BlueInkReview promotes worthy titles in high-profile positions on their website. That is one of the first places your eye is drawn to when the page loads. Their cool color palette, with minimal distractions from a colorful background, allows visitors' eyes to be immediately drawn to the feature of the website, which is their authors.
About
BlueInkReview was started out of a need that the creators saw as mainstream media shrinks. Authors need reviews of their work that are honest. This is harder, as BlueInk states since there are many ways for authors to publish their works these days. From self-publishing companies, traditional, print-on-demand, and serialization through an author's website, they are all in the industry and it makes it hard to gain traction in a world where literature is everywhere. That's where BlueInk comes in because they can provide an honest and respected voice to support books with their reviews. They are fee-based, but they are honest and written by professionals who have a history of publications in mainstream media sources or are editors who have worked in the industry at well-respected publishing houses. When a reviewer finds a worthy title, they are showcased on BlueInk's website in high-profile positions and promoted on their social media and other venues. BlueInk is serious about promoting authors and it shows.
Founders
BlueInkReview started from the combined minds of Patricia Moosbrugger and Patti Thorn. Patricia started as a Literary Agent over twenty years ago and worked in publishing. In both positions, she learned how to help writers publish their works and the best approaches to marketing and reaching their target audiences. The great institutions that she worked for are, Curtis Brown Literary Agency, Walker Publishing, Golden Books, Twin Cities Presses, Graywolf, and more. Her positions provided her the opportunity to start her own businesses, one as a Literary Agency and the other as Book Reviewers. Patti started almost thirty years ago in the industry as a writer and editor for Rocky Mountain News, with the last twelve years of her career with them as the chief book critic and editor of the book review pages. She also published a weekly column about books and the publishing industry to help authors and writers learn more about the industry. She is a triple recipient of the first-place awards for Arts and Entertainment Criticism from the Colorado Society of Professional Journalists. Patti is also a co-author of Fun Places to Go with Children in Colorado, published by Chronicle Books, along with working as an independent editor for both fiction and nonfiction. They both know and care about their clients and created BlueInkReview to help authors.
Mission
BlueInkReview has a threefold mission that aims to:
- Serve as the gold standard of professional book reviews.
- Become a place where readers and industry professionals routinely gravitate to find great reads.
- Provide a vibrant forum where authors can learn tips on how to be successful and find necessary resources.
Their mission shows that they care about their industry and want to improve the quality and respect of both reviewers and authors. They are not a mill for authors to pay to get a good review for a book, but one that is timely and thoughtful based on their Starred Reviews that the book earns by its quality. Having a strong mission, as they do, goes a long way in an age where anyone can publish a book and with many companies vying to get an author's money without providing support to create a great novel.
Authors
In this section, it describes their services to authors. They talk about the benefits of their reviews and reviews in general for traditional and self-published authors and how to add the review to their author's pages on different platforms to receive better sales. They also, free of charge, promote the novels they review on their social media because they want authors to do well. They want people to read the works that so many authors put years into creating. They aren't just in the business for the money, but to make the industry one that promotes and helps new or existing authors become known.
Prices
Standard Review: $395/completed in 7-9 weeks
Fast Track Review: $495/completed in 4-6 weeks
The author can upload a PDF file for the review, but there is an additional $19.95 charge for BlueInk to print a copy of the file so that their reviews can have a physical copy since many prefer one. The other option is to mail a physical copy of the book to BlueInk so that they can deliver it to their reviewer. Once they have the book and complete the review (250-300 words), they will send it to the author, who in turn, has fourteen days to decide if they want it published. If they decide to have it published, they email BlueInk and let them know to do so.
Services offered
- Reviews are written by vetted professionals and critics from mainstream media publications or notable online websites, editors from respected publishing houses, and professionals with expertise in the subject or content of the book being reviewed.
- Professionally edited reviews
- Reviews in an easy-to-search archive
- All reviews have a link to the author's website(s)
- The option to allow website visitors to sample their book through Google Preview. (The author does need to upload their books to Google to activate that feature, which is at no additional charge.)
- All reviews feature free social network uploading and sharing links
- All books are considered for Starred reviews
- All authors may list their sales figures, awards, and other special interest information in a field titled "Author Platform" for publishers, librarians, agents, publicists, and booksellers.
- BlueInk promotes their website and services to agents, publishers, librarians, booksellers, and readers, including, Ingram's databases, CLCD (Children's Literature Comprehensive Database), IDreamBooks, and selected titles are promoted to NoShelfRequired, Booklist Magazine, GoodReads, and other social media and in their newsletter and recommended lists.
- Permission to reprint reviews in all marketing materials and book covers in whole or in part as long as no words are changed and BlueInk is credited.
- Authors can remove their review at any time by emailing BlueInk
Book professionals
This section mostly tells industry professionals how to use the website and how to search for books. They do discuss the benefits of professional reviews for publicists and have a newsletter that they can sign up for to help them find new books to represent, purchase, and so on. It's helpful because it shows that BlueInk does follow through with promoting their authors to professionals in the industry.
Blog/resources
This is what most people want to know who are serious writers. The free stuff and advice. The blog and resources do just that. They are focused on tips and tricks for marketing, Amazon ads, and how to pitch books to magazines and newspapers. They have ongoing blogs about the costs of self-publishing written by authors who have done it and what they encountered that was hard for them to do without the support of a publishing house and other helpful articles that anyone can read at any time.
In the dedicated resources section for authors, they offer links to writing resources such as:
- GrammarGirl- Dedicated to grammar problems and solutions
- Writer's Digest- Basically the Bible for writers
- The Writer- Writing advice
- And more
They also have links for marketing advice, industry news, community links, and online book clubs.
My impression
I'm always wary of places I haven't heard of before, and it takes a lot to convince me that something is legitimate and not just out to take my money with nothing gained but the knowledge that I've been had by another scam. I didn't get that impression from the first time that their page loaded. Normally scams bombard people with all the benefits that their services can offer someone with testimonies and discounts, etc. There wasn't any of that. It was titles that they were promoting that caught my eye. It is obvious that they do care about their work and their authors. The other thing that left a great impression is that they aren't overcharging for their services and the authors get so much more than they pay for. All of the free promotion that comes from their reviews just by being on their website, that they promote to libraries, schools, publishing houses, and have connections to The Times, and more. This is a legitimate site, and when I publish a book, I will have my agent request a review from them and wear their honest and thoughtful review with pride.
