How To Assess Your eBook: Is Your eBook Readable And Is There Latent Consumer Demand For The Information It Contains?

Getting a Review from a Critic

The value and sales of your eBook can increase tremendously with a good review from a reputable source or critic. The higher the credibility of the critic, and the more reviews you obtain, then the greater your eBook sales.

Book reviewers receive hundreds of books to review, and for your publication to receive the attention you feel it deserves, you must follow the right procedure.

The vast majority of book reviewers for newspapers, magazines, and leading Websites, will not accept an eBook via e-mail. So, how can you obtain a review?

Test Your Market

When you open a book, in the initial pages you can read details of the number of different imprints and versions of that publication. This not only gives you an idea of its popularity, but also its publication history.

A fiction book may have an initial run of 10,000 copies, and if it's a hit, there can be many subsequent imprints. It's the same for nonfiction, but in this case you often see the book has been edited, improved, and updated.

When your book is finished, and by that I mean edited, proofed, re-written, and totally prepared for publication, you can compile and publish your initial eBook.

You then upload this to a dedicated Website and it's published!

Now you can test the market for your eBook with the only people who really matter - your readers. Check the marketing page for further information on this topic.

The Quick And Easy Review

Once your eBook is available online for download, you can write to all the people who you feel are likely to review an eBook of that genre.

Don't make the mistake of writing to the wrong person or organisation, because you will also find your name blacklisted for wasting time. Ask somebody with some knowledge and expertise in the subject of your eBook.

You need to include the following information in your e-mail message:

The Title of your eBook
The Download URL and file size
A precise summary of the content
The size of your eBook: Words, Pages
Summary of graphics and images used
The compiled format: PDF or EXE
A brief bio of yourself
Your credentials for writing the eBook
Details of other publications
The Webpage URL for any Testimonials or Press Clippings
Your complete contact details.

Your reviewer is a busy person, so do not clutter your e-mail message with a lot of superfluous writing — it's too easy to hit 'delete'.

Your Media Kit

The professional book and eBook reviewer and the media, will not accept the above approach. You are going to have to spend some time and money, if you want a review from this section of the book world. It will be time and money well spent, of course, because one favourable review from a credible source can rocket sales!

Your eBook Media Kit must be an eye catching, expert presentation of your eBook and where available it will include all of the following:

A printed copy of your eBook. This will mean going to a local printer and discussing a suitable print run. The upside of this investment, apart from increasing the chances of a favourable review, is that you can offer a print version for sale on your Website
Your Sales Letter. What you say in the letter will go a long way to having the rest of your media kit examined
An Info Page. A single page with the full details of your book, including
- The Title of your Book and the Author
- Number of Words and Pages
- ISBN number
- Publication date
- A brief synopsis of the book
- Short bio of the author
- Summary of other reviews
- The publisher's details
- Your full contact details
- Download URL of the eBook
Keep copies of any Testimonials and Reviews for the eBook
Good copies of any Press articles regarding the eBook
A professional Press Release
A detailed biography of the author, including credentials for writing the book
A SAE with a request for a copy of the Review.

And you thought writing the book was hard! Successful eBook writers have to put an equal amount of effort into marketing and publicising their work — or hire a reputable organisation to do it on their behalf.