Reviewing Newsletters Archive

Attracting Reviewers to Your Portfolio - by Arwee

On 8/22/08 at 12:21pm, Arwee wrote:

Issue #34 of the Writing.Com Reviewing Newsletter. Your editor is: Arwee


[ Table of Contents ]

1. About this Newsletter
2. Letter from the Editor
3. Editor's Picks
4. Ask & Answer
5. Useful Links


[ About this Newsletter ]

In this issue of the Reviewing Newsletter I'll offer some advice for attracting reviewers to your portfolio. Many of us have the idea that sponsoring an item is the best way to get a ton of reviews. But the problem with sponsoring is that you might not get the type of review you were hoping for.

[ Letter from the Editor ]

One of the key aspects of Writing.Com is building relationships with other writers. While WDC is mostly about the writing and the reviewing, a really great aspect of it is in the community. Here on this site is a large group of people who all share one thing in common; love for the written word. This is whether you're a reviewer, a poet, a novelist, or someone who just enjoys reading. But finding reviewers for your work can sometimes be challenging. This is especially when the first advice most people might give you is to spend the gift points to sponsor your item.

Sponsoring an item is a good way to get a lot of attention. But, sponsoring is expensive and not all of us have the gift points available to do so. Setting up a gift point incentive is usually the next bit of advice. But these incentives for reviews are also difficult, because you don't always get the best reviews for the gift points you're spending.

While sponsoring your item or offering an incentive will work for many people, it’s not always the best way. And, as I said, it’s not always affordable. I don't have any magical answers to give you in this NL. However, I do have some tips that have helped me in the past. I hope some of these will be useful to you.

Use the Resources Available
By now, you probably know about the plug pages around the site. You can plug your item onto the "Request Reviews Page" if you want to find someone who will pick up your story and take a good look at it. I often find this way to be the most successful when I’m looking for a quick solution. Failing that, just take a perusal at the "Review Forums" page, where members of the site have opened up review forums and are looking for items to go over. Some of these will request compensation for their time, but there are many who will offer advice for free.

Review Others
We can't expect to get something back if we don't invest in anything first. Review other members of the site. Give them honest feedback and if they get back to you, ask them if they have the time to take a look at your work. You shouldn't try to box them in or use your review to them as incentive. Most members will agree to have a look and some will send back a review of their own. You can even use this situation to make new friends and connections with other writers. There are times when members might say no. Don’t take it personally, there are many valid reasons why someone might not agree to reciprocate a review. Being too busy with work off of WDC is usually the case.

Review Often
The more you review, the more prolific your name is. I remember when I used to do one or two in-depth reviews a day. A lot of people took notice of me and many of my items were looked at and reviewed in turn. However, it’s not always possible for everyone to do this. Back when I did one or two in-depth reviews a day, I had a lot more time on my hands than I do now. But it is a good way to attract reviewers if you’ve got the time to dedicate to doing it. Not to mention you can also meet a lot of new people this way.

Join Groups
Within the wider WDC community are smaller groups. There are many of them available for the purpose of swapping reviews. Some of these are more general review groups, others have some restrictions. But if you're willing to do the work, joining a group is a good long-term solution to getting repeat reviewers to your port. I can think of "WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group"  [E] and "WYRM"  [13+] as two different options. However, there are many out there for you to peruse. Just click on the “Groups” link the link bar at the top of the site, then do a search for “review”, “reviewing”, or your genre of interest.

Set Up a Contest
A great way to gather reviews but help sift out the reviewers who are looking to make a quick gift point, is to set up a reviewing contest. Reviewing contests are an entire newsletter in itself, but I'll go over briefly what I mean now. If you offer the right prizes, the right amount of time, and have the right amount of patience a reviewing contest can draw in a lot of reviewers. Because there's not necessarily going to be instant gratification, you help prevent someone who's just there to say their minimum 250 characters and take off. Offer a nice prize and people might give it a go. What you decide to reward reviewers for (most in-depth, most reviews, most useful, most pretty, etc.) is your decision. And the best part is, you get to set the standard for what you want to see. Just make sure you're around to distribute the prizes!

Use Auctions
If you have some spare gift points around, you can also purchase reviews offered in auctions. If you spot a reviewer whose reviews you’d like, try to spend some gift points to purchase their lot. Participating in auctions will also help out some deserving groups.

Even if you've hit a rut and can't seem to attract anyone to your port, don't sweat it! With so many members on this site, someone is bound to notice you need some reviews. Just keep plugging your items, keep chugging along, and eventually someone will take notice. Just be polite, be nice, and keep working at it.


[ Editor’s Picks ]

         

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1273950 by Not Available.

         

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #981077 by Not Available.

         

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1404609 by Not Available.

         

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1385102 by Not Available.

[ Ask and Answer ]

If you have any questions, comments, critiques, general suggestions, or suggestions for editor’s pick (even your own work! ), please send them to me. I’ll be more than happy to feature them in the next newsletter and address them to the best of my ability.

Scottiegazelle Wrote re: “Use and Abuse of the Public Reviews Page”:
Excellent article! Since, as you noted, most readers of this newsletter are not likely to post self-promoting ads...er, reviews...please be sure to make this a static item so it can be read by others! And, of course, publically reviewed. Great job!
Arwee Wrote: Thanks for writing in, Scottie!

esprit Wrote re: “Use and Abuse of the Public Reviews Page”:
A great newsletter! It's full of sound advice and is kept interesting. reads fast and easy as a newsletter should. Good job! I have links in my reviewing sig, but they are useful links, not fiction, and not self-promotion. Sometimes, they aren't even mine. When I find something I feel is useful, I like to get it out there. I hope they aren't too much. I enjoyed the letter.
Arwee Wrote:
Having some links and signatures to highlight items you liked after a good review is totally cool. Thanks for the comments, esprit!


[ Useful Links ]

"Feedback Central"  – Send the editors some suggestions and general feedback.
"Reviewing Newsletters Archive"  – View previous issues of the Reviewing Newsletter.