You READ – but do you leave REVIEWS?

Posted on by Chris The Story Reading Ape

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If not, why not?

I don’t have time

The author probably spent a heck of a lot more time writing the story than you took to read it, no matter how slow you think you are, so why not take a few minutes to record your feelings about it.

I can’t write long fancy reviews like those I see on book review blogs

You don’t have to, Amazon, for example, only ask you to use a minimum of 25 non repeating words.

I can’t express myself very well

No-one is asking you to produce a literary masterpiece, start off with things you liked, didn’t like or a mix of both about the book, e.g.,

I liked this book because –

it reminded me of –

it made me think about –

it made me so scared I couldn’t sleep for –

it made me feel homesick for –

it made me more aware about –

etc.

and just express your feelings about it

take a look at MY reviews – no lengthy literalistic tomes, no divulging the story endings or highlights (these are called spoilers), you’ll get to them by clicking on the Amazon sites mentioned at the top of the Find Me At list to the right of this article, or even my Goodreads page further down the same list (when at Goodreads, check under my Chris’s Bookshelves and select Books Reviewed).

But all the other reviews are great long one’s. Everybody will laugh at mine

Let them laugh, you won’t be there to see them. Anyway, if they laugh AT you instead of WITH you, it demonstrates what kind of people THEY are.

In any case, an author will not laugh AT you I can assure you. They can see the difference between an honest comment and one that is professionally presented.

Honest reviews tell them an awful lot more and they pay more attention to them.

But what if I really, REALLY HATED the story.

As long as it was the story and not the author, then instead of posting a review comment, you can contact the author directly by email (usually found on their websites) and tell them why you really, REALLY hated the story.

If it was the AUTHOR you didn’t like, my advice is to keep it to yourself and avoid their books in future. Both of you will lead happier lives for it.

I can’t write to an author, they’re all too big and far above my status

You’d be surprised, authors come in all shapes, sizes and stations in life. The only difference between them and you is that they wrote a story and actually published it.

Why do authors need reviews anyway? They can write whatever they want and besides, they all make a lot of money so they don’t need ME doing reviews.

Only partly true.

Authors write whatever story is inside them that they feel needs to be told

However, not all authors are rolling in money, if it were that easy YOU’d be an author yourself wouldn’t you?

Authors are storytellers

Storytellers NEED an audience

YOU are part of that audience

They cannot SEE how you react to the story

They cannot see your tears, hear your laughter or feel your emotions in response to the story they are telling – it is not like they are on a stage in a live show.

THAT is why they need your review comments, they need you to tell them about your reactions, so they can work on improving the existing and future stories they are writing, thereby improving your enjoyment of them.

So, if I leave review comments about a story I’ve read, I’ll be helping them get better at telling them?

Yes!

MMMM but I don’t have time –

Please refer to the top of the page and read it as many times as necessary until the message finally gets through – thank you!

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224 thoughts on “You READ – but do you leave REVIEWS?”

  2. As an Indie author myself I know the importance of a book review. I have had readers contact me personally to tell me that they have read and enjoyed one of my books but when asked if they have posted a review have said that they have tried but given up because it is so difficult. I myself always post a review on another author’s book but only if I feel I can recommend it. If I found it to be poorly written I will not post a bad review. I have always found that Amazon ask me for a review a few weeks after purchasing a book and have never had a problem in posting a review. Clearly readers in general are not always asked by Amazon for a review. Such a pity.

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  5. I never used to review until I began reading indie authors and realized how much reviews meant. Now I review everything I read indie or traditional. I certainly don’t make it fancy either. I try to be concise and spell out exactly what I liked about the book and why someone else would like it.

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  7. Great post, Chris, which I’ve only just seen, don’t know how. You are so right about the importance of reviews as a sign to the author that they are doing something right. However, I would never leave a bad review of an indie book, as I know how crushed I would feel, and I’ve only once contacted an author to say why I wasn’t going to post a review of his book. He took it well and agreed with what I had to say, but not all writers are so open to criticism, especially once the book is published. Most small publishers would refuse to bring out a new fault-free edition so the author is left knowing there are mistakes, plot holes or whatever that they can’t do anything about.

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