BookSirens is open for fiction and nonfiction works. They also claim to help you gather real book reviewers. But why do writers, who aspire to become authors, need book reviews? And how do book readers make an income from this opportunity?
In today’s review, we will learn the importance of book reviews as part of the prerequisites of becoming an authority as a writer. As Michel Foucault said, “All authors are writers, but not all writers are authors.”
As cliche as it sounds but it is part of a writer’s journey to be recognized as the creator, the origin of the amazing and life-changing work.
This is why book reviews play an important role in developing specific areas to improve the content. For fiction, to develop the potential of the story.
With that being said, this leads us to discuss BookSirens review and learn how this company contributes to our journey as a writer. Especially those who are keeping an eye on various self-publishing opportunities.
Are you ready? Let’s begin. Shall we?
What is BookSirens?
BookSirens is a book and magazine distributor, a platform intended to serve both the authors and book reviewers.
Authors’ works are publicized in their system to expose the book to its readers. In return, they will leave an unbiased review of the books they read.
For book reviewers, using BookSirens will not cost anything. All they need to do is sign-up to gain access to ARCs or the Advanced Reading Copies.
Then, they will send them the latest book via email. The ARCs are made available for free for readers.
For us, writers and aspiring best-selling authors, we have to pay for BookSirens services.
They ask for $10 per book + $2 per reader who downloaded your book. According to their website, you will not be liable to pay $2 until they download the copy.
In general, BookSirens serves as your option if you intend to make improvements to your work or if, in any case, you made it available on Kindle, the unsolicited reviews will help in terms of marketing your work in the public domain.
If you notice the ones that are on the best-seller list, they have thousands of reviews. Having the book available as ARCs is the key.
This is why most indie authors aka self-published authors tend to rely on companies like BookSirens.
How Does BookSirens Work?
BookSirens is open for all book readers, opening its ARC lists for free. If you intend to write a book and have it submitted for book reviewing, this platform could be a good utility for editing, as well as marketing purposes.
Before we dig into details, BookSirens is only open for fiction. If you intend to write a nonfiction book, then this platform is not for you.
The system is simple. BookSirens follow a system in variations to serve its users best. So, if you are an author, you will have a different system as those who only prefer to read free book copies.
As I mentioned earlier, the book reviewers will only sign-up for a newsletter containing the latest ARCs for free. BookSirens will send a confirmation link for verification.
Once done, they will start receiving new ARCs and download them for free. From there, you would assume that they did the same for your ARC.
How Much Does BookSirens Cost?
You will pay $2 per book reader aside from a $10 fee per book for uploading and distributing your work.
One thing you should keep in mind is that, though you wanted all the book readers who downloaded your work to give nice feedback, you can’t do that. You cannot force the readers to leave a review albeit it’s one of your reasons for paying BookSirens.
“Our readers are NOT compensated, incentivized, nor required to leave a review. They are also NOT influenced to leave a biased review,” they wrote as a disclaimer.
“Readers simply use BooksSirens to discover free books in exchange for their honest, voluntary review. You are not paying readers. You are paying BookSirens to publicize your book to potential readers who enjoy writing book reviews, much like you would pay a publicist or agent to generate the same buzz,” they added.
For instance, your budget is good for 1,000 readers thinking this is a good number to get a lot of reviews to become a best-selling author. That doesn’t mean your $2,000 will give you 1,000 book reviews.
Do you get what I mean?
What Do Other Authors Think About BookSirens?
Based on the overall tone of the authors’ experience with BookSirens, it is quite divided. Some authors recommend the platform, others don’t.
According to Carrie Thomas, she had a great experience with it because of its site attractiveness, user-friendliness, and top-notch customer service.
“It’s been so fun using BookSirens so far and I’m glad I submitted my books. Readers have given me honest reviews, and most importantly checked out my books,” Aarti Patel, a satisfied BookSirens fan, wrote on Facebook Page.
As much as the platform sounds exquisite, those who have tried the platform revealed the opposite as well. Most of them mentioned that BookSirens didn’t match their expectations.
“I signed one of my books up with BookSirens a while ago. [I] never heard anything back from them. [I] actually forgot about it,” a Reddit user wrote in r/selfpublish thread.
Another dissatisfied user wrote, “I signed up one of my books when they were first starting up. I believe they’re still fine-tuning their business model and may not be accepting new books at the moment.”
BookSirens Review – Pros & Cons
Pros:
- User-friendly platform
- Provides a win-win deal between the authors and book readers
- Low-cost ARC distribution and other deals
- Provides unbiased reviews from book readers, helping to keep the integrity of book review (especially for KDP)
- Promotes authors’ works across book reviewers
- Works as your publicist to generate buzz for your works
- Easy registration to become a book reviewer and/or author
- Topnotch customer service
- A high rating on a Facebook page based on authors’ positive feedback
Cons:
- Not for all book genres as BookSirens is only open for fiction stories so far
- No guarantee for 100% book review returns from your investment. Refer to BookSirens’ cost.
- Expect the harshest critics from book readers (I’ve seen one thread where a first-time author shared her awful experience with BookSirens tough audience).
Is BookSirens Legitimate Or Not?
I did research if these authors are real. They were indeed real authors. That proves BookSirens’ legitimacy as a book and magazine distributor. A reliable one.
Yes, there’s no doubt about that. Your investment will be worth it. As you can see below, more and more authors rely on BookSirens for book reviews nowadays. Especially in the rise of self-publishing endeavors among first-time authors.
From a book reviewers’ perspective, your freedom is exercised with your book reading. You aren’t forced to download the book if you don’t like reading it nor to leave a review to help the author.
BookSirens will only serve as a book distributor, a publicist to help authors to provide a channel to give their work the best exposure they could get.
Just so you know, the book reviewers are not compensated by any means. They do this voluntarily for the sake of fun. Book readers like me love reading people’s works.
Therefore, whatever book reviews you get, you are guaranteed that these are unbiased, making it safe from violating any KDP or Kindle Unlimited violations of its terms and conditions.
This is why BookSirens is one of the top go-to-hubs for authors to outsource book reviews even before they publish the work. This is for the sake of the editing and proofreading process.
Others prefer to use this platform after it’s made available as a published work. You know, for the sake of Amazon’s top sellers.
Conclusion – Is BookSirens Worth It?
I know how hard it is to write a book. But you choose this path. You are responsible for the consequences of your choice.
As writers, we write. And to challenge ourselves, we become authors and own our works.
The moment we begin typing in the words into a blank page, the cold sweat covers our body. We breathe heavily as if we’re choked.
Yet, when we finish it, we feel euphoric. The feeling of cloud nine is evident the whole night. Our blood rushes, keeping us awake the whole night.
Just after you type in the last word of the book, you have the feeling of sharing the story with the world. You want to publish it.
At this point, I want you to hold your horses because you need to be realistic here. You may like how your story flows but that doesn’t mean your readers will like it.
This is where BookSirens comes into the picture. They will assist you in developing your story based on unbiased reviews from book readers.
In that way, you benefit from the honest views of your target readers to improve your work.
You could also make use of BookSirens as your partner to help your work perform well on the Kindle platform.
As I mentioned before, most top sellers have the highest number of reviews. This is why having a good number of book reviews gives your work an advantage.
Given these scenarios, no doubt in investing in BookSiren’s book distribution will be worth it. You may not guarantee a 100% book review from your readers, at least, you have shared your work with them.
That’s why we’re writing, right?
So, how about you?
What are your thoughts about BookSirens? Do you have something to share with us? Feel free to write them in the comment section below.
If you have other concerns, you may send me an email here. I will be delighted to hear something from you. Any suggestions to improve this post are also welcomed. 🙂
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