1,415 words
7 minutes read time

If, after reading that, you have Paula Cole’s Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? stuck in your head, you’re welcome. If not and want a flash of nineties nostalgia, you can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/bUmKUWzbDxg?si=u6OsnxNGOCIqQiil

Recently I came to the disappointing conclusion that I’m going to cancel my BookSprout membership. I’ve published quite a few books over the years and I can definitely tell that the quality of the reviews has gone down. It really sucks because for a long time it was a great place to find reviewers, and I was building a following of dedicated readers. But with my latest release of Loss and Damages, I’m finding that’s no longer the case. While I don’t want to insult the reviewers who have read my books because there are still a couple who read and leave honest feedback, there really is no incentive for me to stay there anymore, at least, not for the price I have to pay every month.

I put up Loss and Damages two months before launch because I know how important it is to give readers time to read, think about the book, and write a heartfelt, honest review. Twenty copies out of twenty five were taken, and now, nine days after my launch day, only eleven of those twenty have left a review and of those eleven only two wrote a review that was more than just a couple of sentences, wasn’t a blurb recap, or wasn’t written by AI. I understand that only a sentence can be a meaningful review and that any indie would/should be happy with any review at all. But when an author is paying for a service, and when those readers have voluntarily signed up to review books, I would think expectations can be a little higher.

There are a few reasons for this, I think, mostly due to so much content being out there these days. I see ARC readers online say they have several books on their lists, and it could be true they are over-extending themselves. There are so many books to choose from and if an ARC reader has several favorite authors, it would be easy to suddenly have ten books that need reviews at the same time. This is on top of day jobs, kids, and other responsibilities. This leads to shorter reviews or ARC readers resorting to using AI to spit out a review.

Another reason I think ARC reviews don’t have the quality they used to to is that authors are demanding they leave reviews all over the place–and there are many places. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads and Amazon, other platforms like Kobo and Apple Books if those authors are wide, their own social media, and places that may not be at the top of everyone’s heads but are there nonetheless like Pinterest and Lemon8. If authors aren’t making the graphics those ARC readers need, it can be time-consuming for those readers to come up with videos and graphics for those reviews and platforms. Whenever I added a book to BookSprout, all I asked was that the review be posted to Amazon. There were a couple that went above and beyond posting to TikTok and Instagram, but it wasn’t anything I asked for. Sometimes they’ll post to Goodreads too, but again, that wasn’t something I required.

I admit I’ve been doing things wrong. When I put out my Bookfunnel ARC link, I don’t ask for email addresses, I don’t ask potential reviewers to fill out a Google form. I don’t vet reviewers who ask for a copy of my book. I just give my link away and hope for the best. Obviously, I’m not getting the best, or even anything close to it, and I doubt my tactic ever will considering if you don’t hold people accountable, they’ll more than likely take what they can and run. I gave out over 100 copies of Loss and Damages this way and have nothing to show for it. Although, I never could be as unrelenting as some authors I see, which is why I go with my “hope for the best” process to begin with. I’ve seen some truly nasty authors treat reviewers with such disrespect and I can’t even imagine why they think that’s okay. I never want to come across as a harpy because you can do irreparable damage to your reputation with readers and reviewers. I just think that if you say you’re going to do something, then you should do it and apparently not everyone thinks that way.

I also gave away 100 copies of Loss and Damages in a Goodreads giveaway. Unfortunately, though that giveaway ended ten days ago, that didn’t result in many reviews yet either (I skimmed my reviews on GR and it looks like one person reviewed from that giveaway so far.) In a perfect world, I’d have over 200 reviews for that book: reviews from the people who took a copy on BookSprout, the people who downloaded it from my Bookfunnel link when I advertised it in an FB ad, and the people who won my Goodreads giveaway. I mean, it’s not for lack of trying that my books launch to few reviews, and I know I’m in the same position as a lot of other authors.

There are other review sites out there like BookSirens and Hidden Gems, and I follow an account called PenPinery on Threads that looks hopeful. I have a little bit of time to figure out what I want to do as I just announced to my newsletter and my (small) FB author page that my next book, Wicked Games, will come out in May of 2026. Trying a different review service might yield more favorable results, but being that I really do think ARC readers are already dealing with an onslaught of content and suffer from lack of time, it may not be the solution.

As for what other options you, me, or anyone else can try, I’m not sure. We obviously need reviews–social proof is really important. I firmly believe that reviews help your ads do better, they help a reader trust you’ll give them a good story, and book promos who vet your books before accepting you are more apt to feature your book. I don’t think there’s a magic number, like I don’t believe Amazon gives your book better treatment if you have say, 50 reviews. What authors see is that a book that has a good number reviews sells, and Amazon will boost that book because it’s already selling, and then it just gets more reviews. It’s a circular motion that feeds into itself, but it takes a lot of traction, sales, and a solid launch, to reach that point.

What I’ll try for my next launch?

Use a different review service.
Cancelling BookSprout will give me that money to experiment with.

Build (better) buzz.
I’ll try to post on social media more before ARCs are available. Readers can’t be excited about reading your book if they’ve never heard of it before. This is an especially difficult thing for me because I really don’t like posting on social media that much and I’m probably doing it wrong by not creating reels and videos for TikTok anyway.

Try a Google form.
Maybe that will help weed out the people who only want a copy from the people who will actually do something with it once they have it. I have never created a form for all the books that I have ever given out ARCs for, so it will be interesting. Going in this train of thought, I may even just make only a set number of copies available. Scarcity creates excitement and a “Pick Me” vibe could also generate buzz.

Going about my ARCs in a different way next year may help me get more reviews. I have to do something. Well, I mean, I don’t, but I don’t mind trying new things. I gave BookSprout a lot of time and a lot of books and if there’s anything this business taught me it’s that doing things the same way and expecting different results never works. I don’t want to turn into one of “those” authors, but going the “set it and forget it” way isn’t helping. All I can do is try.

Have you tried a way to get reviews? Did it work? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Have a lovely day!