So, what sites DO accept self-pubs for review?

https://indiesfreviewers.wordpress.com/

http://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/2015/01/fantasy-and-sci-fi-reviewers-for-self.html



You might check with review sites listed on either of these lists. Whether they have wide circulation or a strong trend towards readers of the site reading books they positively review, I can't say.


It's certainly worth trying, I'd say.



You might also consider listing your title on netgalley, but you might find it too expensive: http://www.kearytaylor.com/2013/02/the-netgalley-low-down-for-authors-and.html

I have a blog where I (used to) review SFF. Haven't posted anything for over a year, but I still get review requests. As far as I can tell all of them are for self-published books. I don't actually have a page on review guidelines (, but will put one up when I start reviewing again,) however, there is absolutely nothing suggesting I actually review self-published books on my site. There is a review index, so it's not hard to check for those that are interested.

The reality is that anyone with a review blog will receive plenty of review requests, usually from self-published authors. But reviewers will also have access to NetGalley and Edelweiss, and in many cases be able to get books directly from publishers.
Most reviewers also have a reading backlog that made me start using the phrase TBR-Mountain instead of TBR-Pile, it quickly caught on among my reviewing friends.

So basically, a self-published author a reviewer hasn't interacted with previously sending them an e-mail is just not likely to get a response. Part of the reason is that some reviewers who have responded have gotten some pretty vile responses back.*
It may not be fair to ban everyone for the actions of some people in a group, but when you have limited time for your hobby, (I don't know of anyone who makes a livving from reviewing books,) it's just a risk most don't have the energy to take.

I suggest you look closely at review sites/blogs before sending a review request. Look for those that have review guidelines that states they do accept self-published books. Read enough reviews from the reviewer/site you are sending a request to that you have an idea of their style, and write a personalised letter.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES send a review request with a link to buy your book on Amazon. -And yeah, I have gotten a couple of those requests...

I know this is peobably not very helpful, but it is how things are. Largely there is a seperation between those that review self-published books and those who review trade published books. Getting a review from the latter will be hard for a self-published author who doesn't socialise online with them.

* I know reviewers who have gotten threats for politely saying they do not accept review requests at all. And saying you don't accept self-published books can lead to being accused of being paid off by publishers, and hating authors. A reviewer friend who wanted to open up for self-published books gave up because of some of the responses he got.

I do some review blogging, both on my blog and a group review blog. I feel bad having to turn down most self-pubbed folks, but some of them are wackos. Definitely know people who have gotten death threats and horrendous responses to polite declines.

In my experience, the blogger will usually state (in their submission guidelines) whether or not they review self-pubbed or not. It seems to be about 50/50.

Other than in my self-pub only blog I do not state whether I taken self-pub or not because I think specifying the genre is sufficient--if it is in the genre I will consider it.

That said I review less than 3% of submissions based on current stats, and I give a window for a response rather than a yes/no. For the reasons already mentioned.

The supply/demand equation for reviewing has really shifted in the last 5 years.

veinglory said:

The supply/demand equation for reviewing has really shifted in the last 5 years.

Click to expand...

In what way? I'm a bit out of the loop. I thought it was--and had always been--tough for self-published authors to get their books reviewed.

I think she meant there's been an increase in review requests and maybe a decrease in reviewers. Or at least there aren't enough reviewers to meet the requests.

I think both are true. It has always been tough for self-pubbed authors to get reviews, and it has got tougher in a saturated market.

Self pubbing may feel like you are avoiding the gatekeepers of publishers and agents. No need to go through the pain of rejection because you can publish whatever you want. The harsh reality is that the gatekeeping role has shifted (for self pubbed books at least) to reviewers and readers. And both are largely spoilt for choice. There are huge numbers of books out there and more published every day.

So I am afraid that this isn't a world where we can send a few emails and expect 100% responses or even any responses.

The best advice I can give is to keep trying, learning and improving. If your book was not reviewed it may be because the reviewers were swamped. Or it could be that your blurb, cover, premise and covering email were not persuasive enough. You could try other reviewers, or aiming for reader reviews via Amazon, or free promotions. Ask for feedback on the cover, blurb, etc.

Unfortunately there is no single easy way to get noticed. If there ever there was, it has long since been exploited to death by the huge number of people all looking for the same thing.

jjdebenedictis said:

In what way? I'm a bit out of the loop. I thought it was--and had always been--tough for self-published authors to get their books reviewed.

Click to expand...

Now it is tough to get a review for almost all kinds of books, and correspondingly even harder for self-pub books. I started reviewing self-pub specifically in 2006 and would get about 10 submissions a week, now I get that many per day.

Self-publishing has become easier and this trend will continue. Overall I think that is a great thing, but it has changed a lot of the dynamics at work. Getting a review now is either luck, a personal connection, a pre-exisiting reputation, or really hitting the niche for that review site. And I would encourage many authors to look at the cost-benefit situation.

Ordinary blog reviews are getting harder to obtain, but are no more effective as promotion now than they were 5 or 10 years ago (famous/highly popular blogs being a different matter). A standard blog like my "POD People" probably has negligible value in itself. I offer posting to e-tailers on request but I almost never get that request.

My blog barely gets 30 hits a day on average, and I was swamped with self-pub review requests until last year. I put language in the front matter indicating that I do not review vanity-published work at all, and only self-published authors whom I already know.

I did get some blowback before the flood dried up, but nothing my snark couldn't handle. Now that I'm on Wattpad, I'm getting beta requests from writers I'm going to gently turn down, because they are not at the stage where I can help.