A lot of readers don’t leave book reviews.
They don’t want to take the time to do so.
I am an independent author without a traditional publishing contract so reviews are important for me to sell books, which may be why I think about reviews more now than I used to.
I don’t leave reviews so people will leave reviews for my books, just to clarify.
But the fact that I need reviews makes me think of how reviews can benefit the reader and the author.
A review can help a reader decide if a book is for them, based on the good, bad, and all-in-between reviews.
The book may have a ton of great reviews but by reading them a reader may realize, “This book still isn’t a book I’d like.”
Or the bad reviews might tell a reader the book is for them.
For example, someone may give a negative review saying the book has too much romance, which makes a reader who likes romance say, “Oh! This book is for me!” Or maybe the reviewer said they didn’t like the fantasy element and the reader says, “Oooh. I love fantasy. I’m going to read it because this person didn’t like it.”
While I’m leaving a review for a reader, I am also leaving a review for the author. Some of us may think that an author doesn’t need a review or to read their reviews. In fact, I’ve heard many authors tell each other to not read their reviews because the reviews aren’t for them.
I don’t agree with that advice.
A review is for an author as much as a reader.
Yes, it can be hard to read bad reviews, but sometimes those bad reviews improve our writing or they make us realize that our books aren’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
Even if an author doesn’t read a review, though, it can make them feel good to see the number of reviews and know that people are reading their books which makes all that work feel worth it. It feels good as an author to know that people are reading your books. We work a long time on those stories and just writing them can be satisfying enough in many ways, but it can still be nice and fulfilling to see that others have read it and enjoyed it.
So I write reviews for the readers and the authors. I don’t always want to stop and write a review, to be honest. Writing one only takes about five minutes, though, because I know reviews are not book reports. Reviews are a simple few sentences to say I liked a book and why. It doesn’t have to be extensive. In fact, most people who look at reviews don’t want to read a super long review anyhow. They just want the gist – did you like it or didn’t you?
I won’t always do well at leaving reviews but I hope to keep doing them for the benefit of both the reader and the author.
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I try to keep up with leaving book reviews, but I know I get behind. You make such good points here. Thanks for all of your books, Lisa. Each one has blessed me in different ways! I hope you continue to write! ❤️❤️❤️
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I don’t always leave book reviews either. I won’t lie. Things get crazy but I at least try as much as I can! We all can only do as much as we can.
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In 2015, I published a novel and I received good “constructive” criticism that helped me hone my craft. I’ve never forgotten the criticism that made me a better writer and I appreciate the person who left the review. Thank you for leaving reviews.
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Yes, those reviews can help that way too- even if they can be hard.
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Hello. I hope all is well. 🙂 In case you’re interested, I have a new women’s fiction novel, “Meghan Tilley” by K. Beth Reese, available on Barnes & Noble and Amazon — suspense, dysfunctional family and friend relationships.
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Thanks. I’ll look it up!
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I typically don’t put too much stock in reviews as a book reader. But as an indie author, I’ve come to understand that they mean a great deal, especially on Amazon. So, I do leave reviews for fellow indie authors, often reading a book and leaving a review, hoping for the same in return.
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I don’t read book reviews very often. Unless I want to see if they hated or loved the book as much as me. *wink*. So I hear you. I leave reviews for fellow indie authors as well.
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I write a review for almost every book I read.
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Awesome!
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Are you talking only about reviews on Amazon, or are you talking about Goodreads, too? I don’t have a Kindle so I don’t do ebooks from Amazon. I haven’t ever left a review for a book, but your post has convinced me I need to do so.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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Both reviews. Any kind of review. Even sharing about the book helps authors of all kinds.
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As an indie author, YES I definitely appreciate reviews! I read recently that a book on Amazon needs 25 reviews before Amazon will start showing it as a purchase possibility to viewers. And I notice that my best-seller on Amazon indeed has the most reviews. I don’t think this is accidental; I think the more reviews you get, the more visibility Amazon gives and it becomes feeds on itself. And as a reader, I almost always check reviews first. Honestly, I often check negative reviews first, because I figure they will tell me something the didn’t like about the book. Many times I find I don’t care about that thing and will read the book anyway. But other times, it’s something that would annoy me too and in that case it saves me from reading that book and having a not-so-great experience.
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I really need to do this. Is it important for all authors do you think, or just indie authors?
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