# Review copies



## Lyndawrites (Aug 7, 2011)

Please can you help a newbie out?

My one and only book, _Chamaeleon: The Secret Spy_, has been out for two weeks and made few sales. I am keen, though nervous, to get it reviewed somewhere, anywhere, but how do I go about getting review copies to potential reviewers? Surely, I don't just send them the file I uploaded to KDP? Isn't that, like, erm, a bit risky? Or am I being too suspicious?

And how do I go about gifting copies from KDP?

Thank you (and sorry if this is a stupid question)

Lynda


----------



## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Lynda, giving away a mobi file of your book is no different than selling DRM-Free copies of your book. Many authors like myself give them away all the time. As for risking your book being pirated by giving away mobi files, I'm of the firm belief that if someone wants to pirate your book, they have tons of ways to do so. Giving away your mobi file won't make much of a difference.

As for gifting copies of your book. There are three easy ways to go about it:

1) Publish your book on Smashwords and give reviewers a coupon code to download their review copy of your book. What makes using this method great is that the reviewer can download your book in any digital format they like (pdf, epub, mobi/kindle, etc.). In fact, one of the reasons why some authors use Smashwords is to make it easy to give out review copies of their books.

2) Request the email address of the reviewer and gift them a copy of your book from your sales page by filling out the required information. BTW, gifting your book counts as an actual sale, so using this method is a great way to help raise your sales rank. Also, since you're buying your own book, the money (minus Amazon's cut) comes right back to you in royalties. However, gifting copies can get expensive depending on the quantity you want to give away. The cheapest way to gift copies is to lower the price of your book to 99 cents, pay for your gift copies, then raise the price when you're done. Obviously, it isn't necessary to lower your price. But it's nice to have the option if you choose to use it.  

3) Another thing I do is to keep a PDF file of my books on hand to send it to reviewers who either don't have a Smashwords account or an ereader. Naturally, I am referring to reviewers who accept ebooks. If they want a print copy, none of the above will apply.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Hope that helps.


----------



## Lyndawrites (Aug 7, 2011)

Indeed it does, Kevis. Thank you.

My book is on Smashwords as well as Kindle - and now I know what the 'coupon' thing is, that will help.

I'd love to have print copies (old habits die hard, eh?) but I need some ebook sales before I can afford that


----------



## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Lyndawrites said:


> I'd love to have print copies (old habits die hard, eh?) but I need some ebook sales before I can afford that


I know what you mean. Mailing print copies to reviewers can put a hurting on your money purse! Anyway, good luck with those review, Lynda.


----------



## Nell Gavin (Jul 3, 2010)

Another thing about print copies is that reviewers may turn around and sell them on Amazon Marketplace without necessarily reading them. Back in The Day, before e-books, print was the only option. We would kiss our books goodbye and pay for shipping, then get no reviews. Then we would see them for sale on Amazon Marketplace from the town we shipped to. We all felt used and betrayed.

There are still some holdouts - I just shipped a book off the other day - but I can't tell you how much nicer it is to ask reviewers what formats they prefer, then send them as attachments. If you never sell one book on Smashwords, that alone is reason enough to upload there - they give you all the formats you need.


----------



## destill (Oct 5, 2010)

Nell Gavin said:


> Another thing about print copies is that reviewers may turn around and sell them on Amazon Marketplace without necessarily reading them. Back in The Day, before e-books, print was the only option. We would kiss our books goodbye and pay for shipping, then get no reviews. Then we would see them for sale on Amazon Marketplace from the town we shipped to. We all felt used and betrayed.


Yes, I recall those days. Been there, done that. And it certainly wasn't fun. Smashwords coupons are great!


----------



## JennieCoughlin (Sep 9, 2011)

Lynda, sounds like you've got the technical "how" pretty well answered. If you're looking for tips on how to get reviewers to want to review your book, there have been some good blog posts in the past couple of weeks.

Blogger's perspective on how she chooses books for review

The best list of indie reviewers out there


----------



## Lyndawrites (Aug 7, 2011)

Thanks, everyone. Very helpful

@ Nell and destill. Really? The nerve of some people! I'll bear this in mind if I ever have print copies to give away.

@ Jennie. Thanks. Checking these out now.


----------



## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Smashwords coupons are great for giveaways, but I don't use them for reviewers. Remember, reviewers are doing you a favor. Why make extra work for them? Not everyone has (or wants) a Smashwords account, and by giving them a Smashwords coupon you're forcing them to go to a website and download your book. Just make it easier for the reviewer by emailing it to them directly.


----------



## Guest (Nov 14, 2011)

Nell Gavin said:


> Another thing about print copies is that reviewers may turn around and sell them on Amazon Marketplace without necessarily reading them.


And? Once you send a reviewer a copy, the book becomes their book to do with as they please.

If you got more than one or two people doing this without reviewing the book, then the problem is that the publisher did not fully vet a potential reviewer before sending out review copies. And if you have got so many copies floating out there on Amazon that it is actually hurting your sales, then the publisher significantly dropped the ball in the marketing dept. Some authors are so desperate for reviews they employ the "throw enough crap against the wall" approach instead of actually doing an hour of research into potential reviewers and seeing if they are legit. Heck, even now someone can post an anonymous "I am willing to review books" thread with a throwaway email address and twenty people will send them an unprotected copy of their ebook without any clue who the person is or if they even intend to review the books. I'm aware of one case (did NOT happen here) where someone did this, got five or six ebooks from authors, and then uploaded the unprotected files to Amazon and tried to resell them with new covers. The "reviewer" used an anonymous screen name, a freebie email address, and nobody even asked him for a link to the blog or website he claimed he was going to post reviews to.

But just because that guy was scum does not make every reviewer a con artists. Publishers have a professional obligation to themselves to make sure they are sending out review copies to actual reviewers and not just people with gmail accounts mooching free books.


----------

