Getting reviews prior to publishing an eBook...

You have to send out advance review copies. Not all of the big review blogs take self-published books, but some do. There's normally quite a wait on these, so you may need to get them copies four to six months in advance of your release. They won't necessarily expect the book to look sale-ready - for example, they won't object to the lack of a cover - but they will expect the text to be polished and ready to go.

Places like goodreads and librarything also allow people to do this with normal readers, though you have to be aware you may not actually get reviews back until long after the book is released. You're asking them for a favour, after all.

I've found that if you mention advanced review copies in appropriate threads on the goodread groups that reviewers will contact you.

This might be a stupid question but is it possible to set up an amazon page for your ebook before it is published?

Sarah -- might be a little late to answer this but I will. You can't set up an Amazon page for an ebook until you're ready to publish it. I have had an author page there for months now when my last book came out from a traditional publisher, but the only way to get the new book listed on my author page or at all is to have the book uploaded and ready to go.

Thanks egriffith, I kind of figured it out along the way! But appreciate you stopping by to answer my question

Personally, I've found it harder and harder to get anyone to review a self-pubbed book. Still worth the effort, though.

I found that querying Emails weren't particularly fruitful but networking on Twitter and Goodreads was much better. It's always different in different genres though. With YA there are an abundance of keen teenage book bloggers out there looking for their next read. I wouldn't have the first clue with adult books.

I think a lot about getting reviews depends on the book - is it YA, adult, etc. - and how the author manages to portray their book to the blogger/reviewer. Also, a lot of bloggers will only accept paperbacks, and if the book is eBook only, that's a bummer of course. But in my experience, mailing out to bloggers and reviewers was actually pretty successful.