Review swapping?

I don't think this topic goes here. Probably should go in the Writer's Cafe. And lots of people are down on review swapping for a number of reasons.

Hello Kenton. Review swapping is kind of unpopular here on KB. Have you tried doing giveaways on Library Thing? That's a good way of getting reviews. You could also try posting on reader forums that you're willing to give away free copies to any reader willing to review.

Yeah swapping usually doesn't catch on at teh author thread and I think it's for the best, lots of conflicts of interest.

MJMapes-Plummer said:

I don't think this topic goes here. Probably should go in the Writer's Cafe. And lots of people are down on review swapping for a number of reasons.

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Moved to the Writers' Café...

Betsy

Dara England said:

Review swapping is kind of unpopular here on KB. Have you tried doing giveaways on Library Thing? That's a good way of getting reviews. You could also try posting on reader forums that you're willing to give away free copies to any reader willing to review.

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OK Dara, I haven't explored Library Thing, but I'll try it. Thanks for the tip. I suppose the element of quid pro quo is always there, potentially, with an exchange.

Kenton Crowther said:

OK Dara, I haven't explored Library Thing, but I'll try it. Thanks for the tip.

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You're welcome. Good luck to you.

Kenton -

Just got invited to a review swapping event on Goodreads. I think it's alright if I put the link here ...

I'm not associated with it, only got the invite so don't know anything more about.

http://www.goodreads.com/event/show/877311?si=true&utm_content=A&utm_medium=email&utm_source=event_invite

Remembered this post and thought you might want to join.

I know it's hard to get reviews, but swapping or paying for reviews, whether they're "objective" or not, only further tarnishes the already abysmal reputation of Amazon reviews.

Kenton Crowther said:

OK Dara, I haven't explored Library Thing, but I'll try it. Thanks for the tip. I suppose the element of quid pro quo is always there, potentially, with an exchange.

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I did a giveaway on Librarything which was fully taken up, but I didn't get a single review out of it.

Librarything is a total waste of time in my opinion.

Alondo said:

Librarything is a total waste of time in my opinion.

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I've seen a few authors say this but it hasn't been my experience at all. I've had around forty reviews via Library Thing giveaways and I've only been doing them for a couple months. It's also one of those what have I got to lose? situations because it costs me nothing at all to run the giveaways. I don't consider the freebies lost revenue, since most of these people wouldn't be buying the book anyway IMO. The only thing I'm giving up is the time it takes to send out copies to the winners. But when I compare that to the hours I used to spend combing blogs and Twitter, looking for individual reviewers to contact or the tens of thousands of Select free copies I used to give away, hoping for reviews... You get the idea. I don't believe in magic review bullets but if I did, I'd call LT one. I almost want to tape my fingers together when I tell people about LT because the selfish part of me doesn't want to share the info.

Alondo said:

I did a giveaway on Librarything which was fully taken up, but I didn't get a single review out of it.

Librarything is a total waste of time in my opinion.

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How many did you offer? How many did you give away?

Everyone's experience will be different. I offered 150, then gave away about 70 copies each of CV and TB, got a handful of reviews for each.

The handful of reviews I got for CV pushed me over 10, which allowed me to advertise it. As a result, it's doing better than the other books. I have the advertising to thank for that, I think, and I couldn't have accessed the advertising without the reviews I got via LibraryThing.

Steve Silkin said:

How many did you offer? How many did you give away?

Everyone's experience will be different. I offered 150, then gave away about 70 copies each of CV and TB, got a handful of reviews for each.

The handful of reviews I got for CV pushed me over 10, which allowed me to advertise it. As a result, it's doing better than the other books. I have the advertising to thank for that, I think, and I couldn't have accessed the advertising without the reviews I got via LibraryThing.

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I gave away 50 and got zip. Decided I wouldn't bother again. I now have well over 200 reviews from readers who are appreciative - at least more than they seem to be on LT.

One LibraryThing give-away is hardly representative. Like freebie days, give-aways are temperamental. Some will give you reviews, others don't, so you have to do more than one to judge.

WPotocki said:

Just got invited to a review swapping event on Goodreads. I think it's alright if I put the link here ...

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Thanks for the link, W. I am already on Goodreads but I had not seen this.

We had some good success with a giveaway on LibraryThing too. Gave away 20 copies of LOVE ON THE RUN and got 3-4 reviews. That reminds me, i should put another giveaway together for our new one.

Patty Jansen said:

One LibraryThing give-away is hardly representative. Like freebie days, give-aways are temperamental. Some will give you reviews, others don't, so you have to do more than one to judge.

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I've not been motivated to try it again. Like I said, I have enough reviews from genuine readers.

Dara England said:

I've had around forty reviews via Library Thing giveaways and I've only been doing them for a couple months.

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Do you generally see the LT reviews also pop up on other sites like Amazon and Goodreads, or are they mostly on LT?

I ran my first LT giveaway in Jan after reading about the success some authors had generating reviews--sorry, Dara. I took your advice.

Anyway, I've already had one review posted at LT. Hoping for more to show up there and at other sites. Just wondering if you've seen any patterns....