Garnering (begging for?) reviews so that people know my book doesn't suck

Hello! It's been a minute. I've been doing what I assume everyone else is doing, and just trying to survive the ridiculous timeline we find ourselves in. Every day, it seems, there's some kind of other horrible news break and at this point, I've curated my entire FYP on Tiktok to show me Disney content, dogs, or other writers trying to (and failing to) write because everything feels like it's on fire. I just don't think I have the stamina to continue watching Under the Desk News and Aaron Parnas multiple times a day.

That being said, I have sixty-seven days until my novel debuts. But who's counting right? And in those sixty-seven days, my goal is to have between thirty and fifty reviews on GoodReads, Amazon, Bookshop, Tome, Storygraph- basically anywhere a person can review a book, I want to have one. I want as many eyeballs on my book as humanly possible. I'm also hoping to have at least a handful of reviews on NetGalley, but so far NetGalley hasn't proven to be worth the chunk of change it cost to get Give My Love to Berlin up there.

I'm also trying to figure out the best place to do a book launch. I have a few incredible friends who have volunteered to help me figure it out, as planning a party where I am the main attraction is

A) my idea of a nightmare and B) overwhelming because where do I even start??

There is a part of me, and it's a pretty large part, that wishes it was the olden days where I could have just written in a dark room someplace, only to emerge like Punxsutawney Phil, once a year to send my manuscripts to my agent and editor, then crawl back into my cave, the epitome of mystery and gothic romance. Am I a vampire? Am I suffering from Consumption? Am I addicted to absinthe? Only my typewriter knows my secrets.

Alas, this is the era of social media and marketing and book launches and podcasts and in-person readings, so here we are. I've posted on Tiktok and Instagram trying to gather more ARC readers- an ARC is an advanced reader copy. Essentially these get sent out to people prior to the book's release in the hopes that said people will write or post a review trying to whip up excitement for an upcoming novel.

As of right now, I have sixteen ARC readers but if I want to get up to thirty reviews, I'll need a few more people to volunteer as tribute. If you're interested in an advanced copy and you are active on literally ANY of the above places (Amazon and Goodreads especially), please let me know. I can send you a digital copy that you can send to your Kindle or I *might* be able to send a few lucky folks a paper copy.

All this to say, if you've already signed up to be an ARC reader, I'm sending you all my gratitude. If you're interested in being an ARC reader, I need a few more, so send me an email and I'll get you on the list!

A million thanks to everyone so far that has been on this journey with me and for those that are interested in listening to me blab about my writing. I appreciate every single one of you.