Honest Review Requests Gone Wrong, Part 3
“I’m sure I’ve contacted you at some point…”
What I liked about this one: short and sweet, right to the point, an easy request.
What I didn’t like about this one: I have not been contacted by this person before. Also, the link next to “Author of” didn’t work.
This email got deleted without a response.
“My team did email you but…”
What I liked about this one: They did enough research to get my name right.
What I didn’t like about this one: Right off the bat, I wasn’t interested. Anytime emojis are used in subject lines, I tune right out. This one just seems so immature to me. Next up, NONE of those genres are in my list of books I will consider for an honest review. Lastly, I haveĀ notĀ been contacted by this person or anyone on their team before, and yes I check my spam folders daily, so I found that line incredibly irritating.
This email got deleted without a response.
“I wrote (12) eBooks in one month, that has to be a record.”
What I liked about this one: Nothing.
What I didn’t like about this one: First things first, that subject line needs work. Second, there isn’t a greeting, which I find incredibly rude. And then to just throw in a massive list of your work? Hard pass.
This email got deleted without a response.
Thanks for reading!
What was the latest strange request youĀ received?
Omg these are too real!
haha! Requests like this make me so very thankful for the MANY authors that have contacted me that were much more professional!
Wow, that last one – sooo many words, it's overwhelming! And I agree, the lack of greeting is nonsensical.
Right?!
Oh these are too funny! My favorite requests are the ones who tell me I can buy their book and review it. Normally, it's books that I have zero interest in reading and aren't in any genres that I read. I just roll my eyes and delete. That last one is pretty bad. That's a lot of information thrown into one email.
Oh my gosh… Those make me laugh so hard.
I think this series would be so good for some authors and people who need to know what to do when sending review requests to bloggers! The last one was a major turn off for me.
š
That last one though!
RIGHT?!
That last one is a doozy! Haha. I get weird requests for reviews all the time. One of my least favorite things is when they say, "I'd like to have you review my book" like I work for them or something.
I put up a form on my website for people to submit their books and it honestly has saved my sanity. But I still get weird responses in the form. One person left a note to tell me that they are 21 years old. Um, okaaaaay.
š I have a form too! And the kicker is that before they get to the form, I have a note in all caps, and highlighted, that I am not currently accepting reviews. Unfortunately many people that email me don't even make it to that page to read my requirements…
Wow!
I recently got a review request from an author for a book I read for review a couple of years ago – and it was kind of a mess. Instead of deleting it I sent them the links to my review – didn't get a response!
Oh bother…
Seriously…some of the emails people get sent!! SMH
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
It kills me….
These are always so interesting (and occasionally cringeworthy lol)! And yeah emojis like that are kind of a no-no, I totally agree. And that last one! Wow… š
You just never know what you're going to get!
The last one OMG I wouldn't even have read it fully! I get SO many weird book review request emails and most are so sloppy it's not even funny!
Uma@Books.Bags.Burgers.
It's a mess!
I rarely get review requests now. I'd prefer to get a simple message indicating that I might be interested in the book because I read books in the genre. That tells me that the person has looked at my blog or Goodreads profile first. I don't like the inference that they've contacted me before-first it's a lie and second, if they had contacted me before, it means I ignored it and now they are bothering me again about it which would bug me!
Nice post!
Right?! It's amazing how little research is done most of the time…
WOW, these are all quite messy! And honestly, just looking at the format of that last one, I know I wouldn't have read it, no less replied. š I haven't received any requests that are severely terrible, but I have received a couple that start with: "Dear There's Something About KM". My first name is listed on my Twitter, Instagram, and the About section of my blog – if you miss it in all of those places, I question your status as a human.
Oh that drives me INSANE! My name is on my About Section as well, and it's in my blog name! LOL
Quote: "I have not been contacted by this person or anyone on their team before, and yes I check my spam folders daily, so I found that line incredibly irritating."
And how were they able to see that their original email "didn't show opened"? Not to mention that, if they were, it would be incredibly disturbing…
What even are those in the last email, mini-blurbs? LOL, these people need to get a real life.
Right?! Straight up lie. I don't appreciate that stuff at all!
Authors really need to read these posts before sending review requests! I get so many addressed to āDear Sir.ā A tiny bit of research would show that Iām not a āSir.ā
Aj @ Read All The Things!
That drives me NUTS!
Yikes, that last one! That would be a hard pass from me as well.
Right?!
This is the story of my inbox…lol. I love the emails with a placeholder that they don't remember to fill in and the emails that compare their books to a widly popular author like Stephen King.
LOL! Such a mess…
love this post. There are so many bad review requests out there. I feel if they would do a bit more research and not sound so pushy maybe they would get better response. The last one really had me cringing.
For sure!!
LOL. I bet those last 12 ebooks are amazing.
Right?! hahaha
Oh my gosh these are great. I've gotten a few requests where they spell my name wrong and it is an immediate "no" once that happens.
Same here! It's so rude not to pay just the slightest amount of attention to names!
I got that middle one too—only their "team" actually did contact me. Multiple times and in multiple ways (FB, Twitter, email, another email). I finally replied just so they'd stop bugging me. It did work. I haven't gotten any more messages from them.
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Oh gosh!! That's intense!
Ouch! Twelve EBooks in One month? They must suck. I know some amazing authors who release two books in a year, and The Guy who wrote Storm Glass put out quite a few books in one year (although it’s possible he had been sitting on those), but I think if you write more than one book a month, it’s probably trash. Unless you’re God or something. I don’t think God’s released anything since the Bible though…
LOL! Yeah, that made me nervous as well. If they were short stories, then I could see it… but yikes!
I really want to believe those books in the third email aren’t real. I mean, “A White House staffer is from Chili”? Small wonder they were able to publish twelve books in one month. And they claim to have won an award from the president. Sure.
Super sketchy…
This is a fabulous series. Some of the mails I get are close to these ones. I will watch out.
PS: I love your new commenting system
š Thank you so much!!
Oh I love that kind of serie! Youād think some of them never actually spoke to a blogger before .. š
There was that UK publisher once who kept sending me thoses requests with subjects like Ā«Ā You wonāt wanna miss this X, Kristina!Ā Ā» … which was politic thrillers, something that I donāt even read to begin, and second I never asked to even be on that list as iām NOT EVEN IN THE UK š¤¦š½āāļø Iām canadian..
they also got the balls to relance themselves and forward asking for an answer after I promptly ignored them; yeah- I snapped at them.
Oh noooo! Oye! That’s the worst!