Hi there,
Welcome to another BookRoar newsletter. I know writers should stay away from clichés, but time flies when you are having fun, and fun is what we are having here at BookRoar. We love watching the reviews roll in everyday and seeing new books being selected. I’ve even had the privilege to read one or two myself (and leave a review, of course).
Thanks again to those who have been on this journey with us so far, and a big hello to those who have joined in the last month. We would also like to extend a special thanks to our members on Buy Me A Coffee, whose contributions have allowed us to make some improvements to the site. We only have a couple of memberships available for new members, however if you miss out and still wish to support us then please consider signing up to one of our Buy Me A Coffee Supporter memberships.
Some brief updates and notes from us:
Word Count Revised
Well, that 300 word count we mentioned in the last newsletter proved to be unpopular, didn’t it? We felt the full force of your feedback on that one almost straight away! Ouch!
Anyway, we went back to the drawing board and have decided that the minimum word count will be lowered to 150 words. We are serious about stopping reviews that clearly show a lack of engagement with the book, but we now see that a higher word count is not it. The three-strike system will remain in place and we will continue to send back any reviews where the reviewer is clearly trying to cheat the system. It is only fair if we all play by the rules!
So, what do you think? Is it too little? Too much still? Or have we got it just right? Are there any other ways which you can think of that can help ensure the integrity and reliability of our reviews? As always, please get in touch with your ideas.
‘My History’ Page
Whilst you have all been reading and reviewing, we have been busy behind the scenes building a ‘My History’ page. Here, each and every one of our members can see the reviews they have written and the reviews they have received. So if you ever wanted to find the marketplace where a review was left or just wanted to re-read some decent feedback, we’ve made it easier by storing it all in one place. You can find it by clicking your Profile Picture on the top right and then selecting ‘Your Account’.
New Feature: Improving Your Book’s Position in the Review Pool
We believe that to keep things fair, those who are actively reading and reviewing on BookRoar should be the ones who get reviews in return. We’re sure you’ll agree. As such, we have implemented a small amendment to the Review Pool where the books with the most Credits attached to them are the ones shown to potential reviewers first. This means that those of you who have been building Credits but haven’t been selected will now have a better chance of being reviewed. So don’t leave your book sitting on the shelf; the more you get involved with BookRoar then the more you’ll get out of it.
And while we are on the subject of being selected for review…
Price Reminder and ASINs
We have gone through the books on BookRoar and found that a lot of authors have priced their books on BookRoar way over the Kindle price on Amazon (in US Dollars). This means that potential reviewers may be considering a book but are being put off by the price tag. Remember, the goal of BookRoar is to get you reviews and sales, not money, so if you want to be selected then we suggest dropping the price altogether or amending it on BookRoar in time with promotions and giveaways. Our research shows that books priced $2.99 or lower are the ones being selected.
Also, we had trouble locating books with unusual titles on Amazon. Try adding your ASIN to your BookRoar books to make them easier for reviewers to find. You can copy and paste this ASIN straight into the Amazon search bar to easily find what you are looking for.
Search Bar and Genre Filtering
When BookRoar launched, we only had a handful of books on the site. At that time, it made sense to place them all together in the Review Pool so that everybody had an equal chance of being chosen. However, as BookRoar has grown, it has become unfeasible to expect people to go through every book to find what they want to read next, especially if they are having to go through genres they don’t want to read or want to read the next in the series of a book they have previously chosen.
So, yes, soon a search bar will be available in the Review Pool and you will be able to filter books by genre as well. This will take some tinkering on our end and some time to develop, but we aim to have this working before the end of the year. That will be one more thing off our BookRoar wishlist, and hopefully yours.
Upgraded Email System
We have recently upgraded our email server, allowing us to send more emails than ever before. You will now be reminded that you have a review due seven days before the timer expires, when a book has been returned to the pool, and you will also be notified when a review you have submitted has been authorised (and the Credit added to your account). We hope you will find this improvement useful!
BookRoar on Medium
Last month, we asked you for your strategies around how you plan to use BookRoar for long term success as an author. We had a great response and your comments all went into writing our article How to Use BookRoar as Part of Your Marketing Strategy. We found that our members fell broadly under three categories: The Grafter, The Back-Catalogue Builder, and The Book Launcher. Click the link to read about each one and decide the best BookRoar strategy for your long term success.
Right, we’ve rambled on for long enough and our coffee has gone cold. We’re going to go grab some more and then get back to it.
Happy reading — see you next month.
Andy and Roger — The BookRoar Team
BookRoar.com
Twitter: @bookroar_tweets
Email: support@bookroar.com
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