I had a book published by Booksurge (Amazon.com’s print-on-demand publishing unit) in 2009. I would like to transition the book to a traditional publisher so it can reach the bookshelves of Borders Books, Barnes and Noble etc. to increase sales. Recently I had an excellent (5 star) review by the Midwest Book Review. Is this Review powerful enough to make a traditional publisher think seriously about picking up my book under their imprint? Is the MBR as prestigious as Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal.com, BooklistOnLine.com (ALA), PublishersWeekly.com reviews?
Afraid not. A review is good, but what *counts* these days is MONEY.
If you can prove that you’re pulling in seven-figures (or more) each quarter on your book…*then* they may consider you a viable investment.
Not until then.
Most self-published authors don’t understand that. They think the second they *get* published…? They are an automatic shoo-in for the big league publishers.
It’s not how it works.
You need an agent. Editors and agents don’t typically troll review site or POD sites for the next big thing. You need to approach them with a query letter and submission packet. You can certainly mention your review in the query — it might help.