Indie Author Newbies Part 3: Reviews and What to Do With Your Novel

This is a really short post and it's mostly just links. This is because there are plenty of people out there already telling you how to get reviews. It's still a challenge and there are a couple of ways to go.

Say you did everything wrong from the start (just like I did). You wrote a book, did your edits and formatting on your own, asked people you knew for feedback but... Now you're stuck. You don't have a group of authors to help you with critiquing. You don't have enough objective eyes for your work and you're a bit too scared to approach a book blogger when you really don't feel that confident. Here are some options:

1) Join an author group now. The ones I've mentioned in earlier posts. See
IBC
WorldLiterary Cafe (Used to be WoMen's Literary Cafe)
Novel Publicity

If you're confident you're ready to get reviews - you can get started here -
Goodreads (join group discussion, many groups have a thread on reading and reviewing)
IBC Reviewers and Reviews only

2) Pay for a cheap review. Not really recommended, but still an option.
Fiverr
TwentyFiverr


If you've already self published and really not confident, you can:
a) backtrack and unpublish your book, then republish when ready - after you've found the cheap reviewers and they've given you the dish (NOT recommended - it's a big pain).
b) leave your book published where it is (chances are no one will read it) and update it with a new edition when you've made all your necessary changes (after you've found your reviewers).
I suggest option b). That way you're giving a reviewer something that looks finished. Formatting problems can get discovered at this stage as well.

3) Go ahead and write the next book and build your review/critique group as you do it. Get your two books reviewed at the same time.
There are several author communities that allow you to build an author group. They're online writing sites where you post your writings and comment on other author writings. You will pick up a few readers here too. It's an interesting way to build a following and can help you when it comes to getting reviews later. You do have to reciprocate (it's Karma). Also - some of the sites will affect your publishing options when the time comes. So read the fine print. Here are some examples:
wattpad
awwc
writebrainednetwork
quilliant
http://www.scribd.com/
http://www.mibba.com/
I'm adding Goodreads as well - loads of readers, places for writers to post their work (excerpts etc.)