Reedsy Discovery:

What exactly is it?

If you’re a regular here on my blog, first of all, THANK YOU, and second of all, you may have noticed that a lot of my book reviews refer to Reedsy Discovery. But what exactly is Reedsy Discovery? Well, that’s a fair question, and I’ll try my best to answer.

Reedsy Discovery.

So. I came across Reedsy Discovery when I was mooching around the main Reedsy site. I was browsing for editors, and somehow ended up on the Discovery page. I had a gander, as you do, and saw that they were looking for book reviewers. I had already set this site up, after I became a part of Lisa Cassidy’s ‘Street Team’, so thought to my self, ‘why now? What would I have to lose?’ I sent off the application, and promptly forgot all about it as I continued trying to finesse my own book.
Around a month later or so, I received an email from the Discovery team, welcoming me to the ARC/reviewer program. I immediately went onto the site and began hunting through the books available to download. That first book wasn’t great, and I didn’t finish it properly as it was riddled with errors. I messaged the team manager, and she advised me to ‘return the book,’ and that the author would get the feedback I’d drafted out. She also asked me to schedule a video call – kind of like an induction to the ARC/reviewer program and being a reviewer.
In the call, she let me know the ins and outs of what I could and couldn’t write. Asked that whenever I published a review on here, to link in the original review and to not publish it until the book was officially released.

So, what’s in it for me?

I mean, apart from being able to download up to three books at once to read? This month (April 2022), I’ve had 18 books. That’s 18 FREE books. So far, (as of the 25th April), I’ve read and reviewed 15 of them. What’s not to love?
In March (discounting the book I returned as unfinished), I reviewed four books – even though I was only accepted onto the program late in the month. I made the top ten reviewers of the month – coming in in eighth place. So far, for April, I’m in second place in the reviewer leaderboard, and for the year, I’m in fourth. That’s completely crazy.
The exciting thing about this month though, is that I reviewed three books, I’d get a $30 gift card, five books, $50 gift card and ten books, $100 gift card. It was an amazing incentive, so I rose to the challenge. It’s an added bonus that Discovery will match the gift card amount and donate it to relief efforts for Ukraine.
Also, if I invite someone to the program, they’re accepted and they write a review, I would earn $50. So far, I’ve not invited anyone; not because I don’t want to get $50, but because I’m always terrible at referrals. Seriously, I’m awful.
What else? Well, so far there’s the free books, offers of gift cards, offers of money for referring someone… Oh, and there’s tips. I set up the tips button on my Discovery profile, and once again, promptly forgot about it. When I published my first review on the site, I was gobsmacked to see that the author had sent me $5. Like… What? I need to be absolutely straight with you here. I do not ask for these tips. I’m delighted with a free book. I get to read amazing books by new authors. I get to write reviews (I’m a trained journalist, for goodness sakes, and I’ve always specialised in writing reviews – whether it’s of a film, book, play, album, gig… I love writing!). That someone actually bothered to thank me by sending me money for doing something that I enjoy anyway, is completely mind-blowing. And, I’m so grateful. The free books will always be my favourite perk of being on the Reedsy Discovery Reviewer Team; the tips are just a much appreciated bonus.

What do I have to do when I get a book to review?

As silly as it sounds, all you have to do is read it and review it. You’ll get a check box before you agree fully to review it. Just making sure that you have enough time to read the book, that you’ll write an honest review, and that you’ll be fair. It’s not much to ask for, at all. You download the book in your preferred format (PDF, e-pub, mobi), sort it out on your e-reader, and get into it. You can start to write the review on your dashboard, and save it for when you’ve finished. When you’ve finished the book, give it your review.
Start off by giving it a rating out of five stars. Discovery states that a three star review is actually a good review; only offer four or five stars for the truly exceptional books. Two star ratings aren’t necessarily negative, as they come with the tagline ‘Not for me’, which is completely fair. As I’ve already discussed in a recent blog post, not everyone will enjoy the same book – some will love it, some will hate it. One star reviews are rare, and so far, out of almost 20 books read and reviewed, I’ve only offered one one star review.
Once you’ve written your review, checked that it’s grammatically sound and makes sense, you can submit it. It won’t go live until the book is officially published – but the author can see it, and so they get feedback and quotes to publicise their book in the meantime. Once the book is officially on sale, you can then publish your review along with relevant links on your own blog.

Is Reedsy Discovery worth doing?

I’m gonna say, yeah! Of course it is. If you love reading, especially so.
Not only is there the free books, the bonus perks and the tips, there’s the knowledge that you’re helping someone as they set out on what can only be described as an incomprehensibly scary journey. You’re offering honest, genuine thoughts on their work and providing constructive criticism. I try not to be overly critical in my reviews; I always try to explain why I didn’t particularly enjoy something. I also try to balance it with something positive. And, for a writer, who has just sent their book out into the ether, and is waiting nervously for that review to come back, it’s invaluable. I mean, I know! I’m that writer myself.
Saying that, I’ve not put my own book onto Reedsy Discovery. Not because I’m scared of negative feedback, but because that could be a bit of a weird conflict of interest. I enjoy reading books and writing reviews on there, and don’t want to ruin what I’m enjoying by waiting for someone to review my book. Hypocritical? Maybe, yes. But also, an author has to pay to upload a book to be reviewed, and that’s not something I can budget for, at the moment.

How can I join Reedsy Discovery?

Well, as I outlined above, you can fill out the application form (link)*, and then from there someone will contact you; be prepared to wait a while, though.
If you want to submit your own book to be reviewed, there’s also links and forms. Although, as I’ve not really explored that side of things, I’m not the best person to wax lyrical about it. But, here’s the link in case you’d like to find out more.

To sum up

Reedsy Discovery is amazing. I honestly do recommend signing up to become a reviewer, I mean, you get a little tick after your name. Which is always nice when it makes you feel all official.

S. A.

* This link does include my referral code for referring someone to the team. If you click it, are accepted and submit a review, I will receive a $50 bonus. I thank you in advance if you do click the link.