There’s no turning back now; I just dropped a review copy of Make a Move in the post, and I can’t get it back. I knew this was a hurdle I’d have to get past at some point, but it’s still a nerve-wracking time. Creative people in the public domain always suggest against reading your reviews, but I need reviews to promote the book, so I need to know if I should draw attention to the comments, or pretend it didn’t happen. Regardless of the marketing and promotion options it gives me, I always knew I wanted to get the book reviewed by an impartial reader. I’ve received comments from people who don’t know me, and they’ve been unanimously fantastic, but they paid £12.99 for the book, so they have a vested interest in enjoying it; they want it not to suck to justify their outlay. With a reviewer, they’re just looking at your book and comparing it to the other books in its genre. If a reviewer likes it, it’s good.
I’d like to say I don’t need the validation, but I do. I can’t take myself out of the equation as I wrote the thing, so I need someone else to do that for me.
I’ve done everything I can to make sure the book receives a sympathetic review (apart from getting a friend to review it, which is ultimately pointless). I chose a local publication with a readership that sits squarely in my target demographic, and I queried the literary editor without sending in the book, who is now keen to review it himself after reading the blurb I sent. So far, it all looks good, but I’m not making any assumptions; I need this review to be objective, which means no safety net.
I’ll post a link to the review (if it’s also in the online edition of the paper) once it’s out.
Fingers crossed…