What We Offer
Book Reviews
City Book Review is the managing company for the following brands, which are geared towards helping avid readers find their next favorite book and to authors or publicists looking to get their book reviewed.
San Francisco Book Review
Manhattan Book Review
Seattle Book Review
Portland Book Review
Kids’ BookBuzz
Author Services
Maybe you recently published a book or decided to get some help increasing sales with marketing a book you put out awhile ago. If you’re new to the self-publishing game, you’ll be required to wear several hats as you market and distribute your book. We’re here to guide you through the process.
Tap into our combined 50 years of book marketing, publishing, and retail experience.
Years in Business
Books Reviewed
Book Reviewers
(Data as of December 1, 2020)
Order a Book Review
We have been offering book reviews since 2008 and have reviewed more than 30,000 books since then. Because we receive such a high volume of books (last year, we received more than 4,600), we created our Sponsored Review program for authors and publicists who want to guarantee that we will review their book by a certain date. As with all of our reviews, we do everything in our power to make sure each book gets to the right reviewer.
Click the images below to learn more about each of our programs:
Where You’ve Seen Us
Since our inception in 2008, we have reviewed more than 30,000 books! Here are only a sampling of publishers we work with — from large and small publishers to independently published books.
You’re in good hands!
Book Marketing Overview
Sales and marketing of your book takes more than just listing it for sale on Amazon or other retail outlets. A well-rounded sales strategy includes PR and SEO (search engine optimization), marketing, sales outreach, and social media. Each part of your sales plan works with these four elements to help find new readers, convince them to purchase your book, and helps you stay in touch so they’ll buy each new book you write in the future.
We can help you with all of this.
Resources for Authors
You’ll find these recent articles to be a bevy of information to you as an author. Most of the articles are written by seasoned publicists who have been working in the book industry for a very long time. You just can’t beat free advice! Archived articles may be found on the top menu under Resources.
Writers’ Conferences for 2020
UPDATE: 1/21/20 Consider attending a writing conference this year! There are a variety of different kinds, ranging from critique workshops to massive conventions, from one-day sessions focused on a single topic to weeklong intensives with a rich agenda of panels,...
Pros and Cons Of Hiring A Literary Agent
You’re confident your collection of short stories is going to be a bestseller. It’s going to be the next literary sensation. Now, all you have to do is get it published. Should you hire a literary agent? Do you even know how to get a literary agent? Should you pitch...
The Autograph
Yesterday, someone asked me to autograph my latest book. I refused because I had given them the book to review. I’m seeking reviews because reviews have now trumped rumor as the preferred way to sell novels. In other words, I’m not hiding the...
17 Book Marketing Strategies that Work
After three decades of promoting over a thousand authors to the media, I have found these are the strategies that work for authors marketing themselves: 1. Contact a ton of people in hopes that at least a small number will respond...
FOLLOWING: An Interview on Social Media with Author Lisa Marie Basile
Part of my job as a book publicist is advising authors on how to use social media. But social media is a field that's more an art than a science—so I decided to start an interview series where I ask authors skilled in social media about their...
Literary Highlights from Cannabis Culture
There’s nothing better than sitting down with a good book. Unless of course there’s a little edible to go along with it. Cannabis culture demands that there’s plenty of interesting literature not only to entertain us, but to educate us as well. Cannabis has always...
How to Market Your Book in Today’s Chaotic News Cycle
Today’s news cycle is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It seems like it never stops. While there has always been news, over the last several years I have heard frequently from reporters and producers at major shows that this news cycle is more chaotic than anything...
How to Sell More Books at Events
If you’ve ever done an author event and come up short on sales, you’re not alone. And that’s because authors often commit to these events without taking time to consider what makes them successful. If you do them right, author events can really pay off. But how? As...
How to Make Your Website Work as Your 24/7 Book Marketing Tool
Does your website work as a book marketing tool? I pose this question at writer’s conferences quite often, and you’d be surprised how few people answer yes. The truth is, a lot of authors just don’t know if their website actually moves the sales needle. There are...
Licensing
We at City Book Review are the proud owners of many [city]bookreview.com domains. One of the services we offer is the ability to license these domains and run your own book review website on them, just like we do! Our current inventory includes Austin, Baltimore, Cleveland, San Jose, Vanvouver, Washington DC, and more. Check out our licensing page for more details on how you can run your own book review website.
