5 Tips to Handle a Fantastic Book Review
It’s finally happened.
You or your publisher has just sent out dozens of advance reading copies to key media, and your book has been made available through online reviewer websites with hundreds of people getting the first glimpse of your book. Now it’s time to sit back and wait for the reviews to roll in.
Depending on your personality, thought process, and experience as an author, this can be a good or bad time. For example, some authors may be overly confident in their work and think that their novel will get an assortment of 4 and 5-star reviews. This leads to tonnes of excitement and anticipation.
On the other hand, the thought of a bad review may scare the heck out of you! After all, you’ve spent quite a bit of time writing, editing, and possibly pitching your novel to publishers. But don’t let a bad review upset you! Your publisher would not have signed you to a contract and spent countless dollars on your book if they did not believe there was an audience for it. In fact, just getting signed by a publisher is a major accomplishment. If you’re self-publishing, make sure you ensure there is a market for your book if you intend to make any money from it.
If possible, it’s best to relax and know you’ve done your best – it’s out of your hands. Remember – not everyone will love your book! If you’ve received some bad reviews and they’re getting to you, we encourage you to read our blogs on how to handle a negative review and how to move on.
But, what if you’re suddenly faced with a number of positive reviews? What should you do? How should you react? Well, here are 5 tips on handling a fantastic book review:
1. Be Grateful
First and foremost, be grateful that someone has taken time to read your book and provide a review. Showing your gratitude on your website, through social media, or even through your publisher can go a long way for an author.
2. Be Happy
Take a moment to reflect on all of the hard work that went into writing your book. From the countless sleepless nights to the painstaking editing process, remember that this review has made it all worth it. Someone, somewhere, has appreciated your efforts.
3. Share It
There will be a time when you should be sharing all of your positive reviews as part of your social media marketing efforts. However, we believe it’s best to first share it with those who helped and supported you during your writing process. Share your awesome review with family, friends, your editor, your book cover designer, etc.
4. Accept Constructive Criticism
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to ignore any constructive criticism in a 4 or 5-star review. Sure, the reviewer may have loved the book, but what do they believe you could have done better? Again, be humble and look towards continuous improvement!
5. Save It
Make sure you save the full review, either in a text document or the webpage as a PDF. Later on, you will be able to easily locate each review and use it towards marketing the title or marketing yourself as part of a future title’s efforts.
Do you have any additional tips for handling a 5-star book review?
