Breathless In the Bush: Authors

Monday, 18 May 2015

Writing a Book Review 101

with Cassandra Samuels

Hi everyone!

Speak to any published/self-published author and they will tell you how important reviews are. I've lost count of the number of times people have said they would love to post a review of a book but are not sure how to do it, don't know what to write, or think it is only for professional review bloggers.

Reviews are not for authors, they are for readers.

They help readers determine whether any author might be worth their $2.99 investment. A review can determine whether someone picks an author's book or skims on by. With over 5 million books on Amazon it can be hard for a reader to find their next favourite author.

Reviews on other platforms like Goodreads can be very helpful. If you are a reader (and let's face it, most of us are) and you are unsure about leaving a review let me put you at ease.

Amazon reviews

When you buy a book from Amazon, they kindly give you a few weeks before sending you an email asking how you liked the book. Here is your opportunity to let other readers in on your thoughts.

The only real requirement is that you be over 13 years of age to do a review. You should be honest and respectful in your review and explain why you liked or disliked the book. You don’t have to do a summary of the book like professional reviewers do but rather just say in your own words why you enjoyed reading the book.

Was it the characters, the setting, the time period, the intriguing plot? Was the book free of errors? Did you enjoy the writer’s style, humour or emotional punch? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Amazon to some extent tries to help by providing these three buttons.

You don’t have to use the buttons if you don’t want to. To get the stars, simply highlight the desired amount with your mouse. Then all you have to do is write about the book, trying not to include spoilers. It doesn't have to be an essay, as long as you think it might help another reader. And that is it.

You can also go to the Amazon site and do the same thing from there if you like. Amazon keeps an account of all the books you have bought.

Goodreads

If you have a Goodreads account it is easy to leave a review. You have two choices:

1. A starred review with no comments

2. A review with stars and comments

When you hover over the stars it helps you to determine how many stars you want to give the book.

1 star - I did not like it
2 stars – it was ok
3 stars – I liked it
4 stars – I really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing

Of course a review with comments is more helpful for fellow readers than a starred review on its own. The same applies here in regards to being honest but not nasty. If you truly do not like a book by all means say why. Perhaps you didn't like a certain character in the book or the fact that it was filled with errors which kept pulling you out of the story.

However, if there were any redeeming features in the book it is nice to balance a 'not so nice' review with something positive. Perhaps it had some humorous moments, or a battle scene that was exciting to read.

Here you can see that my book 'A Scandalous Wager' has 14 ratings and 7 reviews. Goodreads at a glance gives you an average rating for your book. You can see under the cover picture that you have the opportunity to hover over the stars and give any book on your list a rating. Or let the author know you want to read it by adding it to your virtual shelf by clicking on the green button below the picture.

And that my dear readers is all there is to writing a review! Remember, reviews are for you--the reader, but readers have to leave them in order to be able to use them!

Have you hesitated over leaving a review on a book? Tell us why. Did this blog post help you to feel more encouraged to leave a review?