Track and use review results
Record every review result
Record what actually happened to every review submission: selected, declined, published, or no answer. Save the full review, then separately record which excerpts you're allowed to quote.
Why it matters
Reviews are only useful if you can find them, quote them accurately, and attribute them correctly. A single results file lets you update retailer pages, build the librarian one-sheet, answer award forms, and brief a publicist without hunting through email. Recording declines and silences also tells you which outlets to skip next time.
Your part
- What you do
- Do it. You normally do this yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author and Publicist. Author keeps the record; publicist and publisher forward results
- When
- Ongoing, as each result arrives; close open rows after a reasonable interval (Track and use review results: from the first submission onward, and whenever a review appears)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
The submission log tells you where the book went. This item closes the loop: for each row, record what happened. Selected for review, review published, declined, no response, or (for paid reviews) received and published or received and withheld. When a review runs, save the link, save a copy of the text (pages move and paywalls appear), note the date, and note the reviewer where named.
Then extract the usable excerpts. A usable excerpt is short, accurately quoted, attributed to the outlet by its correct name, and honest about the model: a Kirkus Indie quote is attributed to Kirkus Indie, a BookLife Reviews quote to BookLife Reviews. Note whether the review was starred or carried any designation. Keep the excerpts in one place so cover copy, retailer pages, press materials, and award entries all draw from the same approved list.
On the traditional path, your publisher receives most reviews first and may already be excerpting them; ask to be copied on every review that arrives and keep your own file anyway. On the hybrid path, results may come to either of you. On the self-published path, they come to you, and you are the only one who will keep the record.
No response is a result. Record it after a reasonable interval so the row is closed rather than forever pending.
Common mistakes
- Saving only the link, then losing the text when the page moves behind a paywall.
- Trimming a quote in a way that changes its meaning.
- Attributing a paid review to the parent outlet's editorial program.
- Leaving rows pending forever instead of recording no response.
- Keeping excerpts in five places with five different wordings.
What done looks like
- Every submission row closed with an outcome, including no response.
- A saved link and a saved copy of every published review, with date and reviewer.
- A list of short excerpts, each with exact wording and correct attribution, including the review model.
- Starred reviews and designations noted.
- The publisher copying you on reviews it receives.
Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- No single official page for this step.
- Last checked
- Not checked against its source yet.
- How confident we are
- Verified