REVIEWS! Indies need REVIEWS!

I love reading and reviewing, and I’m happy to help others.

I’ve been terrible at it for the last couple of years (pregnancy, early mamahood, COVID!) but this year I am determined to DO BETTER!

So I’ve spent the last few weeks working on committing myself to doing Book Reviews for indies. I researched book bloggers’ websites and took notes.

Here are the 5 things I recently implemented myself.

1. I became an Amazon Associate

Do you review other indie authors on your personal blog or website? If so, this is easy to do. You can get started here: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com

Once you are set up, it just involves putting some code in the body of the review so someone can go grab the book. I have no idea how much this makes, if anything.

But it’s an important step to set yourself up so you can drive traffic to the Amazon purchase pages for other authors, and I’m happy to do it. If Amazon tosses me a couple of cents next millennium, that’d be great too.

2. I set up a Kofi page

A lot of book bloggers and other creatives have this button on their website: “Buy me a coffee“. This is an easy way to quasi-monetise a blog via donations. Think of it as crowdfunding for creatives. If someone wants to throw you a few bucks or “buy you a coffee” they can, but there is no need or no pressure.

I really liked this idea. If I do someday make anything from this, I would like to keep the proceeds in the “writer help” framework and pay it back — have a giveaway, do a promotion of an author, or so on.

I haven’t fully fleshed out the idea yet, but I’ll see how best to do this once I have some funds, if any do come in.

If you like my writing or my reviews, you can donate here:

3. I joined an Online Book Club

I saw another author post about her Book Club on a Facebook group, and I checked it out. The premise is simple: there are a few ways to participate, some are paid and some are entirely FREE. The option I chose is:

You review a book, and in turn your own book gets added to the program.

The more you review, the more time your own book(s) can stay in the program. It’s been awesome so far, and it is actually how I came across one of my new faves “Everything That Came Before Grace“.

If you are interested, please contact me and I’ll be happy to point you to the founder so you can liaise directly and get all the info you need.

4. I joined an ARC program

An ARC is an Advanced Reader Copy. Authors send these out before they publish a book, in the hope that once readers grab a free copy, they will voluntarily leave a review in the first week it launches.

This is turn boosts visibility and sales for the author, so it’s a good investment. In fact, it can make or break your book.

There are loads of these programs out there. I’ve joined many for individual authors or a group of authors, but this was the first time I have joined a large, popular service serving hundreds of authors. This program is how I came across “When Robins Appear“, a book I recently reviewed and enjoyed a lot.

If you’d like to become an ARC reviewer, feel free to contact me to point you to a few good options depending on the type of program you specifically prefer.

5. I created a Review Request form

Finally, one of the biggest things I did for my own website was to add a “Review Request” form, which I then put on my Instagram link so that authors can find me and ask for their books to be reviewed. This is very important. I repeat: VERY important.

It lets authors ask for help without the awkward: “Hey, I just met you online two seconds ago, but can you be my author friend and read and review my book?”

I included specific questions that would help me streamline my responses, namely:

• How many reviews do you already have?
• What was your driving force to write this book?
• Would you also be interested in participating in a book club?

That way, I get a pretty good idea of the author’s profile without needing to know too much, and can decide which books I want to prioritise to read first. AND I can also support another fellow indie author by getting other authors to join her program!

So I repeat, VERY IMPORTANT! For both sides of the coin, this form can save a lot of time and energy. If you’re an indie author and need reviews, check it out:

Request Review

So these are 5 things you can do to show your support for fellow indie authors. I hope these 5 concrete tips can point you in the right direction, if you’re looking to help other indies.

And of course, there are three other simple things: BUY THEIR BOOKS! REVIEW THEIR BOOKS! SHARE THEIR BOOKS! 🙂