Should Book Reviewers be Paid for Promoting Your Book?
Over on the Tenka International blog, Michael Norton wrote a post entitled " Book Reviewers Don’t Charge Enough, And Why You Under-Appreciate Them ". In it, he explains the importance of book reviews in promoting one's work. While on the surface that seems like a no-brainer, he emphasizes the importance of book review blogs and how they help to spread the message about your book. Book reviewers are the people who take the time to set up a website and cultivate a dedicated audience. They are under-appreciated by most independent authors, because most writers have no idea how to effectively market their work, and thus fail to see book reviewers as what they are: hubs, trusted by pre-established audiences, that directly influence awareness and conventional opinion of a writer’s work. Norton then attacks the idea that book reviewers should be giving it away for free. Many reviewers read and write for free, under the insecure belief that admitting that they’re professional cri...