Do you love to read? Are you interested in getting free books to read (and keep or giveaway)? I am a bookworm – always have been. Over the past few years I have teamed up with many publishers, authors and companies to read and review hundreds of books! If you are already reviewing books, maybe some of these tips will help you find new books. If you are new to this, then welcome to the exciting hobby of Book Reviewer. This post includes Amazon Affiliate links.

How to be a Book Reviewer

Review on a Blog:

If you are interested in reviewing books, you need a place to post your reviews. The traditional venue for posting reviews is on a blog. You can start a blog just for your reviews or add them as a new category on your existing blog.  Whether you choose to use a blog or social media, you need to make sure you can share them with the world.

Review on Instagram

There are some people who review books but don’t want to blog.  Some of these book reviewers are turning to Instagram to post their thoughts on their latest books.  They post a picture of the book in their Instagram feed and give a full review in the description.  You can search #bookreview, #bookreviewer, #advancedreadercopy and other similar hashtags to get an idea of how readers are using Instagram to post book reviews.

Find the Books

1. Start with what you already have on your shelf. In order to get started with some companies, you need to prove that you can write reviews. So start by reviewing the book you just finished reading.
2. Use your Library. Check out a few new books and review them. Again, you are just proving to the publishers that you will be contacting that you are serious about reading and writing reviews.  People love to read about the brand new books on the New York Times Best Seller List.  If you need an idea of where to start, hop over and get inspired!

Need more resources? Check out these books: How to Write a Review (Explorer Junior Library: How to Write) and The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing available on Amazon.com for print or mobile device.

Contact the publisher

Sometimes I find a book that looks really interesting. I look to see who published the book, then google to find out the phone number or email of that publisher. I will contact the publisher and just ask for a review copy. Sometimes this works. But it’s worth a try if you are wanting to read the book.

Contact the author

I have found several books in the last few months, by just simply asking the author if they would be willing to send me a copy of their book for review. I email them my blog address and tell them that I will run a giveaway after I review their book. Then I send my readers to their website and facebook page. This gives the author the opportunity to gain new followers and visibility. Recently I contacted a local author and offered to do a review and giveaway on her new release. I saw an article in our local paper, contacted her and offered to read a copy of her book in exchange for helping her promote it with a giveaway.

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Fiction/Non Fiction Books

Once you’ve gotten some reviews posted, you are ready to apply to some programs. I currently work with many companies that offer free books in exchange for a fair review and promotion.

• NetGalley
• Baker Publishing
• Revell Reads 

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Tips for a Good Review:

I always try to give a balanced review even if I can’t give a positive review. Each book has something good. There was only 1 book I read in the last 9 years that was absolutely horrible. I couldn’t even find one good thing about it. I contacted that author and told them that I could not honestly give it any kind of positive words. That author and I agreed that I would just keep (or toss) that book and not even post the review. Since it was an ebook, I just deleted the file and moved on. When I get a book personally from an author, I try to remember that this book is their “brainchild” and they have spent months or years of their life writing this. So before I agree to review any book, I look carefully to see if it is something that looks promising and enjoyable.

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Free Book Giveaways

Free Book Giveaways on Facebook is a collective page where authors, bloggers and publishers can list free book giveaways are going on. Usually, book giveaways are low entry, so the odds of winning are great. Want to find even more FREE Books? Check out this article of Where to Find Free Books What about you? Do you review book? Where do you get them and where do you post your reviews? I’d love to check them out.