In Praise of Book Reviewers

I’d like to praise book reviewers those who read books and review them. You are wonderful, did you know this?

But first–

(This is on behalf of all authors. If you take this personally, that’s on you. 😊)

Dear well meaning friends and family,

I have news that may be a bit disparaging of you and that is not my intent.

It is challenging for me to continue to support your endeavors, show interest in your life and interests when it is not reciprocal.  I bet you know of which I am speaking.

You know the copy of my book you begged me to give to you? Do you remember how you promised (practically on a stack of Bibles, as they say) you would post a book review for me?

Then you didn’t read my book OR write a review?

Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

Everyone gets busy some times, or we forget what we have promised or whatever.

There are lot of whatevers…

Simply put, word of mouth advertising is the best form of advertising bar non.

Have you ever attended a movie and shared your opinion of it with a friend? That’s worth of mouth advertising.

Writing a review is simple.

Here is an example of what a review can look like:

“I liked the story a lot.  It was funny with great characters and an unusual message.  I recommend you read this book.”

“Although I usually don’t care to read  romance novels, this one was pretty good and worth my time to read it.” (Notice this one is less positive, but still does the job.)

Ta-da!

Then post your review on Goodreads.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.

YOU DON’T NEED TO EXPLAIN THE PLOT.  That’s someone else’s job.

Your job is to show support for the book and author.

Writing a book review is no different than buying your friend’s cake at the church bazaar, some popcorn from the BoyScouts booth at the mall or magazines from your neighbor’s marching band student. It’s like attending your brother’s performance in a community theatre production or enjoying your neighbor’s booth at an arts festival in your community.

You are showing support in all of these circumstances.

Oh….you say. That’s it?

That’s it.

What if I only have negative things to say?

Surely you can speak generally about the book and give it some kind of support.

You have to understand writing a book and being an indie author ain’t an easy job.

We do everything for our books–marketing, publicity, book talks, book fairs, interviews, selects its cover, art work, write its description, etc.  EVERYTHING.

You could say writing a review is a symbolic pat on the back of the author  acknowledging their hard work.

Can I leave a review anonymously?

Yes, you can.

Can I give my friend’s book a rating lower than five stars? Will it hurt them?

No, it won’t hurt them exactly.  In fact, giving a book four stars instead of five seems a more authentic score–Amazon’s algorithms love that.

Become a book reviewer for some indie author.  I know they would appreciate it.

Remember, we are all in this together.

Still needing help? Go to: httpst://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015FQ85SW/ref=as_li_tlie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B015FQ85SW&linkCode=as2&tag=annbeg-20&linkId=FZPEP65RAKNMOKO2

Thanks!

Contact me at dhcbaldwin@gmail.com or check out my website at DeborahBaldwin.net