Asking for reviews inside Book?

veinglory

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I definitely think it's a good idea to have a link to leave a review, make it as easy as possible. But don't stop there. It's also a great idea to try and capture their email address for your author mailing list.

If by "capture" you mean ask them to provide it and get their permission to receive mass mailings, sure.
 

shootseven

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Personally I find it in a bit of bad taste and amateurish, however, I've heard people say it works.
 

Arpeggio

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Personally I find it in a bit of bad taste and amateurish, however, I've heard people say it works.

You mean asking for review inside book? (sorry just making sure you aren't referring to James W's extra suggestions also). I understand what you are saying and have seen it done in an unprofessional looking way. Glad you've heard people say it works. If you've got any links / references to experiences with this tactic I'd be interested.
 

Arpeggio

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Since putting a request at back of a print version of one of my books on the 23rd March I've had one review posted from one of 33 sales.

I chose to do this with my best selling one to see what results occur fastest. Too early to see average rate yet. One review per month would be pretty hunky dory. One review per 50 sales would be hunky dory and 1 review per 100 sales would still be way above average.
 

Slaven

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I think that a good book will get it's review. Personally I'm not a big fan of commercials, links and add-ons. The End is the best way to finish a book ☺️
 

Catherine

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It seems redundant to ask for a review at the end of your e-book. In the books I read using the Kindle app, there is always a link to Amazon to review the book. I also see the "next in series", "also bought" and "recommended for you". In cases where I haven't left a review, I've gotten emails from Amazon asking for a review. As a reader, that is enough for me to leave a review if I'm going to.

If I don't leave a review, it's usually because I didn't like the book. Knowing how much reviews mean to an author, I don't leave a bad review unless the person is scamming people.
 

Arpeggio

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Update: 98 sales of print version since adding review request at back of book. Of those 98 sales 2 reviews have accrued now, both 5 stars. So I could say 1 in 50 success rate although not enough sample size so far really. Perhaps I could do with some negative reviews, but my editorial reviews from professionals with BA, PhD etc. are also positive (qualified reviews from experts in the field and know what they are talking about are meaningless to Amazon customers, much to my annoyance). 5 stars is irrelevant, the more the merrier I kind of look forward to a negative 3 star> review or two. If your book is good you should do this.

They are short 1 liners synonymous with how customers rarely review (if they rarely review they aren't going to write long ones when they do). I'm talking about average customers not followers and people who like to review (which are also good).

What I'm looking for is a long term drip reviews. Legitimate promotions on book marketing sites to encourage reviews (like BookBub) are good but may tend to result in more reviews in a shorter space of time which might not look as good on its own, not that those shouldn't be used also. So far so good, may roll out to all my books.
 

LeeMountford

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I've just put out my first novel (released 5th May) and I'll admit that I have done this. In that week I've only had 3 reviews, so I can't really say too much as yet, but I'll see how it goes and post and update.
 

Arpeggio

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I've just put out my first novel (released 5th May) and I'll admit that I have done this. In that week I've only had 3 reviews, so I can't really say too much as yet, but I'll see how it goes and post and update.

3 reviews in a week is very good. I just got another since my last post making it 3 reviews from 117 sales (over 7 weeks). Later on with more accrued I may look at review rate to sales for before I put the request in.
 

Bradley Shiner

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Hello,

I do believe that reviews might contribute to boosting sales( most readers would perceive a page wit lots of good reviews as rather encouraging to purchase a product. However I would abstain from nagging the reader to post it since that would be some kind of desperation. :p :) That's only my humble point of view however :)

Best
 

Arpeggio

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Before review request at back of print book 589 sales and 8 reviews posted = 1.35%
After review request at back of print book 725 sales and 8 reviews posted = 1.1%

I think perhaps when customers see that others already posted reviews they are less likely to want to bother, hence why it went down to 1.1%. That's my theory. At least 1%< is OK to work with for Promos with lots of downloads I guess. Some other books of mine get the initial "sympathy review" where a customer realizes it's a good book and thinks "this book hasn't got any reviews at all let's do one". Once that one is posted that's pretty much it for years.

Shame there are millions of fakes reviews on Amazon and most customers rely on them.
 

rihannsu

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I did that at the end of each of my three novellas. I've gotten very few reviews, but at least the ones I've gotten have been good. I don't have enough on Amazon to qualify for a lot of the promotion sites, but I've had excellent results with Freebooksy.

Although I'm pretty anemic when it comes to reviews, I have noticed that my sales continue to climb every month, so for the moment I'm not that worried about not getting many.
 

Arpeggio

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I did that at the end of each of my three novellas. I've gotten very few reviews, but at least the ones I've gotten have been good. I don't have enough on Amazon to qualify for a lot of the promotion sites, but I've had excellent results with Freebooksy.

Although I'm pretty anemic when it comes to reviews, I have noticed that my sales continue to climb every month, so for the moment I'm not that worried about not getting many.

I'll have to try Freebooksy. I gather a couple of your reviews were attributable to that promo? I think the discount / free thing seems to be the way to go for reviews.

Amazon ranking is based largely on sales history, conversion rates (when customer buys) and click through (when someone clicks onto your product page). Reviews don't have as larger part of the equation as they used to (although they do affect conversion rate). If you direct traffic to Amazon and get sales as a result then this will contribute to ranking higher on Amazon in front of people who search on Amazon and haven't seen your website.

I think your book's covers are good, the detail draws you in out of curiosity and it suits the over the top fashion of details and frills the royals of the time had. You look nice in your photos too.
 

JinxKing

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I do that in a few of my books. I think it's best to frame it as a reminder or an option as opposed to a direct request or demand. I tend to treat it as a friendly reminder 'Feel free to leave a review, your honest opinion can help other readers decide if it's for them or not!' I don't think most readers find it intrusive, and many readers who did enjoy your book but wouldn't otherwise review it might take the cue.

I can't say if it's gotten me reviews or not because if it has, those people haven't specified in their reviews (nor would I really expect them to lmao) but I don't think it hurts at all. I've seen other authors use them and it never puts me off a book, especially if it's just a footnote in the backmatter.
 

Elenitsa

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What's more important, the reviews from buyers or the reviews from literary critics? In my country I think the accent is put more on the reviews from literary critics. It matters less if a book is sold or not, it matters if it is well received by the literary critics and if they write about it.
 
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veinglory

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As a reader I want my thought on the last page to be "wow, what a good book", not "this author seems to think I don't already know I could review this if I wanted to".
 

Arpeggio

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As a reader I want my thought on the last page to be "wow, what a good book", not "this author seems to think I don't already know I could review this if I wanted to".

I'm sure most customers would like that too but it's less likely to happen unless they live up to their own expectations and bother to post the reviews they so readily rely on. Quality control has been outsourced to customers to do for free, via customer reviews. Anything that attempts to get genuine reviews brings a grain of credibility to something that is utterly corrupt.

A retailer taking on the cost and time of policing customer reviews is like giving free money / service to any competitors that sell the same products. It makes no sense. Shame most people can't see all this for what it is. I never relied on customer reviews myself but have to dance this stupid tune so there it is. None of what I say is directed at you. :)
 

veinglory

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Your seem to think readers are one tribe and authors are the other and they have an implicit contract of reviews in return for not being badgered for reviews. I don't think I agree with any part of that.
 

Hbooks

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Some books I read have a little "If you enjoyed this book and want to help it succeed, tell a friend or leave a review," type thing. Shrug. I never feel offended by those, but I review everything I read anyway. The one that made me roll my eyes was the one where the author went into a long spiel about how they were trying SO HARD to write full time, outlined all the steps it had taken to get there, how tough it had been for book to get where it was, how it had barely missed trade publishing by this step and that, how they REALLY NEEDED me to leave a review, etc. And yeah, I did, because I review everything, but that one came across as clingy. If you're going to do it, short and sweet.
 

Arpeggio

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Your seem to think readers are one tribe and authors are the other and they have an implicit contract of reviews in return for not being badgered for reviews. I don't think I agree with any part of that.

I have thought for a long time that the implicit contract is between the customers. On one hand customers relying on customer reviews, the other customers posting customer reviews. Regardless of whatever the author does or feels obliged to.