In this post, reviewer Rosie Amber does a solid for authors by encouraging readers to leave book reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. She gives some helpful tips to make the process easier. All of us authors rely on feedback from readers, not just to help sell books but to let us know where we get it right and where we fall short.
Authors WANT Reviews
Simple! How many times have you read pleas on social media for readers to write reviews? – Probably Loads.
Does the thought of writing a book review send you racing to the hills? – I can see plenty of you nodding in agreement.
WHAT holds you back?
6 common replies:
I can’t write.
I can’t write paragraphs about a book.
I don’t know what to write.
I’m afraid of what people will think of my review.
I’m an author and don’t want a backlash on my own books.
I don’t have the time.
Let’s turn this around
I can’t write – I bet if you can read, you can write.
I can’t write paragraphs about a book – Good News, Amazon accepts one sentence reviews now as do many other sites.
I don’t know what to write – Ah! Quick Question – Why did you like or Dislike the book? Got an answer? Then you have a starting place.
I’m afraid of what people will think of my review – Facing fears is part of life, it is hard, but I bet you’ve faced much harder challenges. Authors LOVE reviews, other readers also like to read them to see if they agree or disagree. Every reader will get something different from their experience. An honest review from someone who genuinely read the book IS REALLY APPRECIATED.
I’m an author and don’t want a backlash on my own books – This one STOPS TOO MANY AUTHORS from writing book reviews and it shouldn’t. In fact if you are an author, one way to hone your writing skills is to READ, READ, READ and from this you will be noting what works, what doesn’t and you will have all the skill sets to write a review. IF YOU WRITE WITH HONESTY AND COMPASSION I can’t see an author would want revenge or to be labelled a TROLL, these are far and few amongst the millions of authors who GENUINELY WANT A REVIEW.
I don’t have the time – time is what you make of it and those who have this as their reply probably won’t have time to read this post, so we’ll say no more.
So BE BRAVE – make a promise that the next book you read you will write a review.
Good post! I know far too many people in my personal life who use these excuses but reviews are so important to authors. Good job cancelling out those excuses 🙂
Thank you! This is a reblog of a post by Rose Amber.