All Hail the Reviewer (or Book Reviews: A Call to Arms) by Cameron Trost, Black Beacon Books
Independent publishers are always asking readers the same questions over and over again, probably because there are almost as many answers as there are bookworms out there. Why do we do this? Well, its quite simple; we don't have a marketing department, so we need to do our best to work things out for ourselves. Perhaps you've answered the kind of questions and surveys I'm taking about... Do you judge a book by its cover? Where do you buy your books? Choose ONE: print or ebook! Arghhh, hate that last one! But we do this because we want to put our books into the hands of readers likely to enjoy them. That's what the game is all about. Now, one of those questions you've probably been asked, and you've naturally been kind enough to answer, is: Do you read reviews before you buy a book? Am I right? You may have said yes, or you may have said no. Regardless of your answer, the fact of the matter is that many readers are more likely to buy a book with several ratings and reviews (and not just five-star ones) than a book that has none. Understandable, isn't it? That's why we keep posting on social media asking you to take a few minutes to leave a rating and review once you've finished one of our books. Ratings and reviews may not necessarily matter to you, but they do to other potential customers out there in online-land.
Consider this a call to arms to defend the indie approach to publishing. We don't want to (and can't afford to) pay for reviews, and to be honest, it doesn't fit with what we represent. We want to keep it real. So once you've finished that Black Beacon Books title you're currently reading, go and leave a rating and review wherever you can. There are links to the Amazon and Goodreads pages for each book right here on the website. You can even follow us on our Goodreads page. If you want to take it a step further, and you have a blog of your own, we're more than happy to get involved in helping you post reviews, sneak peeks, and interviews. Just get in touch. Anyhow, that's enough for now... I'll let you get back to reading that book of ours!
