Book Review Exchanges Help Spread Word-of-Mouse

Book review exchanges are a great way to help spread the word-of-mouse about your book. The ebook revolution has resulted in an explosion of new books on the market. Everyone is hungry for those book reviews. I have been a reviewer for Midwest Book Review and Book Ideas.com for five years, and an Amazon Vine reviewer since 2008. I have posted book reviews on my blog, Advice from a Caterpillar since 2007. So when my new middle grade novel, Letters to Juniper was released two months ago I looked for ways to make my review experience work for me. Authors often contact me personally to request a review. Now I write back and offer a review exchange. I will review the author’s book if he will do the same for me. So far no one has turned me down. If you are interested in a book review exchange please email me: peggyt@siltnet.net

I have also arranged book review exchanges through BlogTour.org. Registration is free and authors can make connections with other authors with blogs and arrange their own blog tours. From book reviews to interviews to guest posts, opportunities abound at BlogTour. And it’s not just for kids books. There are authors and blogs listed in all categories.

And the book review exchange fever is catching on. Two months ago I was trolling book blogs begging for reviews. Now authors and bloggers are asking to review Letters to Juniper.

In other news –

Letters to Juniper has been nominated for a Global eBook Award in the Children’s Literature – Fiction category.


“I absolutely loved this book! Peggy Tibbetts has captured a wonderful voice with twelve-year-old Sarah Smith, and this middle grade story flows seamlessly from beginning to end … In this fast-paced story, Tibbetts’ dialogue is riveting. I wouldn’t hesitate for one minute to recommend this book. I would only give a word of caution and that is to be prepared to read into the early hours of the morning because once you start it, you won’t be able to put it down. And then there’s the shocking ending. What a twist!”
— Anne McGee, author of The Mystery at Marlatt Manor.

"Everyone is talking about eBooks," said Dan Poynter, founder of the Global eBook Awards. "eBooks have reached the tipping point and are outselling books on paper in several categories. eBook are not replacing paper books; they are in addition to. The eReading devices such as the Kindle are increasing the amount of book reading."

According to Joseph Dowdy, the Director of Awards, the category with the largest number of entries so far is Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Paranormal. The next largest number of entries are in Historical Literature, Autobiography/Memoirs, and Writing/Publishing Nonfiction. Dowdy observes that Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Paranormal is the hot topic this season. Many people are reading and writing in this area due to the phenomenal success of Amanda Hocking and her eBooks. At the recent San Francisco Writers Conference, this was the most popular genre.

The Awards have 79 categories in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, illustration, and multimedia. See: Global eBook Awards Categories

The Global eBook winners will be honored at a star-studded ceremony on August 20 in Santa Barbara, California.

The deadline for application is June 30, 2011, midnight, Pacific Time.

Peggy Tibbetts

Letters to Juniper now available in ebook & paperback at Amazon.com

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