Five Reasons Readers Should Leave Book Reviews

To begin, this is a call-out for Book Reviewers for the Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One

• Here is the link for amazon, paperback and kindle version: Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One
• Here is the link for it on Goodreads for reviews – Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One

To begin the topic of the title, I started the discussion in a recent post, Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One and Book Reviews but I wanted to dive deeper into the topic of book reviews and how it can help authors.

Below are Five Reason Readers Should Post Book Reviews.

I. WHY REVIEWS ARE IMPORTANT

• When a buyer goes to an author’s book on Amazon, one of the first things they do is look at the star rating and number of reviews. The higher the number, the reader is willingly to trust the new book. Social proof.
• Most advertising sites that authors turn to require that a certain amount of reviews be posted before they will even accept the book for advertising. BookBub, the mother of all book advertisers, is very hard to get a listing on, even at over $200 for a listing. They actually will REFUSE TO TAKE YOUR MONEY if they don’t see enough reviews posted.
• Reviews keep your authors going in times of despair.

II. WHY PEOPLE PUT OFF LEAVING REVIEWS

• We are all just human and we procrastinate. It’s our nature. We are busy. There is always so much else to do. Is it really that important?  *see section one above
• We’ve never left a review on Amazon before and don’t know how to do it.
• We read the book too long ago and can’t remember enough now to write a decent review.

III. TIPS TO GET THOSE REVIEWS WRITTEN AND MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY!

The first thing you should do is realize that your review does not have to be the be-all and end-all of reviews. Chances are that your author has already contacted several book bloggers and there are numerous lengthy reviews complete with synopses already posted. And remember, your 7th grade teacher will not be grading your review and neither will the author. TWO OR THREE SENTENCES ARE FINE! 

TIP: Look over the reviews already posted; you will see that people focus on different things.

What kind of things can you say if you liked the book?

You can say what your favourite part is. Did you like the plot? A particular character? The themes of the book. Did you think it was well-written? If you feel like you read it too long ago, just think back and if you remember you liked it, try to remember the general feeling. Did you read it all at once? Did it make you cry or laugh? When you were finished, did you want to read more? Who else might enjoy the book?

If you read the book but it wasn’t really your cup of tea, can you at least give the book 3 stars? You may certainly leave bad reviews, but remember to leave fair and constructive reviews if you go this route.

If you dislike a book because that’s not the kind of book you enjoy, but it was well-written and you think a different audience might enjoy it, say that.

“This book wasn’t that appealing to me, but it was well-written and ________ would probably enjoy it.” If the book is full of spelling errors but the story is good, say both.

 Take Away: Just two sentences is fine if that’s all you can think of or have time for. Every time the number goes up, it helps the book and the author. 

IV. ACTUAL STEPS IN LEAVING A REVIEW ON AMAZON

1. Make sure you are logged into your Amazon account. Go to the book’s Amazon page. Scroll down to the bottom of the reviews. You will see a grey box that says “Write A Customer Review.” Click the box.

2. For those of you who want a secret identity (don’t we all?), the first thing to do on the new page is look in the upper right-hand corner. Here is where you can change your public name to something other than your real name.

3. Next, you fill out the star rating. Click on the number of stars you wish to give the book.

4. Then make a short headline for your review, such as “Love This Book,” or “Good Book for Kids and Adults,” whatever, be creative or not. See what others have done.

5. Now it’s time for your review. There are even some little questions in the box to help you if you can’t think of what to write.

Remember, you can keep it short and sweet. “I really enjoyed this book. It was well-written and interesting. 

Seriously, that’s enough. The author will be grateful.

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So, readers and writers, if you’ve reached the bottom of the post, I’ve given you a lot of ways to help authors. Please do us a favor, purchase Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One and write a review to help us authors continue doing what we love – writing.

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#DouglasWTSmith