All authors know the value of book reviews. Enough good reviews for a new book and advertising opportunities open up. Enough good reviews and the book might find itself featured somewhere. Enough good reviews and browsing book buyers could purchase it.
But leaving reviews? That seems to be a tough thing to do. There are several types of reviewers. For example:
- CONCISE: They loved it and write a couple of sentences explaining why.
- TROLLS: They hated it and surprisingly may not have read it.
- SPOILERS: They give away the surprise!
- WANNABE WRITER: They write another book detailing everything in the book.
- INVISIBLES: Those who never write reviews. If an author is lucky, they’ll leave a star rating.
If you’ve ever read through book reviews before buying a book, I’m sure you’ve seen examples of these folks. Then there are those who never leave reviews, not even a star ranking. Often it’s because they think it’s too difficult to do, they aren’t writers, or will take too much time.
Guess what? It’s not that difficult, you don’t need any special writing skills and it needn’t take much time.
But before we go into that, let’s take a look at why it’s good to leave reviews. First and foremost, review influence other readers. A lot of positive reviews can make the difference between passing on a book or buying it. A lot of negative reviews do the same. But no reviews and people tend to think the book isn’t worth bothering with.
In addition, if the author or publisher wants to promote a book, many outlets require x number of reviews before they will advertise it in their newsletter or on their site. Amazon has their own system which takes reviews into account before featuring a book in the “also bought” section or in their recommendations. Oh, and you make the author feel good and give them motivation to continue writing!
Not sure how many stars to give? Here’s a little help.
In other words…
- 5 STARS: The book was amazing, I couldn’t put it down and I want everyone to read it.
- 4 STARS: The book was great and I will tell others.
- 3 STARS: I enjoyed reading the book, it was good.
- 2 STARS: The book was okay, I did read it to the end.
- 1 STAR: I couldn’t finish reading it. Poor writing, grammar, &/or too many editing issues.
A review doesn’t have to be long, it can be as simple as “I really liked this book” or “Great story, I loved the characters”. Short reviews are actually better than long, rambling ones and much better than ones that provide a synopsis of the entire book (and often include spoilers).
If you’d like to write a little more but you’re unsure of where or how to begin, here’s a little infographic to help you along.
This article was originally published in January of 2020, but I thought we could all use a refresher.
Thank you! I struggled with how to rate what I read when I first started on goodreads, this is a very helpful and informative post
I’m glad it helps, Dana. Thanks for stopping by and double thanks for commenting!
You rate pretty much like I do. Most of my reviews are only 3 sentences unless I really don’t like it. I hate leaving bad reviews so If I don’t like it then I usually don’t leave a review. Am I wrong to do that?
Not wrong at all…I rarely leave even a 3-star, mostly 4 & 5 stars. It was have to be really, REALLY bad (grammar, editing) for me to post a 1 or 2 star.
This is so helpful. I struggle with knowing what the right thing is to say. I think it’s been my issue with not giving as many reviews as I should. My apologies to you on that.
So glad this helps…like I posted, it doesn’t have to be like a book report. Just an “I really liked this book” is good! No apologies needed. 🙂
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂
As a fellow author, yes, I agree with all you’ve said – even though I’m way too thin skinned to actually read my reviews. My only other guideline is, I never leave a review if I’ve read outside my normal genre and haven’t enjoyed a book eg I’ve tried a scifi and I normally read chick lit… #MLSTL
Good note, Jo. Thanks for taking time to read and comment. Much appreciated!
Hi Donna, First time visitor (at #MLSTL) and first time commenter at this site. Just love this post! I am an author, and wish I had thought to post a blog about book reviews too. You do such a great job about explaining the star ratings. This post deserves 5 stars. I am now following you on FB and pinned this post. Be well and best regards, Nancy Andres @ Colors 4 Health
Hi Nancy and welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Feel free to share it anywhere!
Thanks for this guide. Helped me out a lot. #MLSTL
Hi Patrick, glad to help a bit. Appreciate the drop by!
Hi, Donna – This is a very helpful template and rating system. It is also a good reminder as to why to leave reviews. Thank you for sharing this! #MLSTL
So many folks think they need to write a diatribe…if it helps just one person, I’m happy. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the reminder to review books. I do write reviews, but not often enough. I know it is important and I appreciate the author’s hard work. I also find something to like in almost everything I read.
Don’t feel bad, I have gotten better but used to be really lax in doing this. Now that I’m writing my own books, I’m much more aware of the impat.
I don’t get the opportunity to rate much on Amazon or any book review sites because I don’t buy many books. I’m a big fan of my local library or the online library and they don’t have a star rating. It was a great reminder though and I do read the occasional free Kindle book, so I could be doing ratings for those.
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 😊
Thanks, Leanne. Appreciate the stop by and comment!
Hi Donna, This year I’m making a concerted effort to rate and review most of the books I read. I’m actually starting a Fiction Friday series this week with the first of my reviews, so I found this post very helpful. Thanks for the informative explanations and reasonings. Visiting from #mlstl
Good for you, Debbie! I am doing the same.
I find I’m an inconsistent reviewer. If I love it, I will leave a written review. If I read it all but hated it, I will leave a written review with feedback on inconsistencies, etc. If it was ok, meaning I don’t regret the time used to read it, but it also doesn’t lead me to exclaim over it, I might leave some stars but not always. If I dislike the book so much that I delete it from my Kindle before I’ve gotten through a quarter of the book, then I don’t leave a review. This happens when I just don’t like the style of writing or maybe I don’t care enough about the characters. It could be a book by a much beloved author, it doesn’t matter. If it doesn’t click with me, then it’s probably my issue, not theirs…at least most of the time.
I think I am pretty close to you in reviewing…I can’t remember the last time I left a 3-star or lower review.
What great advice, Donna. I confess I’ve never thought to go back and review a book once I’ve finished reading it, but I will now. I agree that shorter is better, maybe a sentence or two about what you did or didn’t like about the book without giving anything away.
Hi Donna. Great article! I also only leave 4 or 5 ratings (mainly 5) but mostly because of the books I choose are good fits for me. When I am reading new-to-me authors (or ones I have never left a review prior) I tend to leave a few sentences. However, when I am reading a series, most times I leave a star rating only. I figure I have to leave something but am so anxious to get to the next one, I don’t want to waste any time! lol
Thanks for giving ratings & reviews!
Thanks Donna. I’m one who doesn’t leave reviews. Never really thought my two cents or one or two lines would make much of a difference. I will now do better.