Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
How to Optimize Your Author Website for Book Sales: A Guide for Authors by Jeyran Main
An author website is far more than just a digital business card—it’s a central hub for promoting your books, connecting with readers, and increasing sales. By optimizing your site, you can create a seamless experience that encourages visitors to explore your work, engage with your content, and ultimately purchase your books.
Read MoreRunning From Herself By April Tompkins (Book Review #2221)
April Tompkins returns with another emotionally rich and character-driven novel, Running From Herself, a soulful story of identity, redemption, and the raw pursuit of purpose. Infused with music, heartbreak, and self-discovery, this contemporary fiction work takes readers on a journey that is both deeply personal and widely relatable.
Read MoreHow to Use Email Newsletters to Sell More Books: A Guide for Authors by Jeyran Main
Email newsletters remain one of the most effective tools for authors to connect directly with readers, build a loyal audience, and drive book sales. Unlike social media, email provides direct access to your readers’ inboxes, enabling personalized communication that fosters engagement, trust, and long-term relationships.
Read MoreHappiness Is Free!!! by Eunice Atuejide (Book Review #2220)
In a world where personal success is often measured by external accomplishments, Eunice Atuejide’s Happiness Is Free!!! offers a countercultural truth: that fulfillment does not come from chasing status, perfection, or approval—but from embracing the freedom to live as one’s truest self.
Read MoreHow to Get Book Reviews from Influencers and Bloggers: A Guide for Authors by Jeyran Main
Book reviews from influencers and bloggers can significantly boost an author’s visibility, credibility, and sales. These endorsements serve as social proof, attract new readers, and create buzz around book launches. By approaching the process strategically, authors can maximize their chances of receiving high-quality, impactful reviews.
Identify the Right Influencers and Bloggers
Begin by researching influencers and bloggers who focus on your book’s genre or target audience. Look for individuals with engaged followers who actively trust and respond to their recommendations. For fiction authors, book bloggers, YouTube reviewers, and Instagram bookstagrammers are excellent targets. Nonfiction authors might focus on niche bloggers, podcasters, or thought leaders in their field. Tools like Google searches, social media hashtags, and influencer directories can help identify potential reviewers. Ensuring alignment between your book and the influencer’s audience increases the likelihood that the review will drive meaningful engagement and sales.
Craft a Personalized Pitch
When reaching out, personalization is key. Reference the influencer’s previous work, explain why your book would resonate with their audience, and highlight what makes your story or expertise unique. For example, mention a recent post or review they wrote that aligns with your book’s theme. Avoid generic mass emails—they are easily ignored. A well-crafted, thoughtful pitch demonstrates respect for the reviewer’s time and shows that you value their opinion, which increases the chances of acceptance.
Provide Review Copies and Materials
Make the review process as easy as possible. Offer digital copies in multiple formats (PDF, ePub, or Kindle) and, if possible, a physical copy. Include a press kit with a synopsis, author bio, cover images, and suggested talking points. Providing professional, accessible materials demonstrates your professionalism and encourages engagement. For nonfiction, include links to research sources or supplementary materials that add value to the review.
Respect Guidelines and Timelines
Influencers and bloggers often have specific requirements for reviewing books. Respect their preferences for submission formats, deadlines, and disclosure statements. Be patient, as high-quality reviewers may have busy schedules. Demonstrating professionalism and courtesy not only increases the likelihood of a positive review but also lays the foundation for long-term relationships.
Engage and Promote Reviews
Once reviews are published, actively share them on social media, your website, and email newsletter. Tag the reviewer to show appreciation and encourage further engagement. Highlighting positive reviews reinforces social proof, boosts credibility, and attracts additional readers. Consider repurposing reviews in promotional graphics or video content to expand reach.
Build Long-Term Relationships
Aim to cultivate ongoing connections with reviewers rather than seeking one-off endorsements. Engage with their content regularly, participate in their initiatives, and maintain communication. Strong relationships can lead to recurring collaborations, co-hosted events, or featured placements for future book releases, creating a network that supports sustained visibility and growth.
By identifying aligned influencers, crafting personalized pitches, providing professional review copies, respecting guidelines, promoting reviews strategically, and fostering long-term relationships, authors can secure valuable endorsements that elevate visibility, credibility, and sales. This approach transforms reviewers into allies who amplify your book’s success over time.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Surviving Paris: A Memoir of Healing in the City of Light by Robin Davis (Book Review #2219)
Robin Allison Davis’s Surviving Paris is an unflinching, heartfelt memoir that redefines what it means to pursue a dream abroad while confronting life’s most devastating challenges. Far from a romanticized tale of baguettes, berets, and sweeping Parisian love stories, Davis offers readers a raw, authentic account of what happens when the fantasy of moving to the City of Light collides with the brutal realities of illness, isolation, and resilience.
Read MoreHow to Use Online Writing Communities to Promote Your Book: A Guide for Authors by Jeyran Main
Online writing communities are invaluable spaces for authors to connect with fellow writers, receive feedback, and promote their work. By engaging strategically in these communities, you can build an audience, increase visibility for your book, and establish credibility as a professional author. These platforms allow you to combine relationship-building with marketing, creating organic interest in your work over time.
Read MoreRuptured Lives by Jarmila Turnovsky (Book Review #2182)
Ruptured Lives is a deeply affecting memoir that bridges continents, generations, and political regimes to illuminate one family’s experience of loss, resilience, and reconciliation. Jarmila Turnovsky masterfully weaves personal narrative with historical fact in this powerful account of how the ideological extremes of Nazism and Communism tore through the fabric of her family — and how the fragments were painfully, yet courageously, pieced back together.
At the center is Leo, a brilliant yet complex Czech Jewish father whose escapes from both Hitler’s Reich and later Stalinist Czechoslovakia result in a heart-wrenching decision to leave behind his infant daughter. This fracture becomes the defining wound of the family, setting into motion decades of separation and silence.
Turnovsky, who grew up in Jamaica and later moved to Germany, offers a unique lens through which to explore identity, belonging, and historical memory. Her story is one of cultural displacement — a Czech name in a Caribbean voice — and a relentless search to reconnect the severed lines of her family history. As she uncovers long-buried truths about relatives lost in Auschwitz and a sister raised behind the Iron Curtain, the memoir evolves into a powerful journey of healing and truth-telling.
What makes Ruptured Lives extraordinary is its capacity to personalize the geopolitical. Rather than focusing solely on the tragedies of war and dictatorship, Turnovsky shows us the intimate human cost — the silences between siblings, the missed years, and the yearning for wholeness. It’s a story of survival, but also one of reclamation: of heritage, of narrative, and of emotional connection.
This memoir stands as a vital addition to the canon of WWII and Cold War literature, but it also transcends genre. It is a call to remember — and a testament to the unbreakable threads of family across time and tyranny.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Surface AND Depths: A Story of adolescence with reflections on the inner journey by Roland Evans
Surface and Depths by Roland Evans is a remarkable fusion of memoir, coming-of-age narrative, and psychological reflection. Set against the atmospheric landscapes of 1960s Wales and Ireland, the book chronicles the formative years of Moey/Owen between ages 14 and 18—a period Jungian psychology identifies as crucial for individuation and the development of self. Yet Evans’ work is far more than a recounting of adolescence; it is a profound exploration of the psyche, blending vivid storytelling with deep insight into the human experience.
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