Ordering a professional review is only the first step; what you submit, when you submit it, and what you do once the review arrives all affect how much value you actually get from it. A review ordered too early, on an unfinished manuscript, or mishandled once it arrives, is a missed opportunity in a way that's easy to avoid with a little planning.
This is part of the Complete Guide to Getting Book Reviews.
A professional review evaluates the book you send, so send your final, fully edited and proofread version, not an earlier draft you plan to revise further. A review of an unfinished manuscript reflects a book that no longer exists by the time you publish, which wastes the review's value and can produce feedback that no longer applies. See Is Your Manuscript Ready for Beta Readers? for a similar readiness check that applies here too, one stage later in your process.
Standard professional reviews take 5 to 8 weeks; rush reviews take 3 to 4. If you want the review ready for your launch, work backward from your publication date and order well before you need it. A review that arrives after launch has already missed its best use, going on your listing from day one. See Book Launch Timeline: From Beta Readers to Reviews.
Most services let you share basic information when you submit: genre, comparable titles, and sometimes specific things you'd like the reviewer to be aware of. This context helps a reviewer approach your book with the right expectations, useful for genre fit and audience, but it shouldn't be an attempt to steer the review toward a particular verdict. A review's value comes precisely from its independence.
When the review arrives, read it once in full before deciding how you feel about it, the same advice that applies to any feedback on your work. A single critical line in an otherwise strong review can feel disproportionately large if you react to it in isolation rather than reading the whole piece for its overall verdict and tone.
With most reputable services, including Entrada's, you choose whether a review goes public. A few things to weigh:
A review you decide not to use publicly isn't wasted. Read it as you would beta reader feedback: as information about how your book reads to an experienced, independent reader. If a specific criticism echoes something you've heard elsewhere, from beta readers or early reviews, that's a pattern worth paying attention to for future books, even without publishing this specific review.
Move quickly to put it to work. Add it to your listing as an editorial review, update your website, and work a pull quote into your marketing materials. See How to Use a Book Review in Your Marketing for a full breakdown of where to place it and how to choose the right excerpt.
Whenever you quote your review, credit the source, following whatever attribution guidance the service provides. This is both a matter of proper practice and, with most services' terms, a condition of your right to reuse the review's text.
Ready to Order Your Review?
Submit your finished manuscript and get an honest, quotable review from Entrada Publishing's editors and experienced reviewers. Standard reviews are $289 and take 5 to 8 weeks; rush reviews are $389 and take 3 to 4 weeks.
After. Submit your final, fully edited and proofread version, since the review evaluates the book you send, and a review of an unfinished draft can produce feedback that no longer applies by the time you publish.
Well before your target date. Standard reviews take 5 to 8 weeks, and a rush review takes 3 to 4, so work backward from when you want it ready.
Read the full review before reacting, and weigh whether the overall verdict is still positive. A review with minor reservations is often more credible, and still usable, than one with no criticism at all.
It's not wasted. Read it as useful feedback for future books, especially if its criticism echoes something you've heard from beta readers or elsewhere.