I usually don’t like to comment on these types of threads because I am no expert, but I have learnt over the past few years that firstly you need to sell lots of books to get ratings and/ or reviews and -
1. A self-published book can sell and take off organically without reviews and continue to sell without a great many reviews for a few years. Although I was selling copies here and there and got up to a 40 copies the third month, I gained a flood of sales four months on a weekend after it was released with only one Amazon review. What prompted them, I will never know. It then sold around 100 - 300 copies a month for the next three years and still continues to sell somewhere between 15 - 25 a month since. I did no marketing except a couple of goodreads giveaways. (I often wonder what would have happened had I made an effort to market it beyond a couple of giveaways).
2. You need sales to get reviews
3. You might get 1 rating/ and or review on goodreads for between 100 and 300 books sold - less on Amazon.
4. Goodread reviewers seem to be more inclined to review on Goodreads than Amazon buyers who are not on goodreads on Amazon
5. You don’t have to be on every social media site
6. Sometimes a book just doesn’t sell.
7. Some trade published books also don't have many reviews.
I’m not on librarything but have found goodreads a wonderful place to meet readers and it’s the only other place I enjoy being as much as here. I only have a private facebook page, though many readers have now friended me on facebook. I rarely talk about my books on facebook and doubt I have sold more than a couple of books from my facebook page.
I don't have hundreds of reviews. World of mouth is what sells books, reviews are part of that, but not it all.
I think the best way to get reviews is to find a way to sell your book to the readers who will appreciate it. On goodreads that can be as simple as being a reader on the site and joining groups that you have a genuine interest in. Reading books and reviewing them. Join in the conversations as a reader and after a period of time those readers will be curious about you and click on your little icon and see that you write.
I generally avoid all writer groups on goodreads, well rarely post in them, unless it is something to do with beta readers, a giveaway, or something like that. I also never talk about my own books there unless it is a new release or I’m offering a giveway and only do it in the specified place for a group to promote.
If you want reviews, build up your profiles on Amazon author pages, be a reader on Goodreads or librarything, look into keywords for your amazon listings, have an appropriate cover for the work, make the work the best you can.
If you are on facebook, find groups that are real readers, not writers just promoting their work.
I decided with my last book, that this time I would try to market it through facebook groups.
The groups are below with a total reach of apparently 314216 members, after posting in them all I don’t appear to have gotten one sale. This tells me they are either all writers not interested in reading, or I have written a book that won’t sell. The list might be useful though for other genres to garner sales. Most are for kindle books though a couple there with n/k also allow nook books. I'd be curious if anyone uses the list if they garner sales.
Kindle Krazy! Authors Actively Seeking Readers | https://www.facebook.com/groups/241846582600572/ | 27670 | | | | |