u/superhero405

Hi, I’m a debut author with an independent press and do my own NetGalley with the help of a coop. I have been grateful to get many helpful and detailed reviews there which was also cross posted on Goodreads.

However, one reviewer, with a brand new account, that I unfortunately approved, requested my book along with five others ARCs and posted reviews in the same day (8 hours later). Her rating was two points lower than my average and the review made her sound illiterate.

I flagged the review and NetGalley must have agreed with me. It’s still on Goodreads. Should I ask Goodreads to take it down?

I understand this will happen again after the book is released, but I feel that this shouldn’t be allowed for ARCs.

I also heard that having a bad rating and weird review sells books. However, I still feel it should be an honest review, not a fake review.

What do you all think?

I hear a lot about the importance of a social media platform. I see nonfiction and fiction authors posting all over Instagram.

I have the following questions:

1. What counts more — follower count or view count?

2. Are the followers that you attract mostly other writers or are they potential readers who have interest in your genre?

3. What kind of conversion rate are you seeing as follower count grows or as your posts are getting views?

I’ve been seeing authors, including Big 5 published authors, talk on Instagram about emailing Barnes and Noble, or visiting indie bookstores, to ask them to stock their books. I thought that their distributor, Simon & Schuster for example, already has sales reps that do that. If that’s the case, what impact would an author’s email have, and does this happen before or after the sales rep visit?