Self-Promotion or Death: PR Tips from Sara Dobie

This goes for big publishing houses, as well as self-published authors. For me, it’s review copy time. We just received bulk shipments of our final fall release (Baby Owl’s Rescue), and I’ve sent out over a hundred review copies in the past three days. As wonderful and exciting as review copy submission is, it’s more than putting a book in an envelope and taping a label on the front. It’s about prep work and follow up. When you’re submitting review copies, you first prepare. You email your reviewers to say “HEY! Don’t forget about me!” and ask if they have an updated address or anything else that might affect your mailing. Then, once you’ve mailed the book, you send them an email that says, “HEY! The book is coming! Can’t wait to read your review!” Then, there’s the follow up. About a month after you’ve sent the review copy, you need to email your reviewers again and say, “HEY! Did you receive my book? Whatdya think?” I don’t want you to harp on your reviewers or stalk them. I do want you to keep them informed. The more informed they are, the more familiar they’ll be with you and the more likely it’ll be that they will write a positive review for your new title.

Reviewers Tip - Submission Guidelines

"Please follow Submission Guidelines"- sounds simple, doesn't it? But we're always amazed at how many authors fail to do just that. Every review site gets plenty of submissions from authors who don't bother to read the instructions. We're guessing they must simply find the address for review sites and then do a mass mailing. At Feathered Quill, we have simple, but specific, guidelines. For example, we say, "DO NOT send unsolicited manuscripts or books" (and yes, 'DO NOT' is capitalized in the directions). Still, we get plenty of unsolicited submissions. Perhaps the author/publicist/publisher missed that point or maybe they figured once we get a look at the great book, we'll just have to review it. Nope. These books go directly to the recycle bin, even those that look fantastic.

Our guidelines say to select the book's genre from our list and if the genre you need does not appear, then PLEASE contact us before submitting your book. We want to make sure we'll have a reviewer capable of reviewing that book and giving it the attention it deserves. But again, time after time, we get submissions with the genre listed as "other."

It really is simple - read the guidelines for each review site and then follow them! Your book will get reviewed quicker and you'll keep the reviewers happy.