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Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Don't Know HowTo Review A Book? IWSG post

{Coming In Time For Valentine's}


Why do authors want you to review their books so badly?

Think Lightning Rod

Over and over you hear that success in book sales is elusive.  It comes when it will ... like lightning.

With Amazon Kindle books, you can draw the lightning with reviews.

These figures are what the conventional wisdom say is true about reviews and Amazon:

1.) Around 20-25 reviews

Amazon starts including the book in “also bought” and “you might like” lists. 

This increases your chances of someone finding your title.


2.) Around 50-70 reviews
Amazon looks at your book for spotlight positions and their newsletter. 

This is HUGE.
This is my personal goal.  Of course another personal goal is to get a date with Cate Blanchett, too. 

3.) Number of reviews may affect Amazon sales ranking. 

(I have no actual proof of it.)  

Amazon Sales Ranking is so arcane that killing a butterfly in South America could affect it!

4.) Some websites will not consider or promote your book unless you have a number of reviews on the page

Interested in writing a review for a friend's book? 

Here's how you can do it painlessly:


A.) JUST 20 WORDS!

That's all you have to write.  

You highlight the number of stars you want to tag the book with and write a mere 20 words. 

 Think TV GUIDE summary.  

Think what you would want to hear about you were considering to buy and write that.

B.) SAY SOMETHING YOU LIKED ABOUT IT:





Say something you liked about it. 

Things that you could focus on could include 

the plot, a particular scene, characters, how things changed during the course of the story, etc.


If a bit of dialogue tickled you, say so. 

Do not give away all the punchlines. 

But one is allowable and give the prospective reader an idea of what to expect.

If the short chapters helped you in reading the novel, say that. 

If the humor was just your cup of tea, say so as well.
If there was a moment or character that personally impacted you in some way, don’t be afraid to say so.

Put yourself in the review.

Authors love to know their readers and I know that I’m always moved when I can tell someone made a personal connection with something I wrote.

C.) DON'T GIVE AWAY THE ENDING:

If you're reviewing the book, SIXTH SENSE, do NOT write:
"I couldn't believe at the end when you saw the psychologist was really a ghost!"
You're not being graded for this review. 

Have fun with it. 

Relate how you felt during the read and afterwards as well.

D.) I HATE THIS BOOK. SHOULD I WRITE A REVIEW?
That is up to you. 
I file such a book under the heading, LIFE IS TOO SHORT.
 You know when your mother told you:
"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all?"
  There is wisdom to those words for reviews.

What I find to be negative, others do not.

If I cannot find enough merit in a book to recommend it, 

I remain silent, reluctant to harm another's dream. 

Pinpointing areas needing improvement is for critique partners.  

Life truly is too short for me to spend valuable time being negative. 
If an error is glaring enough but the majority of the writing sound,
I write the author a polite, hopefully helpful, email that does not blare to the entire internet community what I believe to need fixing.

Ever stand in a store and witness a child being publicly chastised in front of the whole place? 

Negative reviews to me are like that.  They call it the WORLD WIDE net for a reason.
You may think differently.  Many believe in negative reviews.

E.) BE SPECIFIC ... 

AND READ THE BOOK BEFORE YOU WRITE THE REVIEW

If you decide to write a negative review, be specific and give a way to improve the flaw in the writing.
Being specific will help the author know where to start. 

Being specific helps the prospective reader decide if those details that bothered you would bother him/her.
Not reading the book but slamming it because of the genre, the title, the cover, or the sex of the author
while making it plain that the novel was not read is sure to get your review disregarded.


42 comments:

  1. "Being specific helps the prospective reader decide if those details that bothered you would bother him/her." Excellent. I like to add that to balance my review -- I've started to disregard reviews that just go on and on about how awesome the author/book/concept is, because those are usually the books I read and end up disappointed in for various reasons (usually POV issues that didn't seem to bother anyone else -- so I say so in my review just to forewarn the next reader who is like me).

    Great post!

    Ronel visiting on IWSG day 2019 Goals, Resolutions and Questions

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    Replies
    1. I ask myself why some reviews are so negative without a counterbalancing mention of something positive, don't you?

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  2. Excellent post. A great way to promote authors and reading.
    Mary at Play off the Page

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    Replies
    1. I tried to think of a subject that would help my fellow writers. :-)

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  3. I always struggle to write reviews but I think the idea of keeping it short helps. We're not writing analytical essays here.

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    1. It need only be 20 words. Not an impossibility, right? :-)

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  4. Thank you for these great tips Roland. I need to write a couple of reviews and your post was timely for me. Thank you. Happy New Year, my friend :)

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    Replies
    1. Happy New Year to you, too, Beebe! Thanks for taking time to comment, It means a lot.

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  5. Some interesting info here. I didn't realize the number of reviews plays such a big role in how Amazon promotes people's books.

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    Replies
    1. It is truly important. We can help struggling writers we like by honestly reviewing their work. :-)

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  6. If I don't like a book, I don't finish - and I don't review. I am behind on reviews though, so I'll be working on that this month.

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    Replies
    1. I am behind in so much it is daunting! Happy New Year, Alex!

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  7. I find it a catch 22. Most authors prefer positive reviews ONLY. This can't always be true, then... Well, I'm afraid of the wrath of a writer scorned. The stories are too numerous to count. :-(

    Anna from elements of emaginette

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    Replies
    1. Sometimes bad breath is better than no breath at all! :-) Besides, why go to the bother of writing a negative review? You are not compelled to write a review in the first place. If we cannot say anything nice, perhaps we should refrain from writing a review? :-)

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  8. Awesome as always. I'm going to share this with my readers and may even put a link at the end of my books. LOL.

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    1. It couldn't hurt. I have an image of my cat, Midnight, at the end of my last books shamelessly asking for a review! :-)

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  9. Such great advice and tips! I only write positive reviews and I've found that there's generally something positive that can be said about most things.

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  10. Thanks for this. I didn't know most of that about Amazon reviews. And I hate when an entire review is "This is the worst book I've ever read". Really?

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  11. These are great tips. I definitely need to be more regular with reviews. Need to remember it's fine to be brief.

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    Replies
    1. Writing brief reviews means you have more time to write more. :-)

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  12. What a helpful post, Roland. I'm Evernoting it!

    I used to review most of what I read on my Dear Reader blog, but nobody was reading it. Btw, I followed your advice about 'If you can't write anything nice, don't write anything at all.' I'm not the final arbiter. Someone else might find in that book jewels that I've missed.

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    Replies
    1. Rosemary, I've found few visit blogs with book reviews or book cover reveals anymore. :-(

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  13. Great post! Reviews are so important, and I think some people don't leave them because they don't know what to say, so its great that you wrote this!

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    1. Thanks, Sara. I think we all can come with 20 positive words, right? :-)

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  14. Nice suggestions for potential reviewers. Maybe some will take those to heart and boost your review numbers. If you do get a date with Cate Blanchett, let us know.

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    1. I've given up on receiving reviews on my books. It is what it is. :-) I think Cate's husband might object to her dating me! But I can fantasize.

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  15. I also try not to do negative reviews unless it's on my blog, and about a well established book (the ones I'm doing for the Top 100 Horror Novels.)

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    Replies
    1. Life is too short for us to go out of our way to diminish another's dream,right? Thanks for visiting and staying to chat. It means a lot. :-)

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