn't even be last resort.