Editorial Book Reviews
The Secret to Being Discovered
When it comes to selling books, getting noticed can be just as challenging as writing the manuscript itself. Readers can look at the blurb on the back of the cover or check the customer reviews online, but how can they know the quality of the writing and whether or not they’ll be carried away with story?
That’s the job of a professional Editorial Review!
Editorial reviews are professional critiques, often written by industry experts, literary critics, or reputable publications. They offer an authoritative voice that authors can use to help shape a book’s reputation before it ever reaches the bookshelves.
Chanticleer Book Reviews loves helping authors get their books noticed by providing professionally written Editorial Reviews they can use across all their marketing channels, both traditional and digital! In this blog post, we’ll explore what editorial reviews are, why they matter, and how authors can strategically use them to boost credibility, attract readers, and enhance their book’s visibility in a crowded market.
What is an Editorial Review?
Customer reviews are great at relaying the emotional response casual readers experience when reading your book, but there’s little professional control and almost zero authorial control in what the content of those reviews are. Reader Reviews tend to quite brief, and often only touch lightly on themes and events in a book. Plus, there’s no guarantee that this reader is a good fit for the book as a whole.
Editorial Reviews, on the other hand, are written by professional literary experts and provide insights into the quality of writing as well as the emotional impact these expert reviewers experienced when reading. Unlike customer reviews, Editorial Reviews are unbiased, polished assessments that focus on story elements, such as the quality of writing, originality, structure, and the overall impact provided by the narrative. From the craft of storytelling to the story itself, Editorial Reviews give readers a peek inside the reading experience to let readers know what to expect.
Why an Editorial Review Matters
Professional editorial reviews act as endorsements of your work. They take a deeper dive into the book, evaluating its bones and providing a sense of credibility and authority. That expert vetting can have a great influence on book sales and visibility for a new novel among booksellers and librarians (who often rely on reviews for purchasing decisions), literary prize committees, and readers who seek trusted recommendations when looking for their next book. Editorial Reviews help readers sift through the overwhelming number of books published every year, highlighting books with strong literary merit, originality, or cultural relevance and guiding readers toward quality content.
In short, Editorial Book Reviews function as a bridge between authors, publishers, and discerning readers, which plays a crucial role in shaping the success, reputation, and cultural impact of a book.
What to Expect from an Editorial Review
Being reviewed by a reputable book review company, such as Chanticleer Book Reviews, is key to capturing the interest of readers through effective book marketing. Each company’s review process is different. This is ours—
- Clear Timeline: 6-9 weeks for standard reviews, 3-5 weeks for expedited service
- Human Expertise: All reviews are read and written by professional reviewers whose other work you can view on our website
- Marketing Focus: We edit each review to ensure at least 3 blurbable lines and optimize for SEO impact
- Author Control: All paid reviews require your approval; we respect that no one knows your work better than you do
Throughout the process, we stay in touch with the author, letting you know when your review has begun and working with you to refine it when it’s finished. We know Editorial Reviews are meant to work as a marketing tool to introduce your story to readers, and that’s why it is important to us that we offer authors and publishers the first look at their reviews to check for any comments, edits, or corrections that are needed to get it ready for their marketing.
How You can Use an Editorial Review
To use your Editorial Review as a marketing tool look for all the ways, online and in-person, where you are presenting your book. Add a quote from the review to your book’s cover or an inside page, place it in a press release, ads, and promotional materials.
I’ve used quotes from my review in tabletop signs at book fairs and readings at libraries alongside the blurb. I’ve also used blurbs on my website, in newsletters, and on social media in memes and messages. I’ve even seen them in video trailers! – Dena
Reviews can also be part of an introductory email to bookstores and libraries, or if you are looking for an agent or publisher, an Editorial Review can provide them with a solid recommendation they can believe in. Some of our authors have purchased a review prior to their book being published for this very reason!
When it comes to your selling sites, like Amazon, quotes from your Editorial Review can be pasted right on your book’s selling page where the customer can read an expert’s opinion alongside the customer reviews. Amazon (and Goodreads, which is owned by Amazon) are great places to post quotes from the review. In fact, don’t miss out on posting your review on these pages, as Amazon is the world’s busiest purchasing website for books, and Goodreads is specifically dedicated to readers.
NOTE: A few years ago, Amazon changed its policy to limit access to selling pages to only the author. This move was prompted by the need to prevent fraud and keep control in the hands of the authors. It is Amazon’s policy not ours –even though Amazon ranked us highly and gave us special recognition.
But there IS something that only you can do—
Post a blurb from the review in the Editorial Reviews section on your book’s Amazon page!
How to post an Editorial Review to Amazon
To add an Editorial Review to your book’s Amazon selling page you must first create an Amazon Author Central account. This is the portal to your selling page to add, edit, or delete the content, all in the hopes of creating a more engaging experience for shoppers who visit your page.
If you don’t have an Amazon Author Central account, here’s the link to get you started:
https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/help?topicID=200620850
- The welcome page should look like this. Click on “Books” to get started (circled in red):
2. Your books will pop up and you can add as many books as you like.
3. Click on the book you want to add the Editorial Review for and you’ll next see a page that looks like this:
4. Press the “Add review” button and you’ll be able to place your editorial review, or a quote from your editorial review, into the data box, just like this:
5. Press “Preview” to make sure it looks professional, then press “Submit” to make the review go live on Amazon! You can add one review or more, we suggest adding 4 or five reviews that when combined will provide a well-rounded comment on your book. After you press “Submit” you’ll see a “Success!” message pop up on your screen that will tell you it can take 3-5 days for the review to publish, but I’ve seen the turnaround be much faster than that.
A Few Insiders Tips
- For a professional look, do not post the entire review. A well-selected blurb will do nicely. Using different blurbs on different marketing pieces, your selling pages, your website, in posters, etc., will give readers considering your book a broader view of the quality and experience they’ll have when reading your book, and it will also make the blurbs fresh and enticing!
- Be sure to use ellipses when using a quote from the review.
- Always give attribution! We prefer “Chanticleer Book Reviews” for our Editorial Reviews.
Editorial Reviews are powerful tools that help authors show their work has been vetted by professionals. They help build trust with readers, retailers, and the industry, and can be the final decision maker when readers are at the check stand online or at their favorite corner bookstore!
We hope this quick tutorial helps you get the most out of your
Chanticleer Book Review, on Amazon and across all your marketing channels!
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