To Get Pre Pub Reviewers You'll Have To Beg

So I had a features editor at a newspaper ask a book author if he'd do a pre pub review for my new Crater Lake novel: Why Is Crater Lake So Blue?

Here's what I got back from my friend.

"And, trying to put it as nicely as he could, he also told me that he'd probably only review another book if it was a reciprocal deal with a prominent author."

That's the problem in a nut shell. This author is not a best-selling author by any means. He went the self-publishing route and has gotten a couple other low visibility books published. But most often it's going to come down to what's in it for me. He probably gets a whole lot of dubious requests so who could blame him. But he should have at least looked in case he saw potential help for himself down the road. You meet the same people going down as you did going up.

If you're writing a non-fiction book this process is decidedly easier. If you have a useful, well-designed book that fits a niche that is. Say it's something about real estate. There are millions of people in the real estate business that wouldn't mind being asked. Folks in selling businesses see something like this as a business opportunity.

Fiction authors often don't, which is Okay.

Children's books are easier, too, because, well, it seems that everyone is a children's book writer. In general it's a friendlier more helpful group. But published authors are generally not going to help no matter what niche they are in. There are a lot of people in the gray area in children's book so that's where the help might come from.

This is where you have to start thinking about story angles. Is there something about who you are or what you've done that might interest someone.

More later.

Michael LaLumiere
www.staggerleebooks.com