(*The following review pertains to only the free services provided by Sandra’s Book club, namely the book club. I am also not currently a member of the book club.)
BACK IN THE NOVEMBER OF 2020, I came across Sandra’s Book Club and was not terribly confident that her claims of 91% of authors getting 1-2 honest reviews would be any different from the other book clubs/reviewing sites that I had tried before (all of which had resulted in crickets and in some cases, a loss of cash); however, Sandra’s website listed some free options, and I thought, why not?
So I filled out the form and received the following options:
Being broke and lazy, I chose the middle option, and . . . opted to read the shortest book on the list, which turned out to be a rather well-written short story. I then submitted a review to amazon and goodreads and emailed the links to Sandra, and I was officially listed for 3 months. And now, all I had to do was wait. . . .
And wait. . . .
And . . . if I had just done that, then I would have been in the 9% who received no reviews, but instead, when the book list email PDF (an example shown below) was sent out, I chose to read another book (I mean, hey, it’s a free book, right?) and reviewed it, and thus increased the length of the listing by another 3 months. During this time, I didn’t really think I would ever get a review, but I was kind of just enjoying reading some of the other books on there. I just figured that, like me, probably other authors were just reading the shortest books listed, and since my book was rather long, it wasn’t likely to get any catches.
It wasn’t until 4 months later that I got my first review, and I was . . . not too impressed with the quality, and you might see why.
Now, I’m not too picky when it comes to a review, but from this, I wasn’t even sure if she read the book (for there is only one world in this book – not worlds) or even knew what genre it was. Was this the type of reviews that other authors were putting out to get their months increased? I mean, I was lazy, but I, at least, wrote a paragraph or two and read the actual books. Additionally, I did not want fake/false reviews marring the page and was rather annoyed that that was now there.
At this point, if you had asked me if I recommended the book club, I would have replied in the negative. However, this was before I learned that you can ask Sandra to list your free promotions days in her reading list, and that’s when I actually started to get reviews.
These reviews, unlike the first one, I thought were actually real and was happy to receive them. I stayed in the book club until fairly recently (as I had become busy with other non-book-related projects), but those were the last reviews I received. Note, though, that I only had the book listed with the free promotion once, and that was the result. (Also, my book is probably a bit of a niche read, and I am aware that it doesn’t have a broad appeal.)
So, after about a year in the book club, do I recommend it? Yes, I do*, despite my initial issues; however, there are some things you can do to help your odds (and thus avoid those said issues). *Note: I am not recommending this as your sole means of gathering reviews but as a supplement.
- List your free promotions (well ahead of time)
- Have a shorter book
- Have a good book cover
- Be patient (for the first 3 months might not be enough)
- The paid listings probably get more reviews (but I didn’t try it)
Aside from the review aspect, the book club also has rewards for those who review the most (shown below) and a number of other services such as design or book trailer production. Sandra, herself, also seems to be pretty actively involved with the book club and will get back to you right away, which I appreciated. In general, I think the book club is pretty well-run and worth a shot but does still require some proactivity on your part to help your book be seen.
Main takeaways:
- Reviews are organic – not guaranteed
- Might have to renew more than once
- Shorter books might do better
- Reviewing other books probably helps
- It’s free
- Reviews are of varying quality
[*I’ll just reiterate that this review only pertains to the free portion of the bookclub, and also that this blog is not a post to get re-listed on the book club.]
C. E. Cannery 