Is it ever too late to send review copies?

Often when I teach my book review classes through AME-U I get a few authors on the call telling me they didn’t know they needed to send their books out for review, or perhaps they did and sent it to the wrong reviewer, wrong publication, or to a market that didn’t consider their genre or (if they were self-published) didn’t want to review a self-pub’d book. So how late is too late to get reviews? Well, honestly that depends on what your book is about. We’re currently working with a book that’s two years old and review copies are flying out the door but guess what? It’s an online campaign. Online tends to be a bit more “forgiving” of time.

If you’re looking for more “bounce” for your book and want to get reviews, try pitching topic-focused blogs, web sites, and magazines. Often these places won’t be as inundated with review requests as book bloggers and review publications will. Also, consider pitching the book as a story, rather than a review. For example our local paper, The San Diego Union Tribune, won’t consider any self-published book, but if I pitch them based on a story they’re more inclined to consider it.

So if you’re feeling like you could do more for your older book, get creative. Go after the topic, rather than the glamour blogs and web sites and often you’ll find they are not only very receptive but also when you target a web site, blog or publication that is 100% your audience you’re more likely to make a sale and in the end, isn’t that what all this promotion is all about?

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I wholeheartedly agree with you! I’ve just finished reviewing two books that were published several years ago…unless the book is “time specific” which few are, I see no difference. I always think about reruns and marathons on TV…do people really enjoy reruns as much as television thinks we do? Yet, for a book, there are literally millions who have NOT read a particular book, so why not continue to promote it? Many of my clients are now on social networks and are pitching their books, I help announce their presence by publishing my review of their books when they become members. There are lots of things happening online that literally creates a whole new and different market!

Keep up your sound advice!


Reprinted via open permission from A Marketing Expert.com (click title to go to site)!