Linda A Lavid asked:


Kind words about your work can be placed on the back or front cover, or inside the book. Usually reviews are punctuated within quotes.

 

Pre-publication reviewers can be found by searching Google or links found on my website. Since there are time constraints, a fee is often charged. Different reviewers ask for different formats. Some accept a copy of the manuscript, but often a PDF file of the book can be forwarded. A PDF file of your book is sent to you from the subsidy publisher before publication. This pre-publication document is also called a galley. Since it is a read only document, final edits must be made on a separate sheet of paper. Only send this document out for review if it is fairly clean of typos and formatting problems.

 

Getting reviews before publication can put everything on hold. Not just in the time it takes, but once returned, they have to be edited, formatted, and placed wherever you’d like them to appear. Make sure the publisher is aware of any delays.

 

Another way of handling reviews is to find other authors, specialists in the field, or enthusiastic readers to say a few words. People enjoy seeing their name in print and if they like your book, it’s a win-win situation.

 

Reviews can also be added after publication. Ask your subsidy publisher how much money it will cost to add reviews to your book cover. Editing either the cover (front and back is one document) or the interior is another advantage of POD publishing. Still, beware of prohibitive charges. Presently, my publisher charges $50 for either a cover or interior change, along with an hourly rate of $50 to make such edits. In my case, since I do my own cover, adding reviews would cost me $50, the basic charge with no hourly expense.

 

Reviews sell books, but the review process can take awhile, often months after publication. Not to worry. Those kind words can be added at anytime to online venues, such as Amazon or your website. Reviews can also be placed on press releases, bookmarks, sell sheets, promotional material and, of course, on any future covers.

 

For my second book, Paloma, I sent out twenty-eight review copies. About a third were reviewed. A couple of places went out of business and some I never heard from. One review came back over a year later. Review sites, papers, magazines often have a bank of reviewers who read books, but it’s often at their discretion. A book will be accepted for review, then put on a queue to see if anyone is interested. There’s no deadline in having a book reviewed. I’ve seen books reviewed three years after publication. The cost of getting a review is the cost of a book with shipping, but on occasion a review site will only ask for a PDF file that’s sent as an attachment. This means your book is reviewed for free!

 

Of course there’s a downside to all this review business. Reading is subjective and some reviews may be less than stellar. No writer, self published or otherwise, is immune to a bad review. Be brave.

 

Linda’s Website

Linda is the author of Composition: A Fiction Writer’s Guide for the 21st Century  Download for $3.75

Linda asked:


Before commencement of book review writing, you should distinguish between two terms: book report and book review. Many people use these terms in the same breath, however there are vital differences in the very essence of these notions.

Book Review and Book Report – Is There a Difference?

A book report has a factual emphasize. It is a factual account of the subject matter of the book, which implies to be descriptive rather than persuasive and analytical. Its aim is to present the content and the structure of the book as objectively as possible. The book report includes a plot summary; it doesn’t look into deeper meanings of the book and doesn’t contain the identification of the symbolism.

Book report writing is a good way to structure and articulate the thoughts about the book you’ve just read. In a nutshell, it is simply a summary of the contents of the book.

A book review is a critical evaluation of the book that provides a thoughtful and in-depth analysis, and evaluation of the main idea, and purpose of the book. It is also a kind of reaction paper, which analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the book in terms of accepted historical and literary standards, supporting this evaluation with evidences from the text. In a word, it presents the assessment of the quality, meaning, and significance of the book.

What, in fact, sets book reviews apart from book reports is their personal character. Book reviews are highly personal and reflect the opinions of the reviewer on the given literary work. In the book review the reviewer clearly states his position and impressions regarding the book under consideration.

Structure of Book Review

The structure of book reviews resembles other types of academic writing. Book reviews usually comprise of a thesis statement, a supporting body paragraph, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are succinct, they rarely exceed 1000 words. Book reviews usually comprises of two elements: descriptive and evaluative. In the descriptive element you provide the essential information about the title, author, type of book, and general subject matters. While in the evaluative element you should present the assessment of the book, particularly of the perceived ideas and implied purposes, quoting exemplary passages from the text.

A good book review is well organized, and as well as the critical assessment and analysis it elucidates the essence of the literary work. Book reviews may vary in tone, style, and subject; however they share the common structure.

• Begin your Book Review with Introduction

Your introduction will bristle with factual and descriptive data, including the name of the author, some relevant details about his life and creative work, the title of the book, and the main theme of the given piece.

The second component of the introduction is the thesis of the book, which may be very perplexing to uncover since stories, novels, and plays don’t explicitly state the argument. Though, you should reveal this special angle and novelty of the piece that will actually become the ground for your further discussion and evaluation and allow you to make your book review original.

The introduction infers to be descriptive; however it should be catchy to seize the attention of the readers. So you should choose an interesting form of presenting your thoughts and ideas to make sure that the readers will keep on reading your book review up to the end. Many writers begin their book reviews with a quip or an anecdote that delivers their argument.

• Keep on Summarizing

Second, you should give your readers a concise summary of the literary work, where you state the author’s purpose of writing the book, provide its leading idea, compare and contrast main characters.

Here your aim is to plunge the readers into the atmosphere of the book, to make them interested in the ideas discussed in this literary piece, and to uncover them your understanding of the symbolism and implicit themes contained in the book. To reach this goal you should articulate your thoughts clearly, logically, and make your argument persuasive and sound.

In the course of making critical assessment of the literary work, you’ll have to back your arguments and assertions with concrete evidences from the text. Remember that critical assessment implies not only to analyze the literary piece under review, but also to tell your readers what struck you the most in this book, whether or not reading it was effective, persuasive, and exciting, and also your discussion on how it enhanced your understanding of the issue at hand.

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into separate paragraphs that deal with particular aspects of your argument. You don’t necessarily should work chronologically through the book, though, you should make the structure of your summary logical and comprehensive for the readers.

• Draw a logic conclusion

Sum up and restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book in the conclusion. Don’t introduce any new ideas and evidence for your argument, make up your conclusion copious with the ideas that extend the logic of your thesis statement.

Harnessing these simple and winning strategies of book review writing, you’ll surely turn your work into a writing marvel.