A Caution about “Free” Book Reviewers

A common recommendation for self-published authors is to reach out to people who provide free reviews and publish them on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. A word of caution. Some have ulterior motives. One such reviewer (I won’t name him) said he didn’t have time to review my book. He did say that I needed a better book cover and sent his idea of what a good cover might look like. He offered to sell the design to me. His emphasis on selling me something made it seem like his offer of free reviews was largely a come-on to generate paid work. I might be wrong. That’s why I’m not providing a name. But if you want help with editing, art design, etc., go to a professional and pay the money. Oh, and just so you won’t think I can’t accept criticism, after some thought, I agreed with him and got a new cover – just not from him.