Getting people to read a book from an unknown author with no track record is hard work. When I published The Saints Go Dying, I uploaded the text, the cover, and poof, I thought I was done.

Only later did I realize how much more work I could have done. It turns out that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of bloggers out there who are interested in reading new independent fiction. Many are focused on narrow genres: romance, paranormal, young-adult, etc. Some have much wider interests.

When I saw the potential of getting early readers, I got serious. Three months before I published The Marinara Murders, I sent the final draft of it to 28 book bloggers (I kept track in a spreadsheet so I didn’t accidentally double-submit). Of those 28, nine accepted the book for review, and of those five or six posted a review in the first week it came out. Most of the reviews post a review on their site and then again on Amazon, so you get two benefits: links and potential readers from the reviewer’s blog, and early reviews and star ratings before most people bought the book. And a few even left reviews like this:

If you’re getting ready to launch a book, here’s a helpful list of bloggers who review books by independent authors, with links and information about what genres each blogger prefers.

A well-crafted letter of introduction and a well-formatted file are usually enough to get someone to add your book to their virtual pile.