Editor’s Note: This list was updated May 9, 2016.
Any conversation with an author about business book publicity always turns to book reviews – how many they should expect, which publications we think will review their book, when they will start running, etc. When authors ask about business book reviews, they typically want to understand their prospects with the “big fish” like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and national magazines – the legacy media that still command influence in today’s new media landscape.
One of the best ways to determine whether a book has a shot at a review in a certain publication is to analyze their recent reviews and look for trends. This is the exercise we go through when seeking book reviews for our clients, so we’re constantly keeping tabs on what the major publications are reviewing.
Below is a list of business books reviews in the “big fish” publications that our business book authors ask us about most frequently. I focused on business books simply because it’s category we represent most frequently. While we also love books on current events, politics, parenting and health – among others – most of our clients write business books, so we keep a laser focus on how that category is covered in the media.
I plan to update this list throughout the course of 2016 so that we can provide an accurate analysis of which media outlets are most likely to publish business book reviews – an analysis that we hope will serve not only our clients, but any business book author or publicist trying to promote a book.
And as you’re reading this list – or looking at book reviews in any publication – make sure you look for a few things:
- How often a publication reviews books in your category. If you wrote a business book but the publication you’re looking at has only reviewed one or two in the last year – instead focusing primarily on fiction, politics, history, etc. – your chances of landing a review are fairly low. Conversely, if they publish numerous reviews in your category as a percentage of their overall reviews, the publication is likely worth pursuing.
- Whether any of the book reviews in your category are comparable to yours in topic. In other words, if you published a business book on that focuses leadership, you want to look for other leadership books – not just business books in general, a category which has dozens of sub-categories.
- Specific reviewers that seem to be on a “beat,” meaning they have reviewed several books on the same topic, whether it’s economics, psychology, technology, leadership, sustainability, etc.
And with that, let’s dig into the list!
The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet by Justin Peters (Scribner)
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall For it…Every Time by Maria Konnikova (Viking)
Added May 9, 2016
Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark (HarperCollins)
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup World by Dan Lyons (Hachette Books)
The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World by Sally Denton (Simon & Schuster)
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant (Viking)
Smart Mom, Rich Mom: How to Build Wealth While Raising a Family by Kimberly Palmer (AMACOM)
Mac Baldrige: The Cowboy in Ronald Reagan’s Cabinet by Chris Black and B. Jay Cooper (Lyons Press)
Added May 9, 2016
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport (Grand Central)
Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism by Jeff Gramm (Harper)
The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World by Sally Denton (Simon & Schuster)
The New Case for Gold by James Rickards (Portfolio)
Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark (HarperCollins)
Added May 9, 2016
The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future by Steve Case (Simon & Schuster)
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall For it…Every Time by Maria Konnikova (Viking)
Added May 9, 2016
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup World by Dan Lyons (Hachette Books)
Good for the Money: My Fight to Pay Back America by Ben Benmosche (St. Martin’s Press)
The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington (Harmony)
The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World by Sally Denton (Simon & Schuster)
Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends by Martin Lindstrom (St. Martin’s Press)
Lehman Brothers: A Crisis of Value by Oonagh McDonald (Manchester University Press)
Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent by Sidney Finkelstein (Portfolio)
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant (Viking)
Added May 9, 2016
The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet by Justin Peters (Scribner)
Added May 9, 2016
Added May 9, 2016
InsightOut: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and Into the World by Dr. Tina Seelig (HarperOne)
Added May 9, 2016
Future Brain: The 12 Keys To Create Your High Performance Brain by Dr. Jenny Brockis (Wiley)
Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time by Jeffrey Pfeffer (HarperBusiness)
Snakes In Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work by Paul Babiak And Robert D. Hare (HarperBusiness)
Added May 9, 2016
The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington (Harmony)
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup World by Dan Lyons (Hachette Books)
When Millennials Take Over, The Gen Z Effect, Millennials Who Manage, and Not Everyone Gets a Trophy
Added May 9, 2016
Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism by Jeff Gramm (Harper)
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup World by Dan Lyons (Hachette Books)
Zone to Win and Primary Greatness
Added May 9, 2016
Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing by Jaime Holmes (Crown)
The Optimistic Workplace: Creating an Environment That Energizes Everyone by Shawn Murphy (AMACOM)
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant (Viking)
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport (Grand Central Publishing)
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant (Viking)
Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers by Jay Baer (Portfolio)
Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two by Jim Koch (Flatiron Books)
The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future by Steve Case (Simon & Schuster)
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble by Dan Lyons (Hachette)
Fast Company – no reviews yet