[dario-mescia Posts: 1 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Hi all. This is my first foray into writing so I'm learning everything as I go. I have a children's picture book that I've just finished up. I'm wondering if anyone can give advice on the process for finding people to review the book. I'd love to get some up on Amazon/Barnes and Noble, etc. but the book is in presale at the moment so I can't open it up on those platforms for a bit. Its a holiday book so we're a little ways off from the launch but I want to get as much of these promotional things taken care of so I can really push presale. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Joni Halabi Posts: 10 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm in the process of publishing my first PB too! I can't really offer much in the way of advice, but I am looking at Reedsy's "Discovery"(https://reedsy.com/discovery/submit) feature, where you can submit a book to be reviewed for $50. I've also heard that you should not pay for reviews because that is weird and conflict-of-interest territory, so I'm still in research mode here.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,337 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Dario and Joni. Generally, your publisher will take care of this, but if you are self-publishing it, you have to wear all hats and that means sending out review copies to librarians/teachers or other people you know who will be willing to review books.  I'd start local and then branch wider. There are also paid services--kirkus? but I'm leery of them. and good luck!

Would you like me to move this to the self-publishing board? A quick search brought up several threads on reviews: https://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php?action=search2

[renee-kelly Posts: 7 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Hi there! I also have a manuscript and would be happy to do a peer review exchange of our books!

[Vijaya Posts: 7,337 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Renee, sending out books to reviewers is different than manuscript exchanges for stories that are a work-in-progress. You can make a request here to exchange mss or form a new group: https://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php?board=127.0 or post your story (limit 1000 words) here: https://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php?board=121.0  Happy writing and critiquing!

[renee-kelly Posts: 7 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Thank you so much! I am brand new and appreciate you letting me know.