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A devoted, conscientous two-man team from humble beginnings in the UK is assisting authors with getting their books noticed
Founded by a dedicated two-man team from the southwest region of the UK — Andy and Roger — BookRoar has proven to be a viable platform for book authors who are looking to get their reads reviewed.
The platform is currently free, though that could change in the future. To get going on BookRoar, authors can create an account on the platform and submit their book information. Once registered, they have access to a “review pool” of books from which they can pick, purchase, and review on Amazon and Goodreads.
After BookRoar members’ reviews are live on Amazon and Goodreads and then submitted and approved on BookRoar, they earn a credit that goes toward their own book being entered in the review pool. The more books that authors read and review, the more credits they earn.
This may sound a bit labor intensive, but BookRoar has helped some of its members generate hundreds of book reviews. In all, the platform has produced more than 6,000 online reviews.
Some authors have used BookRoar to generate initial book reviews and then have moved on from the platform thanks to sales, reviews, and royalties they attained organically, without needing the platform’s assistance.
The definition of success varies from author to author, but for writers who are willing to put in the time, BookRoar can provide a career boon. Andy and Roger were kind enough to answer questions about BookRoar, which currently has nearly 2,000 members who showcase more than 3,000 books.
Sal Nudo: Let’s cut to the chase: Why should authors join BookRoar?
BookRoar: We think authors should join BookRoar because it is unique in its approach to getting reviews. The credit-based system keeps things fair, ensures we all get royalties and a boost in Amazon’s sales rankings, and helps us network and discover interesting authors we would never have come across any other way.
There are some seriously good reads on BookRoar, and we are thankful to have a community around us that is so giving, considerate, rewarding, and optimistic. It is truly the people and their books that make BookRoar great.
There are other sites that do similar things to what we do, but we aren’t a supporter of some of their practices. Some charge an unjustifiably large amount of money and have absolutely zero thresholds for quality, and others which are free to use on social media, are unmoderated and open to abuse, which creates a risk of having nothing but fake reviews and also a probable chance of engaging in review swaps. BookRoar has the best of both: low cost, quality reviews and a fair moderation process that allows everyone to get out what they put into the process.
SN: Why did you create BookRoar?
BR: Andy is a self-published author and he, like countless other authors, found himself hitting a brick wall after releasing his books. He had spent countless hours pouring everything into his series, only to publish via Amazon’s KDP and wondering what to do next. Advertising seemed like money down the drain, and marketing a set of books with zero reviews seemed like a waste of time. It was a deflating end to a passion project, and Andy feared his books would forever be forgotten and ignored in the proverbial slush pile.
Meanwhile, Roger was building his skills in website design and coding and was looking for a side project that could help his own career. We realized that, together, we both had the tools and knowledge in self-publishing and web design to create something different, as well as something that could help countless people around the world. There was a gap in the market for such a service, and we were eager to create something we could both be proud of.
We should note that Andy’s books are not on BookRoar as he does not want to be seen as abusing his position by running a site on which he could theoretically get countless reviews for himself. Also, it could leave him open to ‘revenge reviews’ from those who are disgruntled with the service BookRoar provides — and there are some of those. But Andy is very active in the BookRoar community. He reads a couple of books a week and leaves reviews for every single one.
SN: What have been some of the challenges of starting and maintaining BookRoar?
BR: Our first challenge was recruiting new members. We had no budget for marketing, no reputation, and no clue about how BookRoar would be received by our target audience. We started off by messaging people on social media and inviting them to join BookRoar, which worked fairly well, although we know how bad cold-calling people came across. We repeatedly had to tell people there was no catch to using BookRoar, and yes, it really was free.
As the BookRoar cogs began turning, things became easier, and we now are free to grow and attract new members via reputation rather than having to market ourselves excessively.
We like to adapt the website around user feedback and react to new trends and concerns accordingly. Our latest battles are with low-quality and AI-created reviews, which we have cracked down on. A few bad apples got into the bunch and started to leave reviews that showed little to no engagement with the books, which deterred good members and invited more bad apples to join the bunch. We’ve invested in AI and plagiarism software to help spot these rogue members, and when we spot them, we are quick to issue warnings and bans. These sorts of issues still happen but are thankfully a lot less common.
SN: What is BookRoar Extra and why did you start it?
BR: BookRoar Extra is an optional membership for those who want more out of their time on BookRoar. We currently run the site voluntarily and for no profit, so it’s a chance for those who enjoy the service to give back to the site and help keep us operating. The bills for things like server space, domain names, and email providers certainly add up, so BookRoar Extra means we aren’t out-of-pocket for running the service.
Of course, it’s not only about us. There are great benefits for members, too. Listing critiques, priority customer service, AI and plagiarism protection, and prize draws for credit bundles are some of the benefits with BookRoar Extra. It only costs $10, or your local currency equivalent, per month to join.
SN: How might BookRoar evolve in the future?
BR: We have big plans for BookRoar in the future. The platform is still in its ‘beta’ stage, so to speak, but eventually we want to move toward a pay-for-use model that will enable us to work full time on developing and growing the website. We aren’t ready to take that step yet, but when we do, we hope to launch new features, create an improved interface, and branch out into other areas where we think we can help authors.
Whatever happens, we’ll always keep prices low and the process fair. But we do have a teaser on what’s coming next for BookRoar: Later this year, we plan on making changes to the submission process so that authors can submit the review to BookRoar at the same time they submit to Amazon and Goodreads. We’ll then extend the authorization timer from 48 hours to 7 days, in which time the author will need to be on the lookout for reviews to appear and then notify us when they see it and are satisfied. This change will cut out the frustration many experience when they are holding off from submitting to BookRoar while waiting for Amazon to approve reviews. It should also cut down on the legwork it takes us to get everything in order, so that we can focus on other areas of the site.
SN: Thank you so much for your time and for what you do for authors, Andy and Roger.
BR: Thank you. This was a fun interview for us.
Beyond its website, BookRoar can also be found on Facebook, X, and Instagram.