While having coffee with a fellow author today, our wide-ranging conversation touched on books, authors, writers group, travel, politics —and book reviews.
Authors, especially those outside the realm of King, Grisham, Roberts, Patterson and a few other literary luminaries, depend on readers to leave reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads and similar book websites.
Authors, especially those outside the realm of King, Grisham, Roberts, Patterson and a few other literary luminaries, depend on readers to leave reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads and similar book websites.
More reviews means more exposure to potential readers.
That being said, we both agreed that asking someone to read a book and then write a review is asking quite a lot. Why? Because the reader has to invest several hours in simply reading, depending on the length of the book. And then, taking the time to write something about the book on a website, whether it's a few sentences or several paragraphs.
Sometimes we authors get a bit antsy about it, and that's simply from our selfish perspective. As mentioned above, a book receives more attention with the number of reviews. At Amazon, for instance, the first magic number is 20. Reaching that level, the book is recommended to other readers who purchase similar books. It's all part of the algorithms used in the Amazon shopping experience.
Now back to the reviewer. I believe it's important that the author requesting a review realizes that it takes time to read a book, in addition to everything else swirling in a person's daily life. I know I don't have time to read a book in a day or two because of other things going on.
While I have reviewed books at the request of friends and authors, one thing I always do is leave reviews and rankings in all the books I read. If you own a Kindle, that's the first thing you see when you finish a book. But I do it when I turn the final page on a print book as well.
And while readers are giving a boost to authors with their reviews, they're also letting other readers know about the books they recommend, or perhaps those didn't especially enjoy. I always check out reviews before deciding on a book.
So I want to thank those who have reviewed by novels. And for those who haven't, I do hope you will take the time to leave a few words and a rating at an appropriate website. And please do it for other authors and readers as well. We truly appreciate it.
Here are a few good blog posts to get you started:
Until the next time . . .
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