Pay per (Re)view? Ali Bacon discovers how hard it is for small publishers to get press coverage.

This month has delivered another hard knock as regards the realities of life with a small publisher. I’m talking about book reviews, not on Amazon or Goodreads or the fabulous efforts of book bloggers (to whom I'm eternally grateful), but the world of the main-stream press, or the bits of it I thought would be accessible to the author of a small but perfectly formed (though I say it myself!) piece of Scottish historical fiction.

Print copies don't come cheap

I like to think neither myself nor Linen Press took anything for granted as far as reviewers were concerned.  Before Blink was published we made a list of potential review media from the general (Guardian, TLS, Scotsman) to the more niche photography journals. Rather than send review copies unsolicited, each of the reviewers  was sent (as were many personal contacts, bloggers and bookshops) book, author and cover info. I was buoyed up by the fact that we got replies from several large circulation publications saying ‘yes please, send a copy’ which we duly did (all print of course – no ebooks for this sector, apparently.) 

A few months down the line, I considered many reasons why reviews from the ‘yes’s’ had not been forthcoming: - maybe the whole thing just took longer than I imagined, or I was overoptimistic in thinking Blink would be considered a masterpiece by anyone other than those close to home?  What has disarmed me is the discovery, in fits and starts, that the book is unlikely to have been seen by most of these reviewers, never mind read or reviewed.   According to one contact, the TLS, for instance, has mountains of books in a kind of review slush-pile and I guess this is par for the course.

Poking a few arts correspondent contacts on social media (nothing ventured!) didn’t seem to work and I believe Linen Press made some calls to no effect. So it was an admission of defeat to ring a Scottish magazine of international standing (who had accepted a review copy but published no review) to ask about placing an advert. I saw this readership as my main audience. Speculate to accumulate?

Needless to say the cost of even ¼ page was eye-watering, but a special deal was offered for the upcoming issue with favourable placement next to the book review page. And, wait a minute, if we were advertising, the book would also get a mini review into the bargain. Now I was sitting up and taking notice. However Linen Press had other commitments which made the spend a no-go and as I earn only a standard royalty from sales through Linen, I didn’t imagine I would recoup £200+ from paying for the advert myself. (If I’d been self-publishing, my money would, I think, have been on the table – discuss?) But while all this was in the air, I had a think. Wasn’t placing an advert with a review guaranteed tantamount to paying for a review?

We few, we happy few

This led me to examine the other worthy-looking contenders for reviews in the issue of the magazine I had to hand. Clearly they favoured reputable Scottish and local history publishing houses - and why not? But with my hackles raised, I was suspicious enough to think why? In fact 16 reviews in that issue were spread over a small number of publishers.  FB friends suggested it was standard practice for publishers to keep review editors sweet: friends in other sectors said it was common for ‘advertorial’ to be offered (i.e a feature article) only if an advert is placed. And what about the coverage in the same issue of books from a reputable but expensive self-publishing  provider Matador? Is this what the author pays for in that ‘publicity package’? If so I am actually more impressed than I expected to be!

Overall, of course I’m dispirited. We all know about publishers paying for bookshop placement etc but I naively thought reviews were reviews. If I got the book in front of someone sympathetic to the genre and style, bingo! Well the scales have fallen from my eyes in that respect as in one or two other matters of indie publishing. 

6  out of 5. 110% success!

But rather than give in to sour grapes I’m trying to look on this as simply a reality check and of course to count my blessings,especially with this latest stunning review from author Mari Howard (whose Oxford novels are well worth a look). If you don't have time to read the whole review I can tell you She has given In the Blink of an Eye 6 stars out of 5!  So huge thanks to her and to all my other reviewers wherever you may be.

Of course I’d also be interested to know of any other strategies available for storming the citadels of the mainstream press and leave you with a foretaste of my next preoccupation – book prizes!

Ali Bacon's In the Blink of an Eye (Linen Press 2018) is a fictionalised account of the life of Scottish artist and photographer D. O. Hill told through the eyes of those who knew him.  
In e-book and paperback, best prices direct from the publisher. Also from other reputable bookshops and online outlets. 

Her contemporary Scottish novel A Kettle of Fish is also available from Amazon and through bookshops.