Hello lovely readers
Over the coming months I am looking to publish several books: a middle grade fantasy adventure, a YA fairytale collection, a YA urban, gothic fantasy, and two more books in the Seasons Cozy Romance collection. As part of each new release, I will need an ARC team to help with the launch process. I already have a number of amazing readers who have helped with my last two releases, but I understand not everyone wants to read and review across the different genres. I’m trialling a service called Booksprout, which offers authors a platform to easily set up and maintain an ARC team. It even helps us find new readers which is a huge help.
If you are interested in joining my ARC team, and have the first opportunity to access ARC copies of my upcoming releases. Please sign up to my Booksprout team here: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/team/60883/danielles-arc-team
It will require you to set up a Booksprout account, if you don’t already have one.
As a way to get started on this venture, I’m running a review campaign for The Princess and the Fawn. This is a way to drum up some new reviews for this YA fairytale retelling and help garner some exposure and traction in lieu of my upcoming fairytale collection. If you would like a free copy, in exchange for a review, please click the link above and join the team to grab a copy. Copies are limited to the first 25 applications only.
Don’t forget, if you have already read and enjoyed any of my books, a review goes a long way in supporting me. Reviews can be left on either Goodreads or Amazon here:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21810577.Danielle_Hughes
Why are reviews so important to authors?
Several reasons. Firstly, they help new readers decide if they want to read our book or not. Obviously, books with a 3.5+ star rating are more appealing to new readers, but also your thoughts on what you loved about the book help attract new readers. And if that new reader enjoys said book, they are more likely to read/purchase other books we write and hopefully become a fan.
Secondly, the more reviews a book has, the more likely it is to appear higher up on a search result when someone searches for a book in that genre. For example, on Amazon, readers will only scroll so far through search results before clicking on a book that looks appealing. The higher up your book appears, the more chance it has to be clicked on.
Third, the more reviews a book has, the more promotional campaigns an author has access to. Advertising your book on platforms like Instagram, Amazon and Facebook are a great way for authors to get exposure and hopefully attract new readers, but it is a complicated and often expensive part of marketing. There are options for authors to outsource advertising, but often these services have parameters before you can participate, such as having a certain number of reviews, and a minimum star rating.
Reviews also help an author’s new release gain traction and exposure, which helps ensure a successful launch campaign. The more early reviews a book has, the more likely it is to have follow-on sales after release.
These are just some of the ways your little review can have a big impact for an author, especially for indie authors who are doing everything themselves, without the help of a publisher behind them.
If you have read this far, well done! This ended up being an unintended lengthy newsletter. If anyone is a budding author and has any questions about the writing and publishing process, I’m always happy to share my experiences. Just let me know!
As always, love and light, and bye for now
Danielle x
https://linktr.ee/fourmoonspublishing
Danielle Hughes 