BookLife
BookLife is Publishers Weekly's site for self-published authors, with free guides plus paid reviews, a contest and promotion options.
At a glance
- Price
- Free tier (BookLife Review $399 ($499 over 100,000 words), expedite $150; PW review consideration $25; BookLife Prize entry $119.)
- Platforms
- Web
- Outputs KDP-ready files
- Not stated
- Touches your KDP account
- Not stated
- Categories
- Courses, Blogs & Channels
- Last checked
- 2026-11-09
Summary
BookLife is run by Publishers Weekly. A free account lets self-published authors list books and submit them for Publishers Weekly review consideration, which now costs $25 and is not guaranteed; the site also has Self-Pub 101 articles. Its main business is paid services: guaranteed BookLife Reviews, the BookLife Prize and paid listings, so much of its content leads to those products.
Best for
- Self-published authors seeking a trade review
Pros
- Route to a Publishers Weekly review for self-published books
- Paid fees and turnaround times are published
Cons
- The paid review is guaranteed, but a PW review is not
- Paid reviews are a cost with no sales guarantee
Alternatives
- BookBub Partners Blog: The BookBub Partners Blog is a free book marketing blog from BookBub with case studies and tips on pricing, promotions and ads.
- Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi): ALLi is a nonprofit membership association for self-publishing authors that offers a member forum, contract advice and public watchdog ratings of author services.
- Reedsy Blog: The Reedsy Blog is a free writing, publishing and book marketing blog run by Reedsy, the freelance marketplace for editors, designers and marketers.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the vendor and these pages. Prices change; confirm on the vendor site.
- https://booklife.com/
- https://booklife.com/about-us/publishers-weekly-reviews-and-booklife-reviews.html
- https://booklife.com/about-us/the-booklife-prize.html
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