Perhaps one of the greatest questions facing any first-time (or even fifth-time) novelist is: how do I get my book reviewed? In fact, this may be the ultimate do-or-die question for fiction; without review attention, it's unlikely your book will get any other kind of attention.

I recently read an online post by April Henry, a mystery writer and reviewer for the Oregonian, offering suggestions on how to increase your chances of getting a book reviewed. Her advice seems solid to me, and she agreed to let me share it on my blog.

Her original post is here, so I won't reproduce the whole thing. But I do want to make three observations, based on her comments.

First, I think the most important moral of April's story is: to help get review coverage in a specific city, you need to schedule a signing, event or appearance there. You want a review in the Seattle Times? Make sure you schedule a signing in Seattle--and let the folks at the Times know. It won't, of course, guarantee a local review. But I'm betting it's the single most effective thing you can do to help your cause.

This requires a slight shift in the way we authors look at bookstore signings and appearances. Many say signings are a waste of time: "Why should I sit there for two hours just to sign a couple of books?" Well, there are at least two good reasons: 1) You get to meet the folks who work at the bookstore, who are happy to hand-sell your book if they like it (and you). 2) That darned local media angle. As one writing friend said to me: "You don't get media coverage to promote your signings; you do the signings to get media coverage." I think I'll have to add an "amen" to that. So, yes, I'll be trying to schedule a few more signings over the summer.

One of April's other comments: Is there a color cover on the advanced reader's copy, or is it plain? It's getting less common to see a plain cover on a review copy, so the ones that do look to me like the publisher just couldn't be bothered. Ouch. I've often wondered if there's a down side to a plain galley copy, or an ARC with no depiction of the final cover. April, I'm betting, isn't the only reviewer who feels this way.

And finally, it seems that major review coverage (PW, Kirkus, Library Journal or Booklist) has a definite spillover effect. Again, this has been my suspicion, but it's nice to hear a newspaper reviewer come right out and say it

Thanks for the advice, April. Now, about that review in the Oregonian...