Writing a review can be hard. Here’s what you need to know:
Romance readers love their favorite authors.
I know I do and I want to see them do well. But writing a review for a romance book, or any book, can be daunting. Do you really have to write a synopsis of the whole book? What if you liked it but you didn’t love it? What if you just want to click on the stars and move on? Is that rude? What if it just wasn’t your kind of book? Should you even bother to review it?
Be Honest.
As an author, I can tell you that nobody sees more flaws in my book than I do. If you find a problem with a book, the author wants to know. If there’s something you really liked – well duh, authors love that too. But nobody wants to be told that something is good when it really isn’t. So be polite, but be honest.
Short is Just Fine.
A review of a sentence or two can be more effective than a really long one. Face it, how many long reviews did you sort of…drift off during? Me, too. Say what you liked best and what could be better – ‘It was steamy but it took a while to get going’ – delivers some important info.
It’s OK to not love it.
Look, not everyone likes the same thing. So stating in the review exactly what you didn’t like, might actually help other readers who actually like what you don’t. Too explicit? Somebody wants that, believe me. Too much plot? There’s somebody who likes a big, meaty plot. Was the Hero not alpha enough for you? There are readers looking for that nerd-gone-wild hero. There are plenty of ways to say what you didn’t like that also give out great information to other readers. ‘Steamy, took a while to get going, hero was a nerd.’ Hey, that might be just what I’m looking for, or it might help me save three dollars.
You don’t have to write anything. Stars rock.
Every review counts. If you just click the stars and move on, somewhere, some author will be doing the happy dance. Click and go if that’s your thing.
You won’t hurt the author’s feelings.
Ok, I can’t actually say this for sure, but I know it’s true for me. I want my readers to get a great book. I want to make my next book better. Actually finding out what bothered people about it will help me do that. Hey, my friends aren’t going to tell me. They think I’m crazy amazing just for getting out of bed in the morning. I do know that every author is dying to know what people think. Writing a book is months of time spent in your head imagining what pretend people do. When you finally come out of your own head, other people’s thoughts are breath of fresh air.
One star is better than no review.
Really. Like I said, what you don’t like, someone else does and any feedback at all, is valuable. Especially the negative stuff, after all, whose going to tell us when we miss the mark? Our mothers?
Your review really does matter.
I wish I realized how much they matter long ago. Authors always say this, but if you haven’t put a book out there, it’s hard to imagine how much they matter – to the author & to other readers. The number of people that actually post reviews is amazingly small compared to the number of people who read. My new rule is, if I read it, I review it.
Your favorite authors know their readers for the awesome people they are, no matter how the reviews go.
If you read this far…..