Social Media and the Review Crew
From Smart Bitches, Trashy Books:
There are some authors who are superb at engaging with readers through various forms of social media like Facebook, Twitter, or personalized email newsletters. Susan Mallery is one of those authors. Her Facebook page is always active. Like, umpty-thousand comments active. I’ve seen her ask or help naming characters’ children, or future heroes. A few months ago, she invited her readers to send a snapshot of themselves, which Mallery and her crew Photoshopped to add a picture of Mallery’s most recent book, making it look like the person was reading the book and peeking over the top. Readers were invited to use that as their photo on Facebook – which is just some savvy inclusive marketing like whoa.
Recently I noticed that she’d started a Review Crew, a group of dedicated readers who were invited to receive copies of her books in exchange for an honest review of the book itself.
. . . .
How would you like to receive an advanced copy of my books? I have a crazy idea… I want to put together a Review Crew, a group of readers who will get my books early – and for free – if they promise to post a review online. Nothing formal! I’m not talking about a long, drawn out review. I’m talking about a sentence or two. What does a real reader think about this book? What would you say to your best friend about it? (emphasis mine)
The world of publishing is changing. On sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, the number of reviews helps “goose” the website doohickey into showing my books more often in search results. (Yeah, doohickey. I’m not very techie. All I know is, the more reviews the better.)
Here’s the deal. I have 200 copies of ALREADY HOME to give away. ALREADY HOME was first released last year in trade paperback. It’s coming out next month in mass market paperback. If you’re picked for the Review Crew, we’ll send a copy of the book to you. Then, if you post a review on Amazon and BN.com, you’ll be invited to sign up for an advanced review copy of THREE SISTERS (Blackberry Island Book 2) if we do this again. And if you post a review of that, we just might do it again with the Fool’s Gold romances.
. . . .
Reviews are a tricky subject for authors and readers, and you’ve addressed the question of reviews directly by asking directly for reviews, explaining why they’re important to the books’ success, and inviting readers to join your Review Crew, wherein they receive a free copy of the book in exchange for leaving a review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Do I have that right?
Susan Mallery: Yes, but I’ll clarify. There’s no way I could send a free book to everyone who promised to write a review. We launched the Review Crew with the mass market paperback reissue of Already Home
in November. My publisher kindly provided me with 200 copies of the book, so we invited readers to submit their names to be included.
I was extremely nervous that we wouldn’t find 200 readers who were willing to commit to posting reviews on both Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com. . . and I was shocked and gratified when thousands of readers applied. The only fair thing to do was to choose at random, so that’s what we did. Everyone who followed through was invited to join the Review Crew for Three Sisters
, leaving us with a limited number of slots to fill.
More than 5,000 readers applied in the second round!
We chose at random and sent the book. This time, reviews must be posted during the first two weeks of release in order for them to receive an invitation to join the Review Crew for Just One Kiss (Fool’s Gold book 10). As long as the program continues, those readers who follow through will be invited to join the next Review Crew.
Link to the rest at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and thanks to Amy for the tip.
, Amazon will pay Passive Guy a small affiliate commission on any of your purchases.
Is it me, or does her wording of the offer,
“How would you like to receive an advanced copy of my books? I have a crazy idea… I want to put together a Review Crew, a group of readers who will get my books early – and for free – if they promise to post a review online. Nothing formal! I’m not talking about a long, drawn out review. I’m talking about a sentence or two. What does a real reader think about this book? What would you say to your best friend about it? “…
almost beg for a positive, 5* review?
And weed out in the next rounds anyone posting a less-than-stellar review?
Plus promise a free copy for people promising to leave reviews (later, in the first two weeks)?
Maybe I’m too sensitive, but it seems it would also set off Amazon algorithms.
Does it make anyone else uneasy?
I didn’t read it that way. I think any author who asks for reviews is obviously hoping for five-star reviews, but it didn’t seem like she was doing anything unethical there. I also don’t think the two week request was unethical. Now, if she is ruling out anyone who posts negative reviews in her Review Crew, that’s different, but I would think anyone who doesn’t normally like her books would be loathe to apply anyway (although I could be totally wrong).
P.G.
Sigh…
Fair play to the writer, but yikes, what a lot of grinding work on top of the grinding work of writing.
I was watching a small appearance on telly of a favourite singist of mine. She’s a pretty young thing, and it’s very clear she must make a bargain with the devil for publicity. She has to appear on these shows, being pretty, while the eejit presenter vomits some other guff, then she gets to present a little video plug of her record.
If one could find out how to infect something so that it would become, “viral.” My, that would be a trick.
brendan
Gave away ten copies at Goodreads. Three reviews, one five-star and one three-star–even though BOTH three-star reviewers liked the book a lot.
I’ve been reading here and elsewhere that when you give your book away for free, reviews tend to be pretty crappy. Looks like this author figured out how to game that system. Good luck to her.
It is a fundamental truth of human existence, verified by any number of psychological experiments, that we value things more when we have to give something up to get them.
When self-publishing becomes a money-making enterprise, no holds are barred. This falls under the category of “smart business”.
Agressive reviews gathering puts in doubt all reader reviews earned by less agressive authors to the point where readers now recommend eliminating all 5 star reviews from their consideration as probably engineered.
Greed ultimately spoils it for everyone.
I hand it to her for all the hard work she does–she’s also a good writer–and, truly, I wish I had the heart for hunting down reviews in such an organized fashion. I just have trouble asking for them so directly, so I light candles and pray instead. I think she’s doing the smarter thing…
5 star reviews should be saved for Shakespeare.
Old Bill was a sharp cookie, and a keen judge of the human condition, but most of his plots have big enough holes in them that I would knock off at least one star on grounds of overuse of stupid characters.
I’ve done giveaways at GR – provided up to 20 books to readers at my expense. Giveaways do generate some good will, however good reviews do not automatically generate sales.
This is different. First and foremost the publisher is providing 200 ARCs at no cost to the author. Most of us can’t afford this. Second, she is a well-known author with a huge fan base. Her fans want to participate in this feel-good project and they are likely to write positive reviews. This is a quid pro quo situation.
From my perspective as a writer I guess I have to say– if you got it, flaunt it. As a reader I am likely to ignore every one of those reviews.
I’m sorry, but I just don’t like this. It doesn’t feel clean to me. It feels like garnering positive reviews in exchange for money. A free book is money, at the heart of it.
It just feels wrong. And it’s not even necesssary. This author will sell without doing this.
I’m sure Mallory is a nice person with good intentions, but I think this was a wrong direction, and I hope she reconsiders.
“A free book is money, at the heart of it.”
No one has yet figured out how to get reviews without giving the reviewer a free copy of whatever it is they are supposed to review. If you think of a way to get around this, please apprise us of it.
Surely not, Peter. I suppose some believe that all reviews are paid for, perhaps you are one such, but I am not so cynical. I certainly hope that at least some of the reviews on Amazon are simply generated by readers who purchased the book, read it, enjoyed it or hated, and wanted to tell other readers about their experience. Perhaps I am naive.
I agree here with both Mira and Peter — or maybe I split the difference.
Mira is right, in that soliciting consumer reviews is kinda slimy. It doesn’t matter if the author says she wants honest reviews — or even if she means it. It’s a personal connection and tainted.
However, it’s another thing when there is a submission process for professional reviewers. Where there is a slush pile of books submitted for review. And the reviewers, as a part of their job, select books from it. Or maybe are assigned titles not of their choice. It’s not a perq, it’s not personal.
Heck, I did this as a volunteer for a review annual — which attempted to get reviews for every book in certain genres published each year. They had a stable of academic reviewers with credentials of some sort, and when they got free books from publishers, they’d send them out to appropriate reviewers. But if they didn’t get the freebies, they put out a call to all their reviewers with a list of what they didn’t have yet, and we’d run around and try to find a copy, from libraries or on our own dime.
But the choices relating to the review are driven by the editorial policy of the review publication, and the reviewers have no contact with the authors and publishers.
Nicely explained, Camille! I agree with the difference between professional reviews vs. giving books away to your followers.
J.M. – I don’t think you’re naive. I think the plethora of one star reviews pretty much proves not all reviews are bought.
I think people like to give their opinion. And Amazon actively solicts it too – I get e-mails all the time asking me to review a book I bought.
Which is why this ‘reveiw crew’ wasn’t necessary. I’m sure this author has fans who would have posted glowing reviews regardless.
Thank you for at least recognizing that there is a difference between an amateur and a professional reviewer. But let’s look at that definition of “professional”. You mention that selecting books from a slush pile is part of a professional reviewer’s job–yet most reviewers in US publications outside of New York are unpaid. Those that are paid are paid a pittance. There are many first class reviews being written and posted on the web by unpaid critics. So I don’t think it’s a good idea to limit the definition of “professional” to “paid”. That’s a little like limiting the definition of “writer” to “published by Random House”.
Instead, I think the line between amateur and professional is more subtle. Does the reviewer discuss the structure or themes of the book? Does the reviewer discuss WHY a book appealed or did not appeal? Does the reviewer discuss the book’s goals (entertain, instruct, whatever) and whether they were achieved? And is this delivered in proper English, with correct grammar and punctuation (showing that the reviewer cares about the tool–language–being used)?
The most useless reviews are not even the “OMG I loved it!” gush you get from newbies. The most useless reviews are the ones that summarize the plot. Nothing could interest me less, as a reader. I want to know if the book was funny; don’t tell me all the jokes. I want to know if a book was dramatic; don’t give away the plot. You get the idea.
As for the idea of giving books away to solicit reviews, the stew about this passes my comprehension. Does anyone really believe Roger Ebert PAYS to see the movies he reviews? Does anyone really believe Vincent Canby has to buy the books he reviews? Of course not. A professional, however that is defined, is giving up time and expertise to read a book, and that time and expertise are compensated by a free book. God knows a free movie pass to Ebert, or a free book to Canby, would not guarantee a good review.
In short, good reviewers are grown-ups, and are not influence by the price of a book. Too bad it’s so hard to find them among the naifs littering the field.
I agree with Mira on this one. I’m also not a big fan of Smart Bitches.
I’m not sure how she is able to do this and get around Amazon’s review police who remove questionable reviews. I would think any review now that’s not a “verified purchase” would be at risk of being taken down.
I was thinking the same thing, Will. Amazon has been saying it may remove reviews for books that are not verified Amazon purchases, or were given as gifts, or were solicited by an author.
I suspect that Amazon’s review police are triggered by the overall behavior of the reviewers, and also server stats that flag suspicious fake accounts (that is, IP tracking and things like that).
In other words… it’s likely another algorithm. Which means that as long as her fans are still acting like normal fans — and not running around voting up or down each others reviews or giving bad reviews to competing writers, etc. — it will stay under the radar. I assume that if this particular group of reviewers ONLY review her books, then the anomaly will show up in the stats if they keep it up book after book.
Sounds like a good idea.
“No one has yet figured out how to get reviews without giving the reviewer a free copy of whatever it is they are supposed to review.”
Actually, I do realize I should challenge this thing that Peter said: I did defend the idea of submitting books to professional reviewers and publications (and to book bloggers who behave like them).
However, there are a lot of professional reviewers who acquire their own books. And movie reviewers who don’t have free passes. Restaurant reviewers generally go to great lengths to keep their identity a secret.
Reviews happen even when the author/publisher doesn’t solicit them. And those are the actual, honest reviews that are most valuable. You get them by writing a great book, putting it out there, and then writing more great books.
In other words, you can’t make them happen, but they do happen.
“Restaurant reviewers generally go to great lengths to keep their identity a secret.” Yes, but there’s a good reason for that, which does not apply to movies and books. If a chef learns that a critic is seated in the dining room, it is possible he or she will go to extraordinary lengths to create a pleasing dish, which will not be typical of the ordinary diner’s experience. In short, the presence of the critic can affect the quality of that which is being reviewed.
Since by the time a critic gets hold of a book or movie, it is in fixed form, it cannot be affected by the critic’s opinion, so the review will likely reflect the experience of the reader. Therefore it really does not matter if the book/movie came for free or not; the reviewer’s experience will be very similar to the reader’s.
I disagree, Sarah. This may be true if you have no personal relationship with an author, but if you feel you ‘know’ the author in an ‘online’ sense, that you have some sort of ‘relationship’ with the author in an ‘online’ sense, if you ‘like’ the author and feel she’s friendly and open with her fans, you are very likely to bend over backwards to give her book a good review. It’s human nature.