# Get Honest Reviews from People Reading Your Genre (BookRazor.com)



## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Getting reviews is one of the biggest pains of self-published authors (especially those who are just starting out). I've discovered a process that can help get the initial 10-20 reviews (or more, if you're writing in a popular genre). It was one of the key things that helped me launch several non-fiction bestsellers.

I wished there was a service that would make getting reviews easier, but I couldn't find anything for my needs. Therefore, I decided to turn my process into a service for other authors. You can learn more about it here: http://www.bookrazor.com/

If you want, you can do it on your own, but it's a very time-consuming process (especially if you don't have a system) and your time is probably better spent writing another book (unless you don't have any budget). I explain it in detail here: http://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-get-book-reviews-with-no-blog-no-list-and-no-begging/

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I want to make this service a no-brainer for fellow authors.


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## Guest (Jul 6, 2015)

Just to clarify, you are only providing the contact information. The author still has to make the initial contact herself?


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Yes. It's more effective when it's the author who reaches out to potential reviewers. It also helps build a relationship with them so you can send them your every new release as an advance reader copy.


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## Guest (Jul 6, 2015)

Thank you for the reply. I always get a little twitchy with the light saber when I hear about review services, but it sounds like you are simply offering an administrative service to identify reviewers, not getting the reviews yourself. That is certainly something with some value (assuming it IS genre specific). The service sounds similar to Bookreviewbroker.com, which culls the same list of Amazon top reviewers.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thank you. Yes, it's a simple service to save time (we provide links to the reviewer profiles so you can verify it's a real person) and yes, it's genre specific. Clients are actually free to send the books they want us to check for potential reviewers so it can be even more targeted than just the same genre. We look at all reviewers, not just top 10,000.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

how do you determine if a reviewer WANTs to be contacted? 

if you don't, it seems to me that an author runs a risk of annoying reviewers and getting slapped down.


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## ldk001 (Apr 19, 2015)

This looks great! Have just sent you a request through your website


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

telracs said:


> how do you determine if a reviewer WANTs to be contacted?
> 
> if you don't, it seems to me that an author runs a risk of annoying reviewers and getting slapped down.


If a reviewer shares her email address on her reviewer profile (which is 100% optional), it means she's okay with getting review requests. I've personally reached out to several hundred potential reviewers and nobody was annoyed. Sure, you'll get a few "Sorry, I'm busy" replies, but nobody will get angry (unless someone has a bad day, but obviously we can't control that).

ldk001 - thanks!


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

mkb said:


> If a reviewer shares her email address on her reviewer profile (which is 100% optional), it means she's okay with getting review requests. I've personally reached out to several hundred potential reviewers and nobody was annoyed. Sure, you'll get a few "Sorry, I'm busy" replies, but nobody will get angry (unless someone has a bad day, but obviously we can't control that).
> 
> ldk001 - thanks!


you're making a generalization that so far has worked for you (and i hope it continues to) but assuming that everyone who puts their e-mail is okay with getting review requests is dangerous in my eyes. for example, someone may have put their e-mail address not realizing it was going to be seen by everyone. or they may have put it in when they did a movie review, and they aren't interested in anyone asking for book reviews.

as i say, i hope it doesn't come back to bite anyone, but if you might want to have some kind of plan in place if it does.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

They can always remove their email address from their profile to prevent any future review requests. Also, when a client lets us know about dead email addresses, we delete them and never give them to anyone else (in case an author with a similar book wants a list of potential reviewers). The same can be applied to people who no longer want to receive review requests. I've also noticed that quite a few reviewers don't show their primary email address on their profile - they create email addresses specifically for Amazon (which is smart and protects their personal email account).


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## WRPursche (Feb 18, 2011)

This looks interesting. What genres do you cover?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

mkb,

Welcome to Kboards! [br][br]You're welcome to promote your business and website here in the Writers' Café![br][br]Now that you have an official thread, you'll want to add your listing to our Yellow Pages Listing, found here:[br]http://www.kboards.com/yp/[br][br]The listing is free to KB members and is completely self-service; you can add and edit your listing from the page. More information on our Yellow Pages listing can be found here.[br][br]In your thread here, we ask that the same basic rules be followed as we have for authors in the Book Bazaar: you may have this one thread about your service and must post to it rather than start a new thread each time. New threads about the service wil be removed. Please bookmark this thread so that you can find it again to post to. And, you may not make back-to-back posts to the thread within seven days. If someone responds (such as this post), you may reply but otherwise must wait seven days, thanks![br][br]Betsy[br]KBoards Moderator [br][br]Note that this welcome does not constitute an endorsement or vetting of a service by KBoards. Members should do due diligence when considering using a service, for example, by asking KB members for feedback and doing an Internet search such as "service provider name" complaints.


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## Elliott Garber (Apr 8, 2013)

Interesting service. How do you recommend getting the book into the potential reviewer's hands?


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## Crystal_ (Aug 13, 2014)

TBH, the "Most Ways to Get Reviews Don't Work" section comes across as condescending. It would turn me off the service.


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## ccruz (Oct 11, 2014)

Going to check it out. I could use some reviews on my YA fantasy novella.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

WRPursche - as long as there are other books with enough reviews in your genre (which is pretty much always the case), we can help you.

Betsy the Quilter - thanks. I already added my service to your Yellow Pages.

Elliott Garber - I always send my book as an epub, mobi and pdf. If you have a permafree title, then having them download it from Amazon would be best (since their reviews would be verified then).

Crystal_ - to each his own. That's my personal experience and experience of many fellow authors, but I understand we all have different views about it.

ccruz - thanks!


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## TromboneAl (Mar 20, 2015)

MKB,

That looks good. It's similar to AMC's Reviewer Grabber (and my guess it that you use that service to generate your list), but your service eliminates one step for the author.

Here are some thoughts on your page, because I'm a feedback-a-holic.

1. You say "BookRazor.com helps independent authors get more reviews by seeking out potential reviewers of similar books. While you work on your next book, we look for people who will love to read and review it."

"It" refers to "your next book." Is that what you mean? I expected it to say that you would find reviewers of your current book so you have more time to work on the next. If it does mean what it says, I'm guessing that most authors don't think about getting reviews until they are done or almost done. I sure don't. Perhaps just say "We save you time by finding reviewers for your book."

2. I suggest you say "... flat fee of $0.50 per name" instead of "... flat fee of $0.5 per name." Dollars are almost always expressed with two decimal places.

3. You say Hi, I'm Martin Meadows, but that's not my real name, and I'm not going to disclose my real name. Then you sign your name.

That would make me uneasy. It might be a deal breaker. Why are you being so secretive? I get being anonymous on the web, but if you want people to trust you and send you money, I'd recommend disclosing your name. If you ever have a mailing list (and you'll probably want that), you will need to disclose your name and address. If you really don't want people to know who owns the company, don't bring it up. 

4. Can the author put a cap on number of reviewers? You say you rarely find more than 150, but an author might worry that you'd come back with 600 reviewers, and request $300.

Hope that helps, and good luck.

Al


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks for your feedback, Al.

We don't use AMC's tool. It only works with top 10,000 reviewers, and we browse through all profiles.

1. Thank you. I haven't noticed the awkwardness of the second sentence before. It's fixed now.

2. Fixed.

3. I'd rather be upfront about the fact it's my pen name than not mention it at all. I won't disclose my real name since then there would be no purpose of my pen name. I use pen names because I enjoy my privacy. I'm fully aware it's not a business asset in today's (too) transparent world, but that's my personal choice. So far nobody has a problem with it. Payments are made with PayPal, so all buyers are protected for 180 days after the transaction is done.

4. An author doesn't pay until everything is clear. We specify all the details by email.


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## TromboneAl (Mar 20, 2015)

I'll probably be using it come September when _The Antiterrorist_ is released.

Thanks,

Al


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## scottmarlowe (Apr 22, 2010)

Service looks good. I'm willing to give it a try. Form sent.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks, Al.

I replied to you, Scott.


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## scottmarlowe (Apr 22, 2010)

I received my 50 email addresses (along with a number of bonus emails!). I'll start sending out my intro email in the next couple of days, if not sooner.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Looking forward to your results, Scott! Please keep in mind that the more personalized the email, the higher the chance of getting a response. A well-written review request can make a huge difference.


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## Elliott Garber (Apr 8, 2013)

scottmarlowe said:


> I received my 50 email addresses (along with a number of bonus emails!). I'll start sending out my intro email in the next couple of days, if not sooner.


Scott, any update on initial responses to your intro e-mail? What category are you working in? Thanks!


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

In case anyone wants to hear the results from other fiction authors, we added two testimonials on the site - http://www.bookrazor.com/.


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## Northern pen (Mar 3, 2015)

I signed up for a small test run. 

I'll post results


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks, Robyn. I replied to you.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

A lot of authors ask how to get consistent long-term sales on Amazon. I published a post on BookRazor's blog about it based on my experience as a non-fiction author with relatively stable sales. If you suffer from a 30-day cliff or your sales are all over the place, this post is for you.

In the post, I share two ways to increase your chances of launching a bestseller and answer some common questions like "Can you resurrect a book?" and "How to keep your book alive?"

Read it here: http://www.bookrazor.com/the-key-to-consistent-long-term-e-book-sales-on-amazon/

Feel free to ask additional questions and please share the article if you find it valuable.


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## antares (Feb 13, 2011)

I don't have time to examine your service in depth right now, but I did scan the first page of your website.

Your fee is reasonable. I'll be back when I have time to check out your terms. Bookmarking this thread.


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## Harry Manners (Jul 6, 2013)

Looks interesting. I'll give it a whirl.
I sent you a message.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks, Harry. I replied to you.


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## Jennifer Weiner (Jul 29, 2015)

Hey, MKB!
I'm from Pat's group on Facebook, which I'm pretty sure you're also  a part of? Been hearing about your service all over and looking forward to using it once I have a bit of disposable income at hand.


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## SidK (Jul 7, 2015)

mkb said:


> Read it here: http://www.bookrazor.com/the-key-to-consistent-long-term-e-book-sales-on-amazon/
> 
> Feel free to ask additional questions and please share the article if you find it valuable.


What a wonderful article! I wish I had read this two months ago. After reading it I see some of the mistakes that I made. But I will be sure to 'follow it to the T' for my next book publication.

By the way, in the article you mention that "_While you can technically make your book a long-term bestseller without any money (if you're eager to hustle hard)..._". Do you have any ideas with regards to that hustling ?

Thanks,

Sid K.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

weinerjm - yes, I'm an active member there.

SidK - that would be reaching out to hundreds of influencers and building your platform months, or rather, years before publishing your book. That would work best here. This post will probably help you: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2013/04/04/how-to-make-1000000-selling-e-books-tactics-and-case-studies/

The problem with this approach is that most authors are lousy marketers. Sometimes it's just easier to keep consistently releasing new books, trying to make each launch as big as it can be (without spending 10x more time marketing than writing) and moving on to another release.


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## SidK (Jul 7, 2015)

mkb said:


> The problem with this approach is that most authors are lousy marketers. Sometimes it's just easier to keep consistently releasing new books, trying to make each launch as big as it can be (without spending 10x more time marketing than writing) and moving on to another release.


I agree and I plan to take this approach going forward. I am not averse to making an investment in marketing but I also want to put in some 'sweat equity' initially.

Sid K.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

The link in the signature leads back to this thread, just so you know.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Yep, I know. I figured it's better to send people to a thread about my company (where people can freely share their experience) than straight to its site.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I decided to try them out. I have used another service in the past that limited to top reviewers but thought a broader net might be worthwhile. I was able to specify the number of reviewers I wanted in the report and got it quite promptly. Since I just started working with the list a few hours ago, I've only sent out 20 out of a total of 75 on the list, but in that 2 have replied with a yes. Of course, how many turn into actual reviews is another question, certainly something Book Razor has no control over. That we'll have to see. It is often a crap shoot.

So they do appear to be up and up and provide a good service. When I have more results, I'll post.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Minor update and comment on my impression.

1. I have already had more yesses (now at 25%) so I am pretty pleased with the result. 2. I have the impression that most of these reviewers aren't on the 'top reviewer' list so don't receive a huge number of offers like the top reviewers do. They seem a bit surprised and pleased to receive the offer.

Of course, top reviewers also often have a following that increases your visibility, but they can be a hard sell.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

mkb said:


> Yep, I know. I figured it's better to send people to a thread about my company (where people can freely share their experience) than straight to its site.


Well, if it makes sense to you... I would rather have a direct link to the site, so I could go check it out for myself, without having to copy/paste into a search engine, though.

Whatever.

I will note that I'm not interested at all in the service, since it seems all I'm supposed to look at is a thread on a message board.


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## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

I'll be trying this service. Sounds great. But what the poster may not know, Paypal does not give refunds for "virtual" services; only physicsl goods. So any request for a refund will be denied, unless the service agreed to the refund.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

PatriceWilliamsMarks said:


> I'll be trying this service. Sounds great. But what the poster may not know, Paypal does not give refunds for "virtual" services; only physicsl goods. So any request for a refund will be denied, unless the service agreed to the refund.


Fwiw, I believe PayPal recently changed their buyer protection policy to include virtual goods and services.


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## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

I was just told no 3 weeks ago after trying to get a refund for a poor editing job on a book. It was so bad, the book was turned down for marketing by a company, until I paid someone else to do a better job.

Unless their policy changed within the last 2 weeks, it's the same.



Monique said:


> Fwiw, I believe PayPal recently changed their buyer protection policy to include virtual goods and services.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

@JRTomlin - thank you for sharing your experience! I appreciate it. Happy to see it's working well for you.

@she-la-ti-da - the link to the site is in the first post, so I'm not sure why you're saying you have to search it in Google. Anyway, I changed my signature so it leads to the site now.

@PatriceWilliamsMarks - getting a refund from us doesn't involve PayPal. If you're not happy with the service, send me an email and I'll give you a refund myself. I also give partial refunds when we can't find enough reviewers (some genres are too small to find even 50 names).


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## ccruz (Oct 11, 2014)

Just wanted to let everyone know I ordered 50 emails and out of 18 emails I sent, I got one review already and one possible review, which led to valuable feedback from readers and in turn led to me commissioning a new blurb, fixing some inconsistencies in my novella, and deciding to turn the novella into a novel after I take a writing course. I am pleased with the experience, and pleased that the guy in charge is willing to offer refunds if we're not satisfied.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thank you, Claudette! I'm happy to hear it.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

PatriceWilliamsMarks said:


> I was just told no 3 weeks ago after trying to get a refund for a poor editing job on a book. It was so bad, the book was turned down for marketing by a company, until I paid someone else to do a better job.
> 
> Unless their policy changed within the last 2 weeks, it's the same.


There was a July policy update.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Keep in mind that there is a difference in people SAYING they will do a review and their actually doing it. I have more than a little experience with that but I am very impressed with the results of people requesting a review copy. Of the 36 emails I have sent, within less than 24 hours I have received 12 Yes and 1 very courteous No. I could hardly ask for better results.

Now my results may differ from others, for example I have a fairly extensive backlist in the genre I'm soliciting reviews in. This does often make a difference. 

I was very careful to be honest in the subject line that I am soliciting a review. People hate deceptive subject lines. I referred specifically to the book and author they reviewed and explain the similarity to mine. I sent them individually with no mass mailing. 

Of course, who knows if the rest of the list will be as successful as the first part, but I can say that the service performed exactly as promised.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

It depends on many factors, but in general out of 10 people who agreed to review your book, maybe 3-4 people will leave the review in the end. Following up a week or two later (with people who said they would review your book) helps get more reviews (some people forget).

You're right about deceptive subject lines. Personalization makes a huge difference here, as well as giving other reasons why they should read your book (for instance, if you already have a bestseller in your catalog, it's great social proof). A professional cover is also extremely important.

Looking forward to hearing your results when you finish emailing everyone from the list.


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## Jerry Patterson (Nov 20, 2013)

I have a question for any of you regarding sending the book out for review.  I publish my books from my Word copy.  How do you convert that to PDF, Mobi and Epub?  Thanks.


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

Jamie Warren said:


> I have a question for any of you regarding sending the book out for review. I publish my books from my Word copy. How do you convert that to PDF, Mobi and Epub? Thanks.


You could use draft2digital. They convert from word as part of their service.

P.S.: I'm also been happy with book razor's service. Have had 4/5 reviews so far. Will wait a bit longer then report full results.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Jamie Warren - I use Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/). For PDF, you can save directly to PDF from Word.

David - happy to hear that!


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

One suggestion, be quite specific the category and subcategory that you want reviewers from. He can't read your mind which I apparently expected, or rather I hadn't thought it through as well as I should have. Remember that subcategories can complicate things and many readers only read from a specific SUBcategory. 

However, even with my being rather vague about the reviewers I was looking for, out of 75 reviewers I have had 16 Yes, 2 No - both quite courteous, and 3 bounces. Of course, a few more may still respond. The exact value will depend on how many turn into reviews, but I very much feel that I got value for my money.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

A follow up on my previous posts on the BookRazor service. Out of the 75 reviewers, I ended up with twenty-one who requested review copies. Today is the fourth day since the novel went live and two of those reviewers have already posted reviews. You can check them out if you'd like to see live results. I expect more will trickle in but two this fast can only help sales.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Good stuff, thanks for sharing! I usually send people my book two weeks before its publication date so that I can get the majority of reviews in the first week after publishing the book. You'll probably get most reviews within a week or so.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

It was closer than that to publication when I sent them out, so I am quite lucky getting any so soon. Doing it a few weeks ahead is a good idea.


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## Carol M (Dec 31, 2012)

Interesting service. Do you work with all genres?


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Carol - yes, as long as there are enough reviewers (which is not an issue with most genres).


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## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

Just wanted to add another vote of confidence for BookRazor's services. 

I received my list of reviewers from Martin last night (fast turnaround... 3 days, including the weekend!). I also requested and was sent a template for review requests, as well as a link to a more extensive article about requesting reviews (which were both extremely helpful!).

I started sending out my requests this afternoon around 1 p.m. It's now 7:30 p.m. here, and I've already gotten 9 responses asking for review copies.

I am very pleased already. 

ETA: Two three! further positive responses since posting this.  Wow, I really hope they like it!


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## Josef (Jul 29, 2015)

mkb, on your site you say "Paying for reviews is prohibited and unethical." The only review I've been able to get so far was paid for. $87

You ask, (why would you lie to your readers?) A paid review, (whether legal or not) doesn't guarantee any lies to the readers.

Exhibit A: The review for Fifty Shades of Truth that cost $87 is posted on their site

_removed link to your book's review, Josef. PM me if you have any questions. --Betsy_


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks S.W.!

Josef - most paid review services (like Fiverr gigs) post fake reviews, and that's the most common example of paid reviews.

--

By the way, if anyone is interested, I added an option to join our newsletter and get a mind map with 33 tips to grow your self-publishing business. You can access it at the end of this article: http://www.bookrazor.com/the-key-to-consistent-long-term-e-book-sales-on-amazon/


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## Josef (Jul 29, 2015)

Josef - most paid review services (like Fiverr gigs) post fake reviews, and that's the most common example of paid reviews.

I don't think it it a fake review.  I just think the book pressed to many buttons too hard.  Maybe they are Catholic, apart from anything else they may have had issues with, considering the ground FSOT covers.  If they are church goers their objectivity will disappear out the window and they will burn it for sure. (as they did!) lol

Okay, I've completed the form on your website.  I'm very interested to see what you come back with in terms of the possibility of a reviewers list.  Good luck!


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2015)

JRTomlin said:


> Of course, how many turn into actual reviews is another question, certainly something Book Razor has no control over. That we'll have to see. It is often a crap shoot.


THIS.

Until it's an actual review, the "Yes, I'll leave you a review" doesn't mean a damn thing.


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## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

Jolie du Pre said:


> THIS.
> 
> Until it's an actual review, the "Yes, I'll leave you a review" doesn't mean a damn thing.


That's true, but any service that guarantees reviews is likely to be unethical in some way.

This service is similar to NetGalley, only not nearly as expensive -- the tradeoff is that involves a little more legwork for the author (but not much more, really). I view it as a major convenience. Contacting people who review similar books to (general) yours on Amazon is an effective way to get legitimate reviews, but I've never done it before because it's just daunting to sort through all those reviewers and gather relevant contact information.

This has been a major time-saver for me. Even if it doesn't result in a lot of reviews, I already have some new fans through these contacts, and they'll hopefully go on to read and review other books I publish (and I even have one who's now reviewing my backlist, after burning through the book I requested a review for last night  ).

In these ways, it's a solid and very useful service.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Jolie du Pre said:


> THIS.
> 
> Until it's an actual review, the "Yes, I'll leave you a review" doesn't mean a damn thing.


That's 100% true. That's why I usually let authors who ask about the results know that they shouldn't expect more than 30% of the people who said "Yes, I'll leave a review" to actually publish it. If you follow up with them once or twice, maybe you'll reach 40-50%, but usually no more than that.

S.W. - thank you for your kind words. And yes, it's also a good way to have a more direct way of interacting with your fans, which is always valuable.


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## Josef (Jul 29, 2015)

Martin, thank you for replying to my email to explain that Autobiographies are not part of your review service offer.  I'll keep plugging away the old fashioned way but steer clear of the paid ones!


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Sure, good luck. We usually accept 99% of books, but in some cases it's not possible or the results won't be worth the money, so we'd rather not perform the service at all.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

The review copies went to people who had offered to read and review on Friday. You can check the results here for yourself: The Templar's Cross: A Medieval Mystery. It is a matter of opinion that I think people should judge for themselves whether it's worth the money or not. Personally I feel that for a novel out less than a week it is quite satisfactory.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

JRTomlin - 8 reviews right now. Looking good!

By the way, I posted a new article on the site: Can You Succeed without Marketing Your Books?

I think you'll find it interesting.


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## Cxxxxxxx (May 30, 2015)

I wish I had known about this before publishing my first book. Six weeks out I'm struggling to get reviews. I might just try it anyway.

I do have a question: I'm writing a series and plan to launch the second book in January. I'd love to line up some advance reviews, but worry about sending them the second book when they haven't read the first. I do plan to include a synopsis of the first book for those readers, though I think the impact will be diminished. Am I better off finding reviewers for the first book now, then going back to those who reviewed and liked it for the second book? Or is that too pushy? 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Definitely start with the first book. Most reviewers won't be interested in reading the second part if they haven't read the first part.


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## Cxxxxxxx (May 30, 2015)

Ok, that makes sense. Hopefully I find a few avid readers who don't mind plowing through two large fantasy tomes in a short amount of time. You are now on my to-do list!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

In general, the longer the book is, the more difficult it is to find potential reviewers (because of the time commitment). However, your book has a pretty good cover and seems like a high-quality product, so it's possible it won't be such a challenge for you. Still, just to be upfront with you, authors writing shorter books usually have a much easier time getting yeses (especially in romance).


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

mkb said:


> JRTomlin - 8 reviews right now. Looking good!
> 
> By the way, I posted a new article on the site: Can You Succeed without Marketing Your Books?
> 
> I think you'll find it interesting.


Seven of the eight reviews are from your list. One is from a Vine reviewer who had reviewed me in the past. I consider that good results.

One question, I am considering doing a follow up email to those who haven't posted reviews. Any suggestions about what to say? I don't want to sound pushy or aggressive.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

I usually just write something like "Hey, I wanted to follow up and ask if you had a chance to read my book." Doesn't sound pushy, but makes it clear why I'm asking.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Thanks. I'll give that a try.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

A client suggested that we start offering a similar service for GoodReads (by searching for similar books and finding people who post positive, helpful reviews). Would you be interested in such a service or do you stay away from GoodReads?


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I don't 'stay away' but I never personally found Goodreads reviews particularly helpful. That may just me me, of course.


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## Seneca77 (Aug 17, 2015)

Just a couple stupid questions 'cause this is all new to me. 

BookRazor supplies me with names and email addresses of people who could possibly review my book...are these folks just average people who have left other reviews on Amazon or are they book bloggers? When I look at existing people who have already reviewed my book, I don't see email addresses for them...

How do I get my book to them? Do I "gift" it to them? I can't see how to do that without it costing me the retail price of my book...

What's in it for the reviewer? Why would they do this, other than getting what I have to assume is a free book...

Sorry for the "dense" questions. It *sounds* like a valuable service, I just need to more fully understand how it works.

Thank you!
- Bob


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

JRTomlin - yes, that's also my experience. And it's much more difficult to avoid negative reviews (GoodReads reviewers are much harsher than people on Amazon).

Seneca77:

*BookRazor supplies me with names and email addresses of people who could possibly review my book...are these folks just average people who have left other reviews on Amazon or are they book bloggers? When I look at existing people who have already reviewed my book, I don't see email addresses for them...*

They are mostly regular people who have left reviews of similar books. Some of them are book bloggers, sometimes you'll also get a top100/top1000 reviewer, but in general these are regular readers without any large following. Few people share their email address on their reviewer profile, so that's why you couldn't see it when checking your reviews. In general, we have to browse through hundreds to thousands reviews to get 50+ names.

*How do I get my book to them? Do I "gift" it to them? I can't see how to do that without it costing me the retail price of my book...*

You email them a digital copy. I recommend sending it in .epub, .mobi, and .pdf. The review won't be verified, but it's not going to get removed (it's much more likely in the case of gifting books).

*What's in it for the reviewer? Why would they do this, other than getting what I have to assume is a free book...*

That's pretty much it. They enjoy getting books for free and they enjoy reviewing them.


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

Just an update on my results from BookRazor's service.

I sent about 100 emails out about a month ago. I got 26 replies. Of those 19 were interested in reviewing. From those 19, I got 7 reviews so far.

All the reviews were positive and 5 of them were 5 stars which speaks well of the BookRazor tactic of selecting reviewers from the pool of those who have favorably reviewed similar books.

Overall, delighted with the service. Would recommend and use again.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Fantastic. Thanks for sharing, David!


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## hulklogan (Jul 13, 2015)

Unfortunately, my experience with BookRazr has not been as positive... to be clear the service is a great idea, turn around time acceptable, and communication good. 

As for the reviews, however, my conversion rate has been poor. Out of 60 people that I emailed, only 6 bothered replying to my email, two of which were maybes with respect to whether they would read and review the free book (time constraints, etc). I am optimistic about the other four, but nothing as of yet (~1.5 weeks after emailing).

How long should I wait before emailing a follow-up to those that have yet to respond?


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Seneca77 said:


> Just a couple stupid questions 'cause this is all new to me.
> 
> BookRazor supplies me with names and email addresses of people who could possibly review my book...are these folks just average people who have left other reviews on Amazon or are they book bloggers? When I look at existing people who have already reviewed my book, I don't see email addresses for them...
> 
> ...


They are people who have reviewed in the past AND have an email address in their profile, which most reviewers don't. Finding reviewers with a public email address is a huge chore which I am willing to turn over to someone else. A few are also bloggers, but most are simply Amazon reviewers. I gifted them which is the expensive way to go but makes it easier for the reviewer to load the book. A lot of people, I believe, send a mobi file. They can of course side-load files to their Kindle but that assumes they know how to do that although it's easy. Either works.

Obviously, getting a free book in a genre you enjoy reading (or you probably wouldn't have reviewed it in the past) is a big draw.

ETA: I sent out the review copies on Aug 7 and as of today, the 25th, I have 11 reviews posted from people I sent copies.

ETA: Allowing for getting the 'royalty' back on the novels I gifted, I don't consider the cost to be that high, but it's a matter of preference. I wanted to make reading the novel as easy as possible for the reviewer to increase results.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

hulklogan - thank you for sharing your experience. Was it for fiction or non-fiction? Which genre? You can email me and I'll check the list to see if there's anything we could have done better. Also, if you believe the service wasn't worth the money, just let me know and I'll give you a full refund.

As for your question, I never follow up with people who didn't reply to my first email because I think it's a bit too intrusive (after all, you're a stranger). I only follow up with people who had replied to my first email and didn't post their review by the deadline.


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## hulklogan (Jul 13, 2015)

It would be dishonest of me to ask for a refund, as I believe that you guys provide the service pretty much exactly as outlined.

My genre was 'Horror/Thriller'.  

I thought I put together a compelling pitch, and this was actually mentioned by two of the six that replied. Not sure why it never gained the traction I expected. FYI most of the few replies I got came within the first day or so, with only two trickling in at around the 1 week mark. I doubt that someone will email this late after receiving, but you never know.  

My thoughts about following up would be to confirm that I am not a bot/it wasn't a SPAM email. 

Pat


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

That just shows that nothing works for everyone, I think. I don't know if hulklogan just hasn't put books in his sig (some people don't) or only has one out. I do suspect that having a number of novels out may improve results, not exactly fair but the way it goes. In my pitch, I mentioned that although I had written a number of historical novels that this was my first historical mystery which emphasized (I thought subtly) that I wasn't a new author. I know at least a few checked my other books, because they mentioned it. It is really hard to tell what will work.


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## hulklogan (Jul 13, 2015)

JRTomlin said:


> That just shows that nothing works for everyone, I think. I don't know if hulklogan just hasn't put books in his sig (some people don't) or only has one out. I do suspect that having a number of novels out may improve results, not exactly fair but the way it goes. In my pitch, I mentioned that although I had written a number of historical novels that this was my first historical mystery which emphasized (I thought subtly) that I wasn't a new author. I know at least a few checked my other books, because they mentioned it. It is really hard to tell what will work.


Yeah, just one book (but a short story + another book on pre-order)... could be a factor.

Didn't mean to slander the service by any means--it was exactly as advertised--just didn't work for me.

Pat


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

I appreciate your honesty, Pat.

I know that some genres don't work as well as others. Horror in general is difficult to pull off for self-published authors. The best results usually come from romance authors (one author had 16 reviews from sending just 48 emails).


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## CDForness (Nov 25, 2013)

mkb, are you using the software Book Review Targeter?

EDIT: Auto-correct put mob, instead of mkb, sorry.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

CDF - no, we don't use it. As far as I know, it only collects email addresses and names, and we give you more: name, similar book reviewed, email address and reviewer profile (so you can verify it's a real person), plus we check things this software doesn't, like:

- checking only positive reviews
- checking if the reviewer is active (a review in the last 12 months)
- checking if the reviewer reviews self-published works (by reading the bio)

By the way, I added a new page on the site, "Partners," with discounts for our clients: http://www.bookrazor.com/partners/

So far, we have a discount for instaFreebie which makes it easy to deliver your advance reader copies. Let me know which services you use and would like to get a discount, and I'll see what I can do to offer it to our clients.


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## katiemeyer (Oct 23, 2014)

Anyone who has had success willing to post a sample email, of how they ask for the review?


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## BWFoster78 (Jun 18, 2015)

katiemeyer said:


> Anyone who has had success willing to post a sample email, of how they ask for the review?


Katie,

I didn't use the advertised service, but I followed the same tactic by manually finding reviewers with their email addresses listed. (That was quite the slog! I understand why the service is offered. Perhaps when I'm actually published and bringing in money ...)

My very first email got a positive response:



> Name Redacted,
> 
> I hope it's okay to email you like this.
> 
> ...


Once I get actual reviews, I'll post a thread about my experience.

Hope this was what you were looking for.

Brian


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## katiemeyer (Oct 23, 2014)

thank you! Yes!



BWFoster78 said:


> Katie,
> 
> I didn't use the advertised service, but I followed the same tactic by manually finding reviewers with their email addresses listed. (That was quite the slog! I understand why the service is offered. Perhaps when I'm actually published and bringing in money ...)
> 
> ...


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks BWFoster78 - that's a good review request.

Katie, I emailed you another template.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

hulklogan said:


> Yeah, just one book (but a short story + another book on pre-order)... could be a factor.
> 
> Didn't mean to slander the service by any means--it was exactly as advertised--just didn't work for me.
> 
> Pat


It's not slander to tell the truth. I didn't mean to criticise your comment; was just speculating on possible reasons for the difference.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

katiemeyer said:


> Anyone who has had success willing to post a sample email, of how they ask for the review?


Sure. Why not?



> Hi,
> 
> I saw that you reviewed Oliver Potzsch's The Hangman's Daughter, and since my new novel is also a historical mystery, although set in Scotland, I thought you might consider reading and posting an honest review. To be frank, in the past my novels have been 'straight' historical fiction rather than historical mysteries, but as a fan of the sub-genre, I hope I may have something to offer. The Templar's Cross is still on pre-order on Amazon but will be released this Friday, August 7.
> 
> ...


ETA: By the way, the sales on this started out pretty good but have slipped pretty severely. Ah well. I've been told that mysteries don't tend to do well until there is a series so... more work to do.


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## katiemeyer (Oct 23, 2014)

So, so far I've emailed 22 people, and within a few hours I have 5 people saying yes. We will see who actually reviews, although two of the five had had actual conversations with me now, about more than just the review, so maybe that will help 

I've also gotten their permission to add them to my mailchimp list for my advance reviewers, so I can send everyone a reminder the day the book is released.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

That's great to hear, Katie. Good luck!


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Just thought I'd mention that not only did I just get a new review but it also happens to be by a review blogger: Top 10 Book Review. While it's not one with a huge following, every little bit helps.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks for sharing! In some genres book bloggers are much more active in others (like romance), so that's a bonus if you write in these genres.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

There are few book bloggers who are active in historical fiction and those who are tend to concentrate on trade books so even a small blogger is a bit of a victory. This is actually the second blogger who did a review, so I definitely am pleased about that.


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## katiemeyer (Oct 23, 2014)

JRTomlin said:


> Just thought I'd mention that not only did I just get a new review but it also happens to be by a review blogger: Top 10 Book Review. While it's not one with a huge following, every little bit helps.


I also ended up with a few people that had blogs. I think at last count I'm up to 14 people that agreed to do reviews, and 3 of them have romance blogs.


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## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

I'll share my results here too, in the spirit of hopefully being helpful. 

I sent requests to a list of 50 names. This is the email I sent:

Subject: Book review request: Terminal Consent (a thriller)

Email body:

Hi [reviewer's name / used first name when possible],

I saw that you've reviewed [book similar to mine]. I'm the author of *Terminal Consent*, a crime thriller with similar themes to [book previously mentioned] - including [appropriate themes, e.g. conspiracies, murder, and vigilante justice] - that I think you'd enjoy.

Would you be interested in getting a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review?

Here's a little about *Terminal Consent*:

*How do you stop a killer when the victims are desperate to die?*

_Special Forces soldier Captain Ozzy Stone served four years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Now released to pick up the broken pieces of his life, the ex-soldier turned convict returns home to a nasty surprise: his former cellmate and mortal enemy, elite hacker Roman Blade, who's in charge of security at the BDSM fantasy club where Stone's just been hired as a bouncer.

But when a killer kidnaps a young woman who works at the club -- and someone's playing pin-the-blame on the ex-cons -- Stone and Blade are forced to work together to clear their names. Their reluctant partnership uncovers an organized network of voluntary death by torture, wrapped in a conspiracy that penetrates the top levels of the military.

And time is running out as they race to rescue a woman who doesn't want to be saved.
_
Here's what a few other reviewers have said:

"Two ex-cons, a fetish club, a sexy boss, and a secret operation catering to twisted minds. Combine all these elements together and you have the makings of a fast-paced thriller."

"I really enjoyed this and couldn't put it aside... I'll be first in line for the next release!"

If you're interested in receiving a free digital copy of *Terminal Consent* in exchange for your honest review, simply reply to this email and let me know your preferred reading format: PDF, ePub, or Mobi (for Kindle).

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this email.

Best,
S.W. Vaughn

Author of *Terminal Consent*

---------

My request email was a bit longer than standard because I wanted to include the full blurb plus a few positive reviews, for social proof and all.  I did format it the way it appears with the bolded title, and also linked the title to the Amazon listing on first mention and after my name.

I had 24 positive responses from the initial email (yes, will review) and so far 8 have posted reviews on Amazon... all positive, 4- and 5- star reviews. I may follow up with the people who agreed to review but have not yet (politely, of course!  ) this coming week, just to see if any more reviews come through.

Overall, I had a very positive experience with BookRazor and I'll be coming back when I finish book 2 of this series.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Great results, S.W.! Thanks for sharing.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks for your updates, Sue.

Authors who want to exchange reviews sometimes happen, but they usually don't complain if you politely tell them you don't do review exchanges.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Several of my reviewers also had books out and none asked for a quid pro quo, so I wouldn't necessarily screen those out.


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## EricDallaire (May 9, 2015)

Looks promising, I signed up to check it out.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks Eric, I replied to you.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Just wanted to post a quick update. I've just added the tenth testimonial on the site: http://www.bookrazor.com/testimonials/. So far we've had over 120 clients, a great majority of whom were satisfied with their results (only just a few people got back to us telling us the service didn't work well for them - we offer a 100% refund or perform the service again if we can fix the situation this way).

Genres that work best include romance and erotica, but in general popular genre fiction works well. Non-fiction works, too, but we usually can't find more than 50-100 names, while we usually can find over 100 for fiction.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2015)

Most of my reviewers are not from BookRazor, but I did get an enthusiastic BookRazor reviewer who will likely read everything I write.  My goal is to get 1,000 readers like her.  So thanks for getting me a little bit closer to my goal.  It will take time, but I'm in this for life.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Hi,
Do you find reviewers for children's and teen books?


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Jolie du Pre said:


> It will take time, but I'm in this for life.


That's the spirit!



Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Hi,
> Do you find reviewers for children's and teen books?


Yes, we've had a few authors of children's books as well as YA. As long as you can give us 5-10 books with 200+ reviews, we can help.

By the way, a client has just posted a very useful article with nine great tips about how he used our service to reach out to potential reviewers: http://authorjourneyto100k.com/how-to-get-amazon-book-reviews-with-book-razor/


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## baldricko (Mar 14, 2014)

Martin at BookRazor gets two thumbs up from me. 

He provides real value for money. In fact its a great deal. I don't know how he manages to keep the price for his service so low. I received the data within three days as he stated I would, and he responds to inquiries, in a day or two, but in general he is very helpful.

I found BookRazor did an excellent job matching up my books with similar reviewed books. I was really impressed with the match-ups. I started posting review requests out a few days ago. There was an initial burst of replies. They are still trickling in. 

I will post an update later on when I can properly assess the results. But I gotta say, it's looking good. I'm happy.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thank you for your kind words!


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## Piers Platt (Mar 27, 2014)

Posting my own experience:
-Asked for 200 names, but initial analysis only yielded 159, so Martin promptly refunded me the additional money I had paid
-Martin provides an excellent template email for you to work off of to draft your request email, along with some helpful tips
-I've had good response, I think: 35 "Yes," 6 "No, thanks," 6 invalid emails (no fault of Martin's), and the rest haven't replied...that means 22% agreed to read and review it. How many will follow through...? We'll see.  Based on prior experience with a similar service, I'd be surprised if most of them do not post eventually.
-Based on replies, I get the sense most of these folks are used to these requests...something to keep an eye on, this population may get burned out on too many requests in time. That also means you need to plan ahead - many folks will add you to their "to be read" pile...but that puts your review several weeks or even months out
-10 of the 35 "Yes" responses I received came from other authors. Which leads to a little awkwardness, IMO...I'm asking them for a review, but not offering one in return (which would violate Amazon's TOS, besides the fact that I just don't review other books). It would be nearly impossible to weed them out before emailing them, so I'm not sure there's a solution here...just something to be aware of.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thank you for sharing your experience, Piers.

By the way, something has changed on Amazon and now instead of displaying email addresses of people who have chosen to display them publicly it says "Send an Email." Consequently, we can't perform the service (there's no email address to collect). We'll watch how the situation unfolds over the next 24-48 hours (currently the link "send an email" doesn't work, or at least doesn't work for me). If this change is permanent, we won't be able to provide the service any longer.


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## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

mkb said:


> Thank you for sharing your experience, Piers.
> 
> By the way, something has changed on Amazon and now instead of displaying email addresses of people who have chosen to display them publicly it says "Send an Email." Consequently, we can't perform the service (there's no email address to collect). We'll watch how the situation unfolds over the next 24-48 hours (currently the link "send an email" doesn't work, or at least doesn't work for me). If this change is permanent, we won't be able to provide the service any longer.


Man, that sucks.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

That is really too bad because I found your service effective and useful. 

ETA: The 'send an email' link doesn't work for me either.


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## Jane Killick (Aug 29, 2014)

Yeah, echoing what people above said. I have a book coming out and NOW was the time I was going to contact reviewers. All on hold now


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

The link not working cannot be the site performing as intended. Will you be able to perform the service once that link works?

Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk


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## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

Jane Killick said:


> Yeah, echoing what people above said. I have a book coming out and NOW was the time I was going to contact reviewers. All on hold now


Same


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## Dhayaa Anbajagane (Feb 23, 2014)

mkb said:


> Thank you for sharing your experience, Piers.
> 
> By the way, something has changed on Amazon and now instead of displaying email addresses of people who have chosen to display them publicly it says "Send an Email." Consequently, we can't perform the service (there's no email address to collect). We'll watch how the situation unfolds over the next 24-48 hours (currently the link "send an email" doesn't work, or at least doesn't work for me). If this change is permanent, we won't be able to provide the service any longer.


The 'send an email' option seems to still provide the email. But now it directly opens up the reviewer's email ID in your account (gmail, outlook etc.) as a new "compose" email. You could copy the email from here for your list building services, but of course this system would be much harder to work with than the previous system.

Really hope you guys don't close down 
Fingers crossed!


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Thank you for your support. I appreciate it.

Cherise, if it starts working, we can perform the service. If there's no way to access the email address, we can't (at least not while looking for reviewers on Amazon).

Dhayaa - in which browser? It doesn't even display a link in Internet Explorer and as far as I know it also doesn't work in Google Chrome. In Firefox I can see the link, but it's not working (and I have Thunderbird that normally opens up for mailto links).

Edit: we've found a way to perform our sevice again, so feel free to place your orders. We have a backlog due to these problems, but should get back to normal soon.


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## Daniel W. Koch (Aug 14, 2010)

I, too, found the service excellent.
I emailed my 100 reviewers, got a good response from about 18.
No reviews as yet.

I would like to do a follow up, can anyone suggest how to word that without sounding too pushy?

And I'm really glad you can continue this service, Martin, as I plan to use it again soon!

Daniel W Koch


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

mkb said:


> Edit: we've found a way to perform our sevice again, so feel free to place your orders. We have a backlog due to these problems, but should get back to normal soon.


Great news! This is an effective, ethical and reasonably priced service.

Well done!

Philip


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Daniel W. Koch said:


> I, too, found the service excellent.
> I emailed my 100 reviewers, got a good response from about 18.
> No reviews as yet.
> 
> ...


Thank you, Daniel.

As for the follow up, I just write something like "Just wanted to touch base and ask if you had a chance to read my book." Nothing pushy - just a soft nudge.

Thank you, Philip. I appreciate it.


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## mkb (Nov 9, 2014)

Effective starting today, BookRazor has a new owner.

I'm no longer the owner of the site (nor am responsible for any functions), but I have made sure that the new owner has everything he needs to keep running the service as before, so if you need more reviews, place your order today.

While I can't speak of the new owner's long-term plans, for now *the service will function exactly the same as before with the same name, prices and a behind-the-scenes team performing the service.*

I want to say thanks to all of the authors I had the chance to interact with on this forum and wish you good luck with your self-publishing career!

The new owner will use his own account to reply to any of your posts.


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

Hi! I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Dane, and I am the new owner of BookRazor. 

Martin is a standout individual, and he has been nothing less than incredible during this transition. I do realize I have some large shoes to fill, but rest assured that there will be no interruption of service and no price increases of any sort in the foreseeable future. I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you for the trust and support you've given to BookRazor thus far, and I promise I'll do my best to make it even better.

Kind regards,

Dane


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## BWFoster78 (Jun 18, 2015)

Dane,

Last week, I tried using Bookrazor for the first time, submitting a request for 50 names.  I haven't heard anything since.  Just wanted to make sure that I didn't somehow screw up the submission.

Thanks.


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

Hi BW! I just sent you a message regarding the above. It must have happened while our site was being transferred.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

bookrazor said:


> Hi! I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Dane, and I am the new owner of BookRazor.
> 
> Martin is a standout individual, and he has been nothing less than incredible during this transition. I do realize I have some large shoes to fill, but rest assured that there will be no interruption of service and no price increases of any sort in the foreseeable future. I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you for the trust and support you've given to BookRazor thus far, and I promise I'll do my best to make it even better.
> 
> ...


Welcome to KBoards Dane and I hope you do well with running the service. I have had nothing but good results so far. Ironically, particularly gratifying have been the responses from reviewers declining to take up my request. Without exception those responses have been polite and encouraging. I haven't had one responder who objected to being contacted and the 10% to 15% who do post reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.

So keep up the good, useful, ethical and reasonably priced work!

Philip


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

Thank you for the kind words and warm welcome, Philip! I'm very impressed with the way Martin had set up his service. The transition period has been quite fun and exciting! 

My first goal is to reduce the turnaround time for all orders. It will never be instant because all our work is manually researched, but I think I can get it down to 4 days on average for all new orders. I'm crossing my fingers here and hoping I don't break my first promise to this community, but so far, I've been on track to meet that with all new orders placed within the past 3 days.

My second goal is to spend more time qualifying each reviewer. Our team will be looking at not just the recency of product reviews for each reviewer (each reviewer has to have been active within the past 6 months in order to be added to a client list), but also specifically what those products were. In other words, we wouldn't include a reviewer in your report if he had reviewed something within the past 6 months, yet the only items reviewed were kitchen products. BookRazor's modus operandi has always been "quality over quantity," and I want to enhance that even further. I think stringently qualified leads elicit a higher rate of response. Moving forward, we will also screen reviewers based on their review frequency, as well as screen based on their average rating for all products they've reviewed.

I'd also like to include reviewer accolades in our spreadsheets, so you know who is a Vine Voice, Top 100/Top 1000 Reviewer, and/or Hall of Fame-r.

Cheers,
Dane


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

bookrazor said:


> Thank you for the kind words and warm welcome, Philip! I'm very impressed with the way Martin had set up his service. The transition period has been quite fun and exciting!
> 
> My first goal is to reduce the turnaround time for all orders. It will never be instant because all our work is manually researched, but I think I can get it down to 4 days on average for all new orders. I'm crossing my fingers here and hoping I don't break my first promise to this community, but so far, I've been on track to meet that with all new orders placed within the past 3 days.
> 
> ...


You're welcome.

One thing you might look at regarding 'quality' of reviewers you send us is whether they have reviewed ebooks or hardcopy books. Since we send potential reviewers only our ebooks, we don't want to bother reviewers who only read paper books. I've had several reviewers write back (very politely) to say they only read and review paper books.

Philip


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## hulklogan (Jul 13, 2015)

Now I think I _definitely _did something wrong... has everyone had success with BookRazor?

I had only about 6 replies, one of which I sent a paperback copy as per request, and yet had NO reviews.

Time to try it again?


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

@Philip - I've actually already begun doing that with clients who send really good book samples with lots of reviewers. Sending us e-book links whenever possible helps, too.

@HulkLogan - (I chuckle whenever I see your s/n, haha) Let me know what seems to be wrong via PM or email. I can take a look at what Martin provided you in the past, and troubleshoot from there.


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

Man, I'm sorry everyone. It's really hard to turn everything around in 48 hours. I'm going to have to edit the average turnaround time to 3-6 days. This is still faster than the 5-10 days it was before.


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## Trans-Human (Apr 22, 2015)

Josef said:


> mkb, on your site you say "Paying for reviews is prohibited and unethical." The only review I've been able to get so far was paid for. $87


You were ripped off my friend. Back in the day when I was doing paid reviews it was a $1 or 1.5$ per title, depending on length and/or subject matter (fic or non-fic made great difference). Most were honest reviews (though paid), so somebody robbed you of 58 reviews for your book by giving you one for that high a price.

Never use paid review services, even if people offer honest feedback for the money. The price is either too high or not everyone will deliver a good sounding review, even if they read the book. Considering a portion of my history I just disclosed to you plastered with a warning all over it - you should stick to organic review farming strategies, no matter how hard the book makes it seem that it fails at garnering them.


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

Our new website is now live, and we accept payment via credit cards now, too! Thank you to everyone here who supported us this last year!

Kind regards,
Dane


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## jhstone (Mar 18, 2016)

Hello. Just wanted to offer some feedback on this service. I purchased the 50-reviewer package and received a list of names within five days. Out of seven responses, three have already left positive reviews, two said they were currently reviewing other books but would take a look when able, and one asked for money (I didn't respond). The last ended up being another author wanting to trade reviews, which I declined.

On the plus side, no one answered back with anything nasty to say! I thought the whole process was very simple, and Dane was helpful throughout. I recommend the service, even if my results were less than stellar (to be fair, I believe my low number of responses could have been a result of choosing the wrong books to draw potential reviewers from). Given the low cost, I'd be willing to use them in the future.

- Joe


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## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

Just ordered for my 4/20 release.


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## Trans-Human (Apr 22, 2015)

jhstone said:


> Hello. Just wanted to offer some feedback on this service. I purchased the 50-reviewer package and received a list of names within five days. Out of seven responses, three have already left positive reviews, two said they were currently reviewing other books but would take a look when able, and one asked for money (I didn't respond). The last ended up being another author wanting to trade reviews, which I declined.
> 
> On the plus side, no one answered back with anything nasty to say! I thought the whole process was very simple, and Dane was helpful throughout. I recommend the service, even if my results were less than stellar (to be fair, I believe my low number of responses could have been a result of choosing the wrong books to draw potential reviewers from). Given the low cost, I'd be willing to use them in the future.
> 
> - Joe


Hi Joe

Glad you think the service was worth it.

I hope BookRazor takes notice of some of your experiences and tackles the matter. I'm talking about the review trader thing and the one asking for money. If it's not a bother it would be nice if you report the email addresses of those people and explain what happened so that they can be removed from BookRazor's archive of reviewers as those are not the rules that apply, neither for the service nor for Amazon.


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## Chinese Writer (Mar 25, 2014)

I ordered a set of 50 names back in December. To date, I've only gotten one review even though a dozen people replied back that they would like a review copy of my book. Several replied back to say my book sounds interesting, but their TBR pile was too long. So while I believe this could be a good service, I think the Amazon reviewers who have their email listed on their review profile are getting more than enough offers for free books in exchange for a review. 

For these kind of emails, canned emails from your email provider are a time saver. I just change the recipient's name so it sounds personal.


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## mmandolin (Oct 16, 2014)

artan said:


> So while I believe this could be a good service, I think the Amazon reviewers who have their emailed listed on their review profile are getting more than enough offers for free books in exchange for a review.


Agreed. The "review market" on Amazon is now so saturated. It's very different than 12-18 months ago.

Top reviewers, or those with listed emails, are far less likely than before to review or even respond to your review requests.


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

@jhstone - Thank you for the kind words!

@PatriceWilliamsMarks - Thank you for the order! 

@Schrödinger's Cat - We don't actually save any of the information, nor do we ever re-use any of our lists, but I would be more than happy to keep a running log of "Do Not Contact" reviewers to cross-reference against each order. 

@artan - I'm sorry to hear that. There's a special place for kBoard members within BookRazor. Would you be willing to send me an email with your order to see if there is anything I can do to help you further?

@mmandolin - One of the things we've recently started to incorporate with larger orders is a field we call "Accolades." A client can see if a reviewer is a VINE VOICE, TOP 500, HALL OF FAME-r, or what have you. A client can also ask to purposely NOT include reviewers with these accolades on their list, so their email outreach only goes to normal reviewers. These tend to be less laden with product review requests, and generally are not on such high a horse as some VINE VOICE-ers  may be. Based on what our clients report to us, we've seen higher response rates with this.


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## mmandolin (Oct 16, 2014)

bookrazor said:


> @mmandolin - One of the things we've recently started to incorporate with larger orders is a field we call "Accolades." A client can see if a reviewer is a VINE VOICE, TOP 500, HALL OF FAME-r, or what have you. A client can also ask to purposely NOT include reviewers with these accolades on their list, so their email outreach only goes to normal reviewers. These tend to be less laden with product review requests, and generally are not on such high a horse as some VINE VOICE-ers may be. Based on what our clients report to us, we've seen higher response rates with this.


Dane - good call, that's a nice option. And I don't mean to be critical of your service - it works, I've used it - my larger point is it's much harder to get those top reviewers to review books than it used to be not that long ago. I assume they're swamped with requests. And I've noticed that many "normal" reviewers also seem overwhelmed with review requests, at least in my experience. But I think BookRazor still works; it's just not as easy to get reviews as it once was. Cheers - Tim


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

Nothing wrong with a paid review service if set up within Amazon's TOC, so I applaud the OP. 

For those with no budget at all and no reviews, expecially for the UK as the site is based in the UK,I have used bookhippo who provide a FREE review service. Their only requirement in addition to book and author details, is that you list your professional editor of the book with a link to their site.

Their reviewers request copies from bookhippo and bookhippo send you their email for you to send your ARC. I'm guessing it is an auto function, so it costs them nothing

I had 10 request copies and from that I got four reviews, one of them a netgally reviewer and she posted the review on her site, besides Amazon UK and .com, and goodreads, so that's not bad considering I didn't pester any of them who didn't review. They leave it on site for 30 days, but you can re-apply.

Alternatively they have a new release section, which again costs nothing. 

Their philosophy is that for their ordinary promotions, you have to have reviews. They appreciate that with especially new releases this is not possible, so their review section is like a kindergarten for books. Every credit to them for not charging, but of course once you have the reviews, you can use their paid promotions for the UK, so really they are paying it forward for themselves and helping authors in the process.


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2016)

Oh, thanks for that reminder.  I'd forgotten Book Hippo had that service and I'd been meaning to list my books there.  Was a good reminder to update my profile and book pages too ;-)


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## Bricks (May 25, 2016)

Hey Everybody, hope you guys are all doing well. I'm interested in the BookRazor service, but I only see people giving feedback that have written fiction books. So I was wondering if would make sense to use the service with non-fiction books. My book helps people position themselves online in becoming the go-to person in their industry. Has anybody had any luck with non-fiction books, specifically in the marketing niche?


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## bookrazor (Nov 20, 2015)

Hi Bricks,

Dane here from BookRazor. 

Actually, a decent number of our clients do use our service for self-help and other instructional books. Several of our long-time repeat clients have a multitude of these types of titles. They've publicly posted reviews, but may have left out their niche(s) on purpose in order to protect themselves.

Cheers,
Dane


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## ilamont (Jul 14, 2012)

Bricks said:


> I'm interested in the BookRazor service, but I only see people giving feedback that have written fiction books. So I was wondering if would make sense to use the service with non-fiction books. My book helps people position themselves online in becoming the go-to person in their industry. Has anybody had any luck with non-fiction books, specifically in the marketing niche?


Bricks: I have had a very good response rate with multiple Bookrazor campaigns, all of them nonfiction. For Lean Media I think out of the 60 or 70 names we contacted about 10 responded positively (most asking for print copies, a few for PDF or Mobi). Not all of them will translate to reviews, but if at least three do provide reviews over the next month I will consider the campaign a success. For many campaigns, the titles we publish have received up to 5 or 6 reviews, but a few of them only received one or two. Not all reviews are positive, either.

A lot of this depends on the author, in terms of 1) identifying other titles whose Amazon reviewers will likely be interested in checking out the book being offered 2) putting together a good query letter and following up in a polite and timely manner and 3) writing a great book that looks professional.

Another step which I sometimes miss is starting the campaign at least a month or two before the publication date. I sometimes forget, but often I am unable to have print copies ready that far in advance (my company works on a very short production timelines).

Good luck with your book!

Ian

ETA: Added the fact that all campaigns are nonfiction


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## Bricks (May 25, 2016)

@ BookRazor - Thanks for the heads up. Went ahead and ordered. Looking forward in posting a successful outcome.  

@ ilamont - Appreciate your feedback Ian, thanks. By the way, you mentioned a "good query letter". What makes a query letter good? I presume it starts with the email having a inciting subject line. Do you fallow a specific outline for all of your books? Or do you write a query letter for each individual book? And would you please give me an idea what you consider as a healthy timeline, with fallowing up with the readers? 
What do you say, so its stays polite and does not feel pushy?
Once again thanks for your time.


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## ilamont (Jul 14, 2012)

Bricks said:


> @ ilamont - Appreciate your feedback Ian, thanks. By the way, you mentioned a "good query letter". What makes a query letter good? I presume it starts with the email having a inciting subject line. Do you fallow a specific outline for all of your books? Or do you write a query letter for each individual book? And would you please give me an idea what you consider as a healthy timeline, with fallowing up with the readers?


To reiterate, the people we are reaching out to have chosen to display a link to their email addresses on their Amazon profile to "Allow others to contact you directly." We are only contacting those who have shown an interest in similar titles.

We are very careful not to include links or the word "free" in any communications, because it may trigger a spam filter and sully our domains. We also do not add people to any mailing list or automated follow-up system. We never, ever ask for five-star or positive reviews.

For the query letter, I used an outline that's similar to what's shown on the Bookrazor website. I have a virtual assistant handle the outreach, and we track the results in Google Sheets. Here's the basic outline:



> SUBJECT LINE: Review copy of [title]?
> 
> Hello XXXX,
> 
> ...


If there is no response to the initial outreach, we don't follow up - it's clear they are not interested and we don't want to bother them.

If there is a positive response, then within a few days we let them know the copy is in the mail or send them a link to download the PDF or mobi version. Most ask for printed copies. If you only offer ebook versions, you will get fewer positive responses.

Sometimes the reviewers let us know that it's posted, other times we see it ourselves. For people who don't post a review, we usually follow up about a month later to ask if they have had a chance to read the book, and if so could they post a review. If they still don't respond, we don't push it.

We are grateful for any reviews we get, positive or otherwise. People are taking time out of their busy schedules to read our books and let other people know what they thought about them. The negative comments sometimes identify problems that can be corrected - for instance, the details in images are too small to see, or there is a typo on page 67 (we use copy editors but sometimes one or two minor things get through). Once, someone we contacted for a review put us in touch with a writer who he thought would be a good fit for our how-to guides. He is now one of our authors!

Overall, I think Bookrazor is a good service that helps us connect with Amazon reviewers who leave email addresses on their profile pages so they can be contacted. These campaigns have been effective for us.


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## Bricks (May 25, 2016)

I'm very thankful for you sharing your insight and the email template you use. 
Well appreciated


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