ADVANCE your book with ADVANCED reviews.

Happy Friday friends,

I hope Thanksgiving Day was a sweet time for you. The day after Thanksgiving each year is Native American Heritage Day. When I hike my beloved Smokies, I always think about the Cherokee. Crippled Beagle Publishing client Donald Dickinson is about to publish a wonderful story of three children who wander from trails and battle a variety of wild and human elements in the Great Smoky Mountains until a Cherokee hero comes to the rescue.

If you’d like a list of ALL of the special designation days of the year, email me. Some are serious, some are odd, and some are funny. ALL are good social media post inspiration.

Last week I wrote about the value of reviews. There are several types, including ADVANCED REVIEWS. You may be asking:

What is an advanced review?

Who are advanced reviewers?

Where do I find these kind folks?

How does the process work?

Why should I bother?

Crippled Beagle Publishing team member Maisyn did some valuable research that addresses the questions above. If you would like a free copy, email dyer.cbpublishing@gmail.com. If you are planning a book now and have yet to publish, consider working advanced reviews into your schedule.

​Also, take a sneak peek at Don Dickinson’s cover, created by my graphic design assistant Lauren.

​In addition to book covers, my team and I can produce all kinds of marketing tools for you. Please think about what items can help you reach and reward your readers. Examples are bookmarks, sell sheets, business cards, posters, postcards, general merchandise/gift items (a.k.a. “author swag”), logos, order forms, templates, social media posts, web content, etc. Contact me to discuss ideas and pricing.

Please know that I am thankful for you every day!

Questions? Email me any time.

xoxoxo

Jody

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Reading and Writing and the Arithmetic of Reviews

Reading and Writing and the Arithmetic of Reviews

Answer these questions:

1. When you shop online for books, how important are reviews to you?
2. Even if you don't think they are important, do you look to see a book's ratings?
3. How often do you WRITE reviews?
4. Wouldn't you LOVE to see this image beside your book?

Then you need this one:

No matter how technical and complex the book sales game becomes, one characteristic of our industry remains steady: word of mouth. In this publisher's opinion, reviews are documented, word-of-mouth endorsements. Think about this. WHY do you read the books you read? My confident bet is that someone (a friend, a relative, a coworker) told you to read the book. He/she "reviewed" it. Well, that's basically what all those buyers on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites are doing. I admit, there are some kind folks in my social circles who have written reviews for my books. That's likely the case for all authors. Still, the other numbers tell a story. I'm sure there's some complex way to figure out how, mathematically, reviews directly affect sales volume. Here's my calculation: More =more, so get with it!

TIP: Ask for reviews before, during, and after you write. SAVE them somewhere for use in your author marketing kit (last week's topic). WRITE reviews for other authors every time you read a book. If you are published, use a tag line behind your name in the review: "Blah blah blah." —Jody Dyer, author of Best Book Ever

GoodReads.com is WONDERFUL site where you should already be hanging out online. This is a community of book lovers and there are countless ways to engage. You should also be writing reviews on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com. When I write a review, I copy and paste it to all three sites and usually to Facebook as well. Here are screenshots of reviews on Amazon and GoodReads. Some of the essential marketing that all authors do can be absolutely easy, but there are LOTS of different types of reviews and ways to use them. Also, professional authors apply etiquette. There are some no-nos. Confused? Interested? Encouraged? Inspired?

TAKE fifteen minutes to explore GoodReads.com. Find a welcome-type tutorial, and start a profile. WRITE a review. ASK someone for a review.

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I will teach an entire module on "everything reviews" in my course Author Roadmap to Readers and Royalties. The course launches in January. Founding Members (folks who sign up January 3-January 7) save $200. If you'd like to be on the Founding Members wait list, reply to this email, or email me at the usual address dyer.cbpublishing@gmail.com. I'll put you on the invitation list. If there's something you want me to teach, tell me! The first batch of students will enjoy lots of input and attention.

Have a wonderful weekend and week. Happy book marketing! —Jody