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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I have used Booksprout since my first book and accrued hundreds of reviews through them. Their team function has helped me build multiple teams to reach my past reviewers. It’s an invaluable piece of... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This service is not worth the trouble. Neither the readers are enthusiastic, nor their support team. I gave up after just a week. One serious reviewer needed support with downloading the book, but... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

There are no readers, they don't have a community large enough to satisfy everyone who visits their site, so after paying them for your campaign, you have to pay to find readers with ads or listings.... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They promise a platform with reviewers for your books and make you pay monthly. Through another company I got 300 reviewers (for the same price), through Booksprout I only got 2. Their platform is con... See more

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Company details

  1. Software Company

Written by the company

Boost your book launch with more reviews in less time. Join bestselling and indie authors who have received over 3.8 million reviews on sites like Amazon through Booksprout.


Contact info

2.1

Poor

TrustScore 2 out of 5

34 reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
2-star
1-star

Replied to 100% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 24 hours

How this company uses Trustpilot

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Booksprouts Just Giving Me Zero vs Others

I have had my free book, the softcover as pdf and my kindle ebook as epub, on both Net Galley on Booksprouts for 2 weeks. I have had 73 folks download my book on Net Galley with 6 serious reviews. I have had 2 people download my book on Booksprouts with zero reviews zero feedback. I keep going to Booksprouts to see if I need to change something on Booksprouts, but all looks fine on the platform. My conclusion is my genre just isn't good for Booksprouts, but why such better response on Net Galley? I hate to give 1 Star for any author or any platform or product, but gotta say it like it is.

January 26, 2024
Unprompted review
Booksprout logo

Reply from Booksprout

Hi!

I'm really sorry you didn't get the experience you expected on Booksprout. We usually recommend authors check their keywords if they didn't get any claims on their book. If you've checked your keywords and everything looks good, we recommend re-running the review campaign a few time to see if you can get in front of a different audience with a different time/day of publishing.

Let us know if there's anything else we can do to improve your experience!

Virginie

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Horrible do not ever pay this website

Horrible. Horrible. After waiting for a month one reviewer wrote a garbage review at the end of of which she has mentioned that she is reviewing the book through book sprout. This is like probably the most stupid thing I've ever seen because it will have negative impact on your book. I don't think if the readers they accept do have even brains or not. And probably the website does not tell them not to mention the fact that they're reviewers. The quality of the reviewers is extremely low and the website did not have any option to unsubscribe. Thankfully there was a technical problem and they couldn't steal money from my bank for another month.

September 28, 2023
Unprompted review
Booksprout logo

Reply from Booksprout

Hi!

We ask reviewers to leave a disclaimer at the end of their reviews because that is what the FTC requires. When giving out a free book in exchange for a review, there can be a bias. People reading reviews should be made aware of that.

I'm sorry to hear you had trouble canceling your subscription. We do have an easy option to cancel your subscription on our site. If you had trouble finding it though, our support staff would have been more than happy to assist you and cancel your subscription for you.

If there's anything else we can do to improve your experience, please let us know!

Virginie

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Not worth it. waste of money

Booksprout is a fraud and I will explain to you why. I bought a package for new author monthly (or something of that sort.) By the end of the period when I had authorized them to give out my ARC, there was only one subscriber (and I took time to note down the name of the person). I requested them to refund me due to poor performance and they did (a good thing). To my surprise, I had an email from them a week after saying, a reviewer had withdrawn his review and I saw this message apparently written by the *new reviewer (Not my type of book, but others may enjoy it). The funny thing is that this isn't the reviewer who downloaded the ARC, it is a *new reviewer. but my book had ONLY one downloader and it's not this person. is it a coincidence that I asked for a refund and this reaction from them? yes, I think so. Also, they did their best to place this review by a reviewer from the same reviewer for another book (author) with 5 stars. lol.

August 31, 2023
Unprompted review
Booksprout logo

Reply from Booksprout

Hi!

I'm sorry you didn't get the experience you were expecting when using Booksprout. We're happy to investigate what happened with the reviewers on your book if you want to reach out to us at help@booksprout.co. Please note that the fact that you cancel your account or ask for a refund doesn't change anything from the reviewer side.

Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you!

Virginie

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

tried all 3 paid versions, not worth it

i tried their bestseller first (29 usd pm) and had some reviews, but minimal. talking less than ten per book in two months.
swapped to the lower tier (19usd pm) and have used it for another month, had maybe 2 reviews and five book takes.
most people who take books dont leave reviews, and their 75% claim is rubbish.
going to drop to the lowest tier setting (9 usd pm) this month, because i think thats fair for the one or two reviews i get at a push, but if i dont see any more soon im going to cancel entirely.
would recomend going elsewhere.

August 21, 2023
Unprompted review
Booksprout logo

Reply from Booksprout

Hi!

I'm sorry to hear you didn't have the experience you expected when using Booksprout. I've also looked at our stats again and 87% of claims get a Booksprout review, while 77% of claims turn into completed reviews. As a new user to Booksprout, I highly recommend starting with the Growing Author plan ($9/m) and upgrading if you hit the claim limit. That makes it more worth the money while you learn the platform and build your following.

Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you!

Virginie

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The internet is for porn

If you have a porn book that has AI generated cover with a guy sporting nine abs, then this service will be great for you. Otherwise, save your time and your money. It's just a bunch of grifters looking for free books in exchange for poorly worded five star reviews.

July 27, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Don't ever register with Book Sprout…

Don't ever register with Book Sprout and waste your time and money. They are total cheaters !!! They take $9 monthly but do nothing. Shameless readers also read the books free of cost and never leave their reviews, These people should be kicked off.
Book Spouts are total cheaters and this is not the right platform. Instead, you can get organic reviews from your family and friends once they buy your book.
Book Sprout - Down Down !!!!

June 28, 2023
Unprompted review
Booksprout logo

Reply from Booksprout

Hi!

I'm sorry you didn't get the experience you were expecting when using Booksprout. Our service is a subscription, but you're welcome to cancel any time. We also recommend re-running a review campaign if you're not seeing any activity on it. It helps bring it back to the top of the Review Copies page.

If there's anything else we can do to improve your experience, please let us know!

Virginie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Booksprout - reviewer's dream site

As a reviewer I can say that Booksprout is one of the best and easiest sites to use, choose and review from. And their customer service is amazing - always so helpful, especially with answering queries promptly. Unlike other review sites (and I use a few) Booksprout is so simple to use it's a reviewers dream!

If authors are complaining that their books don't get picked then it could well be the books fault (stupid title, unappealing blurb, bad cover image, ridiculous read to review time). These factors are key in attracting reviewers.

Also authors shouldn't complain if a book gets a bad review. Authors have to remember that reviewers are asked for honest reviews and some of us have reputations to uphold. If your book is crap, and I have just wasted several hours if my life reading it, then I for one am not going to encourage someone else to waste their precious time and money on it. I know alot of reviewers feel obliged to do this. They may be chasing internet fan club glory, or simply feel obliged to do so because they got the book for free. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I say what I mean. But I will say it in the nicest possible way! So, authors don't go blaming Booksprout for what could be your own failings.

June 18, 2023
Unprompted review
Booksprout logo

Reply from Booksprout

Hi!

I'm so glad to hear you have a great experience using Booksprout as a reader :)

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us!

Virginie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Effective. Excellent customer service.

Booksprout can garner reviews for a book.
That can be important on launch because it acts as a buffer against random low ratings, which can sink a book.
The number of reviewers you may attract via booksprout may be relatively limited.
BUT their ace is their customer service.
Every time I've had a question or problem with the service, they have responded quickly to email, and acted quickly.
This makes all the difference, and makes using their service a no-brainer for authors who want their book launches to go smoothly.

June 7, 2023
Unprompted review
Booksprout logo

Reply from Booksprout

Hi!

I'm so glad to hear you had a great experience using Booksprout :) Our customer service is definitely very important to us!

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us, we really appreciate it.

Virginie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I claim and review an average of 3…

I claim and review an average of 3 books a week via Booksprout. I am vigilant with dates - although often a book appears demanding it be reviewed with only a few days or less before it’s published.

I follow the authors request for further reviewing on Goodreads/Bookbub and Amazon. I have access to 3 different Amazon accounts in UK/ Germany and France.

I only provide honest reviews and I take some impressing (!) but my 5 stars MEAN 5 stars.

All in all, I have enjoyed. And continue to, the Booksprout experience. Authors remember the title of your book shouldn’t be generic, should have something to do with the plot and get the best cover you can afford. Oh and ensure your blurb has no typos…. First impressions .

April 10, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

NO. Just don't do it

First of all, the only book genre that gets reviews is sci-fi mixed with romance. If you have other genres, you will end up paying their fees to get as many as 2 reviews. Apart from that, some reviewers don't have any preparation or experience with the types of books you are writing and might leave you bad reviews. Even if you see youtube videos where this site is recommended, just don't do it! You would get more reviews by finding good groups on FB or trying other sites for reviews. A big NO.

March 10, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Not for SFF authors

Probably okay for romance authors, not so much for other genres. Their sci-fi/fantasy reader population is very low, which is something they don't publicize. But the good reviews of this site are all from romance authors, the bad are from SFF authors because no one picks up those books. I have a nice, professional cover, a good blurb--and only had one participant join my campaign even after repeatedly advertising it with the appropriate hashtags. There's no place where authors can recruit or talk to booksprout readers to recruit them as those are reader only spaces (like on FB), nor is there a way to have BS feature your book in any way, so my book was buried on like page 40 of fantasy for most of the enrollment period... Readers aren't scrolling that far. They should be more open about their reader genre populations. They should also allow you to carry over the slots you PAID for to future campaigns. I literally paid for a certain number of reader slots on my campaign. If I could use those unused slots for my second book when it's released, I might give BS another shot, because what could it hurt? But as is, I've just thrown my money down the drain and there's no way to recover that loss with them. Also, piracy's a big risk with them, which I didn't realize before.

February 2, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The continuing Saga of BOOKSPROUT

The continuing Saga. The have refunded me my fee of 59$ and I have purchased a new package for 26$... However on going into the site I see that they have removed the review info I painstakingly included, and the book edit system does not edit, Yet there is no service on hand to help me. I am doing my very best to get there with this site but am beginning to doubt that they have any idea of what they are about ???

March 21, 2022
Unprompted review

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