The thing about reverted book rights is this: every author starts over. Whether you find a new publisher or if you republish on your own, it's as though you've never been published at all--at least it is on the various sites that sell your books. Every review you ever had goes away because you have a new cover, new edition, new publisher, so it follows it must be a new book.
When I was in limbo (between the Published Author stage and the Indie Author stage), I couldn't understand the almost desperate tone of established authors pleading for reviews. Ah, the agony. Now I understand. I had several lovely reviews for my 'old' books but they are no more.
Professional reviewers aren't inclined to review older books--and rightly so. They have more books than they can possibly handle, with a new wave every week. So the review conundrum is just another puzzle the Published Author-to-Indie Author faces.
It might have been an excellent book at one time...but how will a new reader know that?
Do you have a newletter email list for your readers? Perhaps some of your readers from before would be willing to post reviews of the books that they've already read.
ReplyDeleteTen years ago...Long time to hang about. The post was just a way to explain WHY authors urge readers to do reviews. Many places don't allow a review unless the reader has bought the book from them. And why should a reader have to pay for another copy of the book? Thank you for your suggestion!
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