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In this section:
Your publicist will pitch your book to the the media where they think you’ll get most reviews. They will focus on sending out electronic review copies, and save the print copies for important contacts and opportunities.
There are a limited amount of hard copies, and we impose no limit on sending out digital review copies (PDF and EPUB). PDFs can go out once finished files and the PDF Review File are ready and your title has a publication date. Printed books reach the warehouses by the first day of the month of publication, and EPUB is uploaded a few weeks before publication.
We allocate 15 hard review copies for every book.
Drop us a line on the Review Copies Author Forum.
We don’t send out review copies willy nilly on spec. Only ask if there is a serious request for a copy, from an important contact. The review copy could take up to a few weeks to arrive, depending on how many copies are in stock.
Please be aware that if you request advance copies in the US, we will delay stocking our warehouse at NBN, as copies might arrive more than two months before the planned publication date. This is because NBN will advance publication date and distribute it to all databases, including Amazon, which causes confusion.
You can use a PDF from your Marketing page, or an ebook file (EPUB) from your Production page in the ebook Workflow section.
Download your PDF Review Copy by clicking on No trims on your Marketing page.
Download your EPUB review copy from the e-book Workflow section
It is quite safe to send out PDFs for review, as far as possible piracy goes. Or as safe as can be. If someone is going to pirate your title there are easier ways of doing it.
If there are key individuals whose approval of the book you think could make a difference to sales, it makes more sense to send them the manuscript earlier and ask if they can provide an endorsement.
We recommend using Calibre, one of many free pieces of software that can convert files, to change your PDF or EPUB to the file type you need.
Calibre is not perfect. If you do convert, leave a note:
"This is not the final ebook, but a converted PDF for early review purposes, please forgive any rogue formatting."
If you struggle to convert, and need some help, drop us a line on the Review Copies forum.
We keep a record of our review pitches on your book’s Marketing page as Marketing Activities. If we receive good reviews then we add them to your Book Details page where it feeds through to the website. Please do the same!
As publisher, we cannot add reviews to online sites such as Amazon, The Book Depository, Goodreads and others. You can do this through your own Author Central account.
Bad reviews: Inevitably, it happens. It's one person's opinion, maybe not a well-formed one. You cannot get them removed, unless they are libelous.
Every author and user of our system can access a review copy of every title.
Online customer reviews in places like Amazon, Hive, Apple, Google, Powell’s , Barnes & Noble, Blackwell’s and Waterstones now have more effect on sales than print reviews by professional journalists. Amazon is increasingly the main online space for reviews, particularly for debut authors.
Readers tend not to buy books without good reviews. The minimum for "legitimacy" is variously put somewhere between 10 and 20. There's an interesting article on Amazon reviews at http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/book-marketing-the-old-way-versus-the-way-that-works-today-part-1-book-reviews/.
We encourage authors to review each other’s books, and in 2014 have set up Author Groups on Facebook to facilitate this (more in Chapter 13).
We don't pay for reviews and don't use the Amazon Vine service.
Book Bloggers have proliferated the internet, and some have got themselves quite a following and reputation for reviewing. Many are genre specific; this is particularly so in fiction, which covers so many genres. Most review not only on their site, but also on Amazon, Goodreads or at NetGalley.
Pay attention to how current the blog is, and the kind of followers they have.
First-time fiction author in a very specific genre. This author has no online offering and no endorsements.
Dear xxxx,
I hope you are finding some much needed 'catch' up time. Would you or xxxx consider reviewing this Crime Thriller title publishing in November 2017.
The novel, Steal a Few Cents captures the essence of modern-day South Africa, with its legacy of Apartheid, the pandemic of corruption, and the ongoing attempts of ordinary people to adjust to a non-racial future. It is a gritty detective story which raises issues of morality, economics and politics.
Steal a few cents and they put you in jail. Steal a few million and they put you in charge.
Rupert is a retired attorney who studied languages at university, and spent a 30-year career intimately involved with the South African mining industry. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Press Release
Cover Image
ISBN: 978-1-78535-607-0 (Paperback) £12.99 $20.95
EISBN: 978-1-78535-608-7 (e-book) £4.99 $7.99
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Mpho Mamela, a young accountant at a coal mine in the Middelburg coalfields of South Africa is killed one night when he gets caught in the rollers of a conveyor belt. He is mangled beyond recognition. There will be an official State enquiry into his death, by the Inspectorate of Mining. Stephen Wakefield, the in-house lawyer and a director of the company, begins preparing for the enquiry, but he struggles to understand what happened – Mamela should not have been anywhere near the place he was killed.
Bit by bit, Stephen’s investigation uncovers a story far removed from a simple workplace accident. A web of deception and massive fraud is unveiled; fraud perpetrated by a person who publicly insists on high standards of morality and honesty. It becomes clear to Stephen that Mamela had tried to blackmail the guilty party to help his lover, who is in prison for attempting to steal a trifling amount from the mining company.
When the killer learns that his actions are about to be exposed, Stephen realises that his own life is now in danger...
KEYWORDS: South Africa, Crime, Corruption, Mining, Mystery & Detective.
