So you’ve written a book. Huzzah! The next step is getting it out into the world, in front of people’s eyeballs, and a good way to accomplish that is by having book bloggers review the book.

This can be a terribly daunting process, and understandably so. What if bloggers are mean? (They aren’t.) What if they think you’re bothering them? (They don’t.) What if they bite? (They don’t … well, not too hard, anyway.) What if they’re looking for a human to sacrifice under the next blood moon to finally attain the immortality they’ve long awaited? (Ehhh … okay, this one may be a valid concern.)

In any case, hopefully this post will ease your mind just a little and give you a place to start on how to approach book bloggers that you hope will read and review your book.

I want to preface this by saying that these are my opinions and based on my experience as a book blogger. Mileage may vary.

Other bloggers may have different preferences, which is why it’s important to read each blogger’s preference. But more on that later. For now, why don’t we start at the very beginning?

Tip #1:

Finding Book Bloggers

Can’t approach book bloggers for reviews if you can’t find them, right? Lucky for you, they’re not even really hiding! Considering that most book bloggers want to be seen, finding them isn’t really all that difficult.

On Social Media

Social media is a great place to start. If you have Twitter, for example, try searching for the #BookBlogger or #BookReview tags. For YouTube, you’re going to want to try to find what are called Booktubers. On Pinterest, you can search pins with book reviews and see which accounts are reviewing what books. Keep in mind your age category (middle grade, young adult, adult) and genre, to make sure the blogger actually reads what you write. These can also be used when searching, too.

On Google

If you search for “book blogger” on Google, I guarantee you’re going to be overwhelmed with too many results to sort through, most of which aren’t going to do you any good, so you might need to be more strategic about how you search. My recommendation would be to choose a book yours can be comped to and then look for reviews of that book. Any blogger who reviewed that positively has a good chance of liking your book, plus you have a little customized piece that you can add to your request to let them know you’re paying attention (more on that later, too).

On BookSirens

Technically, BookSirens is already a way to get potentially interested parties to read your book, but sometimes it can be hard for your book to get attention on that site, surrounded by, well, all the other books. You can always look at blogger profiles to see what they read and whether or not you might be a good fit, then hop over to their blog and check them out.

Tip #2:

Read Review Policies

Most bloggers, somewhere on their navigation bar, will have a Review Policy page. Read this. There’s really no other major secret here. I mean, bloggers will know if you haven’t read it, and showing that you have can really make your request stand out.

Aren’t sure where to find them? Here’s a little handy guide. Mine’s clearly labeled on the navigation bar, here:

Sometimes, bloggers have their review policy pages hidden. I’m going to use an example for this, a blogger I enjoy following, Annemieke @ A Dance With Books. Hers is under the About tab, here:

What’s on a Blogger’s Review Policy Page?

It’s kind of a loaded question, because honestly, there are so many things that can be on the page, depending on the blogger. But here are some things that you might expect to find.

• Review request status: If it doesn’t say closed, you can probably assume it’s open. Most bloggers will list if they’re closed to reviews, and you should respect that.
  
• A list of book preferences: This can come in many forms. I’ve commonly seen lists of genres. Sometimes it’s favorite tropes. Basically, this is what the blogger enjoys reading, so your book should ideally fit in here somewhere if you’re intending to approach them. If they don’t, you should move on.
  
• A list of things they won’t read: Again, this tends to differ. Sometimes it’s tropes. Sometimes it’s genres. Sometimes it’s trigger warnings. Sometimes it’s just content they find objectionable and don’t want to read about.
  
• Preferred format: Not all review request pages will have this, but if they do, this can save you a lot of time. Especially take note if this might be due to a disability. There are bloggers who need audiobooks or physical books because they can’t read other formats, so please be cognizant and respectful of this!
  
• Contact: Most bloggers list a preferred way of contact. usually, this isn’t whatever contact form they have available on their website. While it’s not necessarily wrong to use the contact form, if they have an email listed, know that it’s going to look better and, ultimately, probably be easier for you to pitch your book via email rather than a contact form.

Tip #3:

Personalize Your Request

I know your’e likely reaching out to a number of bloggers, and personalization can be exhausting, but as a blogger, I can tell you that it makes all the difference. Remember that the bloggers you’re approaching likely receive a number of review requests each month, against whatever limited time they have, so by necessity, they have to say no to at least some of them.

The do’s of writing a review request:

• DO address the blogger by name (correctly spelled, please)
  
• DO include the title, genre, and synopsis of the book you’re requesting a review for
  
• DO tell the blogger why you think your book is a good fit for them (this is where the whole reading the review policy comes into play!)

The don’ts of writing a review request:

• DON’T use “to whom it concerns” or some generic greeting (you’re on their blog! Find their name!)
  
• DON’T send a copy of your novel attached to the request (my, how very presumptuous of you!)
  
• DON’T toot your own horn too much (your work can speak for itself – no need to push so hard that you come off like a snake oil salesman, talking about how much the blogger’s guaranteed to love it)

Tip #4:

Find Ways to Make Your Request Stand Out

Listen. I’m not saying you need to take a picture of yourself dressed in a kangaroo outfit and use that as your signature. Nor do you need to lead with a bunch of pictures of your writing fluffies (although, I’m not sure I know many bloggers who would say no to that, either).

Short of those silly antics, how can you get your review request to stand out? It’s probably easier than you think.

Include trigger warnings and comparison titles.

Not all bloggers are going to care about or want trigger warnings, but giving options to the ones who dare care makes a big difference. Same for comparison titles. If you can say, “My book is like XYZ book,” and they liked XYZ? They’re probably going to be interested in yours. Of course, don’t lie about these comparisons, because that’s just going to hurt you in the long run.

Bonus Points: Choose a comp title that the blogger has already read and enjoyed. I’ve totally been won over by review requests that not only compare their book to one I’ve read and enjoyed but acknowledge the fact that they’ve seen that I rated it highly.

Bonus Bonus Points: Make an FAQ page on your author website! Admittedly, I’ve only seen this done once, just recently, but I freaking loved it. It included trigger warnings and answered the question about whether certain tropes occur in the book (all hidden, of course, so the reader can choose what they want slightly spoiled or not) and also included an excerpt of the beginning of the book, so I could see if the writing was my style or not. (Hint: I said yes, because this had all the information I needed to make my decision, and that excerpt totally grabbed me!)

Add specific details about why you think this blogger will enjoy your book.

Honestly, whenever this happens, I just feel so seen. Yes, you read my review policy closely! I have so much more faith in the fact that your book probably is a decent fit, because you’ve clearly actually thought about whether it would be a good fit and why, rather than just aimlessly sending out review requests to as many bloggers as you can.

Not all review policies are like mine, where I list the tropes I love, but it may even be possible to look at some five-star reviews from the blogger to see what they cite as things they like.

Also, small secret: if you do this part right … bloggers will be super excited to read your book!

Bonus Points: Make a connection! This may just be a me thing, but if you can make me laugh with your commentary, I’m gonna pay attention, because humor is my thing. Or we can bond over our mutual woes in the way of necromancy. Or our distaste at not having figured out the secret to immortality yet. Or we can just … mumble at each other from where we’re both trapped under an ever-growing stack of books. I definitely pay more attention to requests that feel like they see me as a person, not a random AI spitting out reviews and nonsense every so often. (Which I totally am, btw).

Acknowledge what they say in their review policy whenever you can.

I know, I keep coming back to this one, but it’s just that important. We don’t write review policies for the fun of it, you know. Because it’s not any fun to write. We do it because authors aren’t mind-readers. Allegedly.

Call us silly, but we like to think that you’ve taken the time to read the thing we spent all that time writing to streamline the process. It’s kind of a respect thing.

Bonus Points: If the blogger specifies any preferences in their review policy, do your best to accommodate them. It’s so much easier when someone messages me and says upfront that they can send me a paperback or a MOBI or whatever is available for that particular author. It’s much less runaround, and it’s a really easy, simple signal to me that they’ve read my review policy!

Bonus Bonus Points: If you think your book is on the fence about what the blogger may or may not enjoy … just say that. And then explain. I mean, I wouldn’t go wildly off the mark like, “I know you don’t like erotica, but that’s because you’ve never read this erotica. It’s so hot, it’ll make you like the genre!” Mmm … no. In my review policy, for example, there are genres I’m picky about, like science fiction in space or romance. I’ve had many authors say something along the lines of, “This book has romance, but it’s not a main focus of the plot and [insert other reason].” Maybe it’s enemies-to-lovers. Maybe it’s romance between assassins. Maybe everyone dies and is miserable, except for me, clapping in glee over my broken babies. I’m much more inclined to give these books a chance!

TL;DR

What I Look For In Review Requests:

• My name or blog name spelled correctly (or at least given a good go)
  
• Genre, title, and summary of the book I’m being asked to review
  
• Some ability to read an excerpt (if it’s not provided, you can bet I’ll look for it elsewhere before making a decision)
  
• A sign that you’ve read my review policy (it doesn’t even have to be something big! Just so I know that you took the time to know a little bit about me and my blog)
  
• Some deciding factor that makes me excited to read this book over all the other books I could be reading instead

Bloggers, did I miss anything? What do you prefer to see (or not see) when you receive review requests?

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