Finding Reviewers

I'm looking for readers. 

It's a little over two months until A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die releases and I have a couple dozen advance review copies of it to give away (Preston stays here, though!). What I want is reviewers with a wide reach. 

I've contacted several respected reviewers who I met through Facebook and they agreed to read the book. The Natural Farmer, the newsletter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association agreed to review it for their June edition, which goes out to 10,000 subscribers. I even asked Johnny's Selected Seeds to read one and they said they could mention it on their social media.

Another thing I did was start a Goodreads giveaway.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Tine to Live, A Tine to Die

by Edith Maxwell

Giveaway ends April 04, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I don't hang out on Goodreads much but probably should!  

My publisher is handling the big review sites, like Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and major newspapers, as well as publications like Edible Boston. I'm not sure how that works but am leaving it up to the publicist there. 

If you have a venue where you could circulate a review to a lot of readers, please contact me and we can talk about arranging an ARC for you. I want to get the word out!

Helping Authors

Now that Speaking of Murder is out, I'm thinking a lot about how readers can help authors. I know others have covered this, but here's my list of suggestions.

• Ask your library to purchase the book. That way it reaches many readers for a long time.

• If you read the book and liked it, write a short review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble and assign it a handful of stars. That will let prospective buyers know it's a book worth reading.
• If you're in a book club, suggest they read the book. I'd be happy to come and talk if you're within driving distance, or could visit via Skype if you're not.
• If you travel in twitterdom, Facebook, or other social media, first follow me or click Like on my two Author pages, then post a quick note about the book and what you liked about it. Our overlapping circles can ripple outwards into the world, and your circles certainly include some people mine don't.
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If you have mystery-loving friends, consider buying copies of the book to give as holiday or birthday presents. One very cool friend of mine just told me he ordered TEN copies from our local independent bookstore to give to family members as Christmas presents. That was a great piece of news for a writer! Supporting independent bookstores is also a great practice (you can order a discounted signed copy of the book from the New England Mobile Book Fair if you haven't already purchased it).

• And above all, talk it up. Word of mouth is a great marketing tool. If you'd like me to send you some bookmarks to send out, just ask. I have a few thousand. 

Of course these ideas apply to how readers can support all authors, not just me!

Do you have other ideas on how to support an author? As a reader, which of these suggestions are you likely to implement? Authors, what has worked for you?