Surprise Guest!-Scott from the Indie Book Blog!

Hi everyone. First off big thanks to Angela for inviting me to spend a little time with all of you over here on her blog. My name is Scott and I run the Indie Book Blog

(http://indiebookblogger.blogspot.com). I started my blog in January this year after getting a Kindle from my wife for Christmas (boy does she regret that one!) and I was immediately looking at all of the wonderful indie books for .99 on Amazon. I started strolling through the forums looking for a list of quality indie fantasy reads and eventually started my own thread where I invited authors to pitch their books to me and if I was interested I would purchase to book and leave a review. After seeing just how many authors had blogs I decided to start one up with the goal of reviewing indie books. Man has it grown since then. I am currently featuring interviews, guest blogs, and giveaways on a regular basis and try to have two reviews published each week. It seems that a lot of indie authors have trouble finding reviewers for their books so I am going to share a list of things I look for when someone leaves me a review request.

1. Read the basic requirements of the blog you are submitting to. Most reviewers have a list of genres that they prefer or will not review. I personally will not review erotica and the chance of me checking out a romance are pretty darn low. Also if you submit one genre and don't hear back don't be afraid to try again with something else. A lot of reviewers are swamped and don't take the time to contact everyone who requests a review.

2. Make sure to leave your book title and blurb. I know it seems pretty basic, but there are a lot of people who forget to leave the title of the book and that really lowers the chance of a response from me.

 

3. Include your contact info. Same deal as #1 if I have to spend more than a minute or two trying to find out how to leave you a message most likely I am going to move on to another request. I know some people don't like their email address in public, but I am fine with an I can be reached at the contact tab of my blog kind of link.

4. Are you willing to provide a review copy? What formats? I didn't used to require a review copy, but I prioritize people who are willing to give me one. If you give me a free copy of your book it gets bumped above any that I have to pay for and now I get enough review copies that I don't know how long it would take me to get to something I have to purchase. Also I am not a big fan of .pdfs if the book has a lot of appeal to me I'll still take it, but I really prefer print, mobi, or prc.

5. Are you interested in/willing to do an interview, guest blog, or giveaway? If I am in need of special guests that is another way that can get you bumped up the list a bit.

6. If you make a commitment to do a guest blog and never send me the piece consider yourself removed from the list. I mean if something major comes up and you explain that to me it's one thing, but not sending me anything or any reason for it is unacceptable.

7. Be patient! Even if you get accepted it can still take several months for the review to get posted. Personally it doesn't bother me to get an email every once in a while checking on the status of your book, but don't push. When I review I post on Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Goodreads, Shelfari, and my blog so it is worth the wait (hopefully).

Those are the major points for getting a review on my blog and I think most have similar qualifications. Once again I would like to say thanks to Angela for having me on her wonderful blog. I don't know how she has time to do it with all the different books she is writing. Please feel free to stop by and leave a comment on my blog or request a review. In the month of December I am doing a HUGE giveaway.

Thank you so much, Scott! That's great information. makes me wish I'd read it before I asked you to review my book!