Saturday, June 3, 2017

BOOK BIZ | How to Get an Indie Book Reviewed

At #BookExpo2017 I ran across a media kit for Foreword Reviews. This is a competitor to Kirkus Reviews that only looks at indie books — i.e., books published by anyone except the Big Five of publishing and their imprints:
  • Hachette
  • HarperCollins
  • Macmillan
  • Penguin Random House
  • Simon & Schuster
The faster and cheaper technology for producing books on demand means that more books are being published every year.  There is room for another reviewing company. In fact more competition in this field is on its way.

Kirkus Reviews accepts books for review in its magazine, which is based in New York City. It reviews the best ones for free. It requires books be submitted ahead of their publication date. To be sure of getting a review to quote in advertising, indie publishers send books in with a $425 fee, and Kirkus sends back a review for use by the publisher. It prepares reviews of 10,000 books per year. It also provides editing services, again for a fee, prior to publication, independently of its reviewing service.

Foreword Reviews is based in Michigan. It receives about 1,500 books prior to their publication every two months for review in its magazine and publishes 150 of them. This service costs $499 per title and is called a "Clarion Review" to distinguish it from the unpaid reviews. The paid review belongs to the publisher, but with the publisher's permission it is posted on the Clarion website and is used by book distributors and selling outlets. The books for paid review do not have to be submitted in advance of publication. Books of special merit are given a "Five Star Clarion Review".

Typically the reviewers ask for two printed copies or one pdf file of the book. They take about two months to generate a review, so advance planning is essential.

The lead time for the editorial in Foreword Reviews is awesome. The deadline for editorial for the September-October issue is already past. The deadline for the November-December issue, which covers Health & Fitness, Biography and Historical, is July 15.

For Foreword Reviews consideration, send books and a "tip sheet" to
Book Review Editor, Foreword Reviews
425 Boardman Avenue
Traverse City, MI 49684
Or... better still... send a pdf file, or ebook, to ebooks@forewordreviews.com.

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