Reviews Are Crucial

Most readers and some authors don't realize how vital reviews can be. The most obvious reason is that reviews help potential readers decide whether or not they want to buy a book. Reviewers should be honest but not vicious. Take into account opinions that might be specific to you and not most people and note them as such if you list them at all. Good reviews will pull readers to a book.

However, Amazon also looks at the number of reviews a book gets and acts accordingly. With 20 reviews, a book is considered to have good traction with readers. With 50 or more reviews, Amazon makes that book more visible to customers. Do you begin to see how important reviews (both positive and the number of them) can be? They can make or break a book.

Like me, all except the top name authors struggle with getting reviews. Out of the 30 books I've published so far, 11 have more than 20 reviews. Five have more than 50, and those 5 are my top sellers because they have more exposure. My overall sales are much, much better than this, so most of my readers never leave a review. If they would, my sales would be even better.

In our fast-paced lives, readers feel as if they don't have enough time to read as much as they'd like, much less leave reviews. But your review doesn't need to be lengthy. It can be a sentence or two and take no more than 3 minutes. Leaving a review for a book you enjoy is the best way to show your appreciation for that book. That and buying another book from them is the best way to show your appreciation to authors.

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