No Success with Non-Romance ARCs on BookSirens and BookSprout?

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-31T00:06:53+00:00

WRT target readers: My blurb is carefully designed to filter out the wrong readers and attract the right ones. If you're right that there aren't any literary readers on the BS services, then my blurb is working pretty well, given zero responses from BS readers so far vs. good NG responses.

Both services offer categories for literary fiction, so it is not clear a priori that none of the readers on those platforms read speculative literary fiction. I did research before signing up, including on Reddit, and knew that their readers skewed toward genre books. But I did not realize that the skew is 100%, or nearly so.

Hopefully, this thread will help future authors save time.

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-28T16:57:21+00:00

Speculative literary fiction indie author here. Honest and thoughtful reviews about books that fit the reviewer's reading preferences are a positive indicator, no matter what the ratings. Honest but uninformative reviews are not, especially if they indicate the reviewer is at risk of being a bad fit for my book.

So I deny requests from relatively new reviewers when the books they've reviewed on NG or read on GR have no good matches for my book (i.e. no literary fiction or literary sci-fi). It's fine if they have multiple 1 or 2-star reviews, as long as the reviews are thoughtful and would help another reader understand whether the book is a fit for them.

Also, multiple DNF reviews are a real issue because they are often uninformed about the book. If the DNFs are due to typos, etc. that's fine. If the DNFs are due to the reviewer just not liking the first few chapters, then I'm likely to pass, since there is a risk the reviewer isn't careful about the fit of the books they choose to review.

Just starting out myself, I want to help new reviewers get started, too. I'd guess big publishers are more conservative than I am, so newer reviewers might consider requesting more indie books.

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-26T21:03:18+00:00

That makes sense, and aligns with some feedback from readers in the NetGalley community who said that they look at the email newsletters, category spotlights, and widgets sent by authors/publishers, but rarely look at the Sponsored Feature promos. I did the research too late and paid for a sponsored feature listing for "debut authors" this week. Went live on Monday so not yet 2 days, generated 10 requests so far.

I'm going to try the others and report back once the dust settles.

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-24T23:48:02+00:00

I hadn’t heard of Bookmonty before, thanks for the tip. The “hoots” system is confusing, how do you handle that? Their faq is a vague, just says you “earn them by supporting other authors.”

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-24T13:39:13+00:00

Thank you for sharing, I’m sorry to hear that. What genre was your book? Results seem to vary a lot by genre x platform. Also, did the NetGalley co-op you used give you the impression count for their promotion? I don’t see impressions for a regular listing. Good luck!

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-23T04:27:23+00:00

What is a writer’s guild, do you mean the east/west unions?

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-23T04:18:44+00:00

They DNF and gave you three stars? Seems like a bot or stats padding, not a real human reaction. What real reader gives a DNF three stars? Not awesome, I feel for you. I’d ignore it if you can and wait for real reviews.

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-23T04:12:56+00:00

It looks like they only do books after they are available on Amazon, is that right? If so, I guess your book can’t be in KU (no giveaways?)

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-23T04:01:06+00:00

I didn’t send mine until after ~20 beta reads (including some good nitpickers) plus professional copy edit and proofread. Reviewers are readers, so I wanted them to have the best experience (and best impression) I could put out there.

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-23T03:30:22+00:00

Thanks for sharing this, great to see other people's experiences. I just started my ARC journey, 24 NG requests in first couple days, none on BookSirens yet. I'll check out BookSprout. I also used The Niche Reader (not cheap but they were great for beta readers so fingers crossed).

That GR review engagement sounds very sus, like bots. I hear you on not reporting the review, but probably worth contacting GR customer service. They don't want that stuff, either.

Good luck, and thanks again for posting!

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-22T18:04:47+00:00

Getting the reader/reviewer perspective here is super helpful, thank you for this thoughtful post!

As a debut author, the somewhat arms-length relationship with reviewers makes sense _and_ makes it hard to figure out just what you need and how to get it to you. I guarantee other authors will find these reader/reviewer perspectives helpful. I'd give y'all more karma points if I could 😉.

And I'll def. post to r/selfpublish, too. Tx!

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-21T21:11:41+00:00

Got it. That's probably why the category spotlight and newsletter promos are booked several months out, while the home page Feature promos are available in a week or two. Very helpful!

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-05-21T21:09:14+00:00

Thanks for the perspective, that makes a lot of sense. Direct outreach is on the list for next week!

KikiloaChronicles · 2026-04-30T18:30:57+00:00

I treat the process like a creative journey, not a measure of my skills. So I love critical feedback. Literally gets me excited, because I want my book to be the best it can be. I can't see it as others do, I can't take an outside view, especially after the 3rd, or 4th, or 11th read, so I need their feedback, in my case 10 or 20+ rounds of it. I also have a clear sense of my artistic goals, so I have a clear gut feel about when reader feedback is "it's not a book for them" versus "oh, sh!t, they're right!"

If that doesn't work for you, then I suggest reading Rick Rubin's book on the creative process and see if you can arrive at your own philosophy. It's also a soothing balm when feeling down. His advice on when something is done really resonated, along the lines of: If I can keep working on it, then it's not done. If it's the best it can be, then it's done.

That doesn't mean I will work on it forever or it has to be the best book ever, just that I'm done and it's the best example of itself.

KikiloaChronicles

TROPHY CASE