Writers Really Do Appreciate Book Reviews

Read a book you liked lately? Maybe even one you didn’t like? If so, why not leave a review? Oh, you don’t have to create a blog for reviews, unless you really want to, but leaving a brief message on Amazon or at Goodreads or other similar sites is never a bad idea.

Reviews can actually help an author. Reviews can tell the writer what worked and what didn’t.

If there is an author you particularly enjoy, your nice review might make their day. It might even urge them on to write their next book.

Reviews also help other readers decide whether or not they are interested in picking up a book or e-book. Sometimes all it takes is for one review to make another reader interested in a piece of literature.

Now, obviously, writers don’t like to see bad reviews of their work, but it goes along with the job. And yes, every once in a while there will be the odd writer who will become irate and lash back at reviewers, but no more so than there are other people who create bad relations online. The truth is, however, even bad reviews can be beneficial, letting the author know that a certain tact they tried didn’t work and they’ll know to try something different in the future.

Bad reviews also help those other readers, but not always in the way one might think. True, some negative reviews will warn some readers away, but those same reviews might even make some readers interested in a book. What you don’t like about a book might be exactly what someone else does like.

Just remember to keep your reviews fair and to provide a little more information than simply “this rocked” or “this sucked.” Reviews that are too basic don’t help anyone. Also remember not to give away too much about the book, because that can ruin things for other readers.

Now get out there and read.

And don’t forget to leave reviews!