All three of my editorial reviews for The Returned Child are now live. Two felt clearly positive, and one felt more “balanced”—but none struck me as negative. The turnaround was about three months from submission to publication, and the process was straightforward for all three.
They make a decent cohesive trio. Collectively, they hammer the same strength pillars: tense/atmospheric, folklore-forward, and a steadily intensifying mystery/dread, which makes them genuinely useful for my intended purpose: pull quotes for marketing.
A few examples:
- “A foreboding, lush fantasy novel.” — Clarion (4/5, Feb 2026)
- “An engrossing novel that blends small-town dread with fae mythology in a tense, atmospheric story.” — IndieReader (4.1/5, Mar 2026)
- “Steeped in atmosphere… both tense and eerie.” — Blue Ink (Feb 2026)
The most interesting part (to me) is that each review’s summary focused on different elements of the plot—like three readers shining flashlights into different corners of the same woods. They also, given that none were negative, are really a mood boost. I may put together a positive pull quote sheet just for me when I’m tackling a tough bit of editing.
Links to live reviews below if you’re curious:
- https://indiereader.com/book_review/kin-of-fae-book-1-the-returned-child/
- https://www.blueinkreview.com/book-reviews/kin-of-fae-book-1-the-returned-child/
- https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-returned-child/
Future Upsides: How I Plan to Use Them (Once Book 2 Is Live)
Once the second book in the series is available, I plan to use the reviews in a few ways:
- Amazon “Editorial Reviews” section (already added)
- Social media graphics (cover + pull quote = the world’s simplest ad)
- Potentially A+ Content on Amazon (still TBD depending on budget: cool promo art first)
So far, the only measurable result is: blog traffic went up… and my author inbox started filling up with self-pub-targeted spam. I’m guessing bots are scraping the contact page. (Yes, I laughed. Then I sighed. Then I made a filter.)
I didn’t get the reviews expecting an immediate sales spike. The real goal was to build a promotion toolkit—because as a debut self-pub author, most promotion for the series will inevitably lean on Book 1.
The Big Downside
They were pricey. Like, “save-your-pennies” pricey. They took a real bite out of my marketing budget—along with commissioning a talented artist and planning a future giveaway.
I do understand the editorial organizations charging for this, and I do understand why the price is set so high. I would imagine that a couple of million books get published every year (traditional, indie, self, etc.), and who wouldn’t want to put in with an editorial group for even the off chance at a few decent quotes? The fees and their size make the demand for editorial reviewers manageable. Otherwise, they’d get a couple of million requests a year.
If I Could Do It Over…
If they were expensive, why get three? Simple: I wanted a few strong quotes—and since these are honest reviews, there’s no guarantee any given reviewer will connect with the book. My thinking was that three different readers increased the odds that at least one would really click with it.
That said: I should have requested them one at a time, starting right after my launch—get the first review, see what it yields, then decide whether to roll the dice again. In hindsight, I probably only needed one truly strong pull quote, and I could’ve spread this out over time and preserved more budget for other marketing.
For Book 2, I don’t plan to pursue editorials. The promotional strategy is still to lead with Book 1—and ideally, by then, I’ll have some series reviews (or maybe even standing to request an author blurb or two) to work with.
The Long Game
The thing I have to keep reminding myself of is that the series is planned to be four books and I’m playing the long game here. Promotions won’t start in earnest until two books are out, and I’m happy they are the best quality I can write. Then, and only then, I’ll start trying to build up that readership base. In the meantime, I’m happy with my pull quotes for future use, and hard at work on editing Book 2.
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