Sadly, I think at least quarter of what I see for book reviews is basically what you see above. Any 50% are ratings that don’t have any written reviews, which I used to dislike, but now I’m okay with. As much as I want feedback, it’s just nice to know someone paid attention to what I wrote these days. You take what you can get, right? That seems to be how it goes.
Long ago, there was always a big question on how to get reviews. I remember the following actions being taken:
- Review swaps between authors.
- Giving out hundreds of free books to get some reviews.
- Contests for someone to win a free book.
- Apparently, paying for reviews.
- Author groups reviewing each other.
There were probably more, but I don’t remember them. Those were the big ones, but Amazon ended up making it dangerous to do so. Either readers or hyper-competitive authors would report anyone who did these things. Usually, the reviewer was stated as ‘friend or family’ of the author. This would get the review removed and could even result in the author having their books removed from Amazon. There were even times where the reviewer would be blocked from reviewing that author’s books ever again, which happened to someone who used to review my stuff.
The whole mess eventually resulted in nobody knowing what to do. Smaller indie authors who didn’t want to get in trouble stopped trying to ask for reviews. This meant we had to depend entirely one a reader doing it of their own accord without any prompting. We all know that rarely happens, especially of the person enjoyed the book. An angry customer is more likely to make noise than a happy one. I did notice some of the authors who had massive fan-bases did okay, but that wasn’t surprising. Even if they stopped giving away free books, they had still managed to lock in a solid support foundation. Some of these fans wouldn’t even read the books they were reviewing, which is rather disappointing, but shouldn’t be a shock. In the end, the quest for reviews seemed to be a fruitless one and it is kind of like that today.
One issue could be that people seem a lot busier these days. So, reading books for those of certain ages takes a lot of time and effort. This would mean that writing a review could be the furthest from a person’s mind since that’s extra time and effort. Again, you might only get a reaction from someone who despised or adored your book. We’re talking 1 and 5 stars, so the 2-4 stars that many people look at don’t show up very often. Not saying to give an author a 4-star just to make sure the review is read though. I remember that being a thing at one point and it caused a lot of authors to go down in their overall ratings, which people look at more than the breakdown. Just can’t win and you can see how one issue can roll into another.
The more I try to think about this, the sadder and more confused I get. So, what is everyone else feeling in regards to reviews? Are they even worth tearing your hair out over these days? Has anything replaced their role as a decent sales booster?
Legends of Windemere 
Reviews are tricky. I try to write some when I can. But since I graduated from a writing program where everyone who attended the school is writing a book or multiple books, I don’t get to every book by every author I know. I might be cheating by giving just about every book four to five stars. Like others, I don’t want to bring an author’s rating down. Total strangers will do that, even if a book is excellent.
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I wonder if people even pay attention to book reviews these days. Authors and book lovers do. Not sure about average people. They just look at overall star rating.
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Charles, I gave up asking for reviews. There doesn’t seem to be a solution for me, an unknown novice writer. Only if you are an author in the marketing business, do you get hundreds, thousands of reviews. I’ve noticed some multi-book authors do podcasts, interview known authors, do give-a-ways on podcasts, travel city to city on book tours. And address holidays, give out family recipes, show their friends enjoying get togethers, visit book clubs! And are all over Instagram & Facebook. Check out Adriana Trigiani -The Good Left Undone or Kristin Hannah-the Women. It’s a business. And it takes money to make money. Authors with jobs, or limited incomes can’t promote their books to that degree. It makes my head spin!!🙄 🫨
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Yeah. You’d have to make being an author your full-time job. Anyone who can’t is out of luck. Feels like it wasn’t like this 10 years ago. That sense of community among indies isn’t really there. Not at the same scope anyway.
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Right you are, Charles. Unfortunately, times have changed. We need to find free ways to market our books. I think some new advertising skills might render results. I’m going to back up my sequel by comparing it to Kristin Hannah’s book, The Women, coming out in February. In 1968, her protagonist is a nurse who goes to Vietnam to serve her country. My sequel has the Vietnam War in 1969. The main character, a nurse, goes to DaNang hospital to bring her injured husband home. He was ambushed by the Vietcong while on a rescue mission in a village nearby. He was part of a Volunteer Physicians program. And she offers her nursing services while there. The sequel will be self-published in March. And I’ll push up the marketing on FB & Instagram. Never give up! Just Do It. 📚🎶 Christine
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Do comparison promos work really well? At least in fantasy they seem to come with a big risk.
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I think comparison reviews are good if the story theme is the same. And the same genre. Especially if a social problem is addressed in the book you are comparing yours to. 📚🎶 Christine
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I think the whole idea of reviews has been overdone. I just got a request for a review of a doctor’s visit. Come on, folks, we should be able to do things without having to spend time on reviews. I think there is a fallout as a result on Book reviews. People find it easy to hit the stars and then call it a day. Non-authors are more prone to this.I think authors still write them. I know I do.
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Sites like Yelp! really pushed the review concept everywhere. It makes sense for businesses, but it has gotten crazy. I agree with the ‘stars only’ ones. Wish I could see those too.
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I still have it in the footer of my blog to do a review if you liked the book, and I sometimes see memes passed around reminding people that if you want to support Indy authors you should give reviews. I don’t know what you can do beyond that.
Occasionally I’ll notice a new review on one of my books. It’s always a pleasant surprise.
Definitely agree with John Howell that I’m sick of being asked for customer reviews on every little thing. Especially my doctor’s office, as I’m going through a minor health thing and keep getting review requests for every visit. Ugh.
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I see star ratings turn up at times. Rarely a real review though.
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I did reviews on the first 3 books, Charles. Which reminds me. I must get round to reading the next. And reviewing, of course.
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I agree with those people who said they are fed up with being asked for reviews on everything.
Whenever I buy something on Amazon I’m asked for a review. I get a request before I’ve even had chance to give the thing a fair trial.
As to book reviews, I always do them, even if it’s a while later.
On my till receipt from a certain pharmacist it often gives a website to let them know, ‘How did we do?’
Some authors say that if a book, in their opinion, rates less than 3 stars, they don’t post it. I understand that they don’t want to trash someone else’s book, but what are reviews for? They are to give the reader an idea if they would like the book, and also, in my opinion, to help the writer to see what was wrong and improve.
Are there some useless editors and beta readers out there? I read a book that I couldn’t finish because of all the errors in it. The author contacted me and claimed it had been professionally edited and her beta readers loved it. (The story was good!)
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I’m fine with the surveys. I think those are easier to do and make more sense than full reviews. As for not posting low reviews, it makes sense to me why another author might not do it. Reviews are public and most potential readers only look at the stars. A low review would really only hurt even if it has suggestions. This can be really bad if the other author’s criticism is more about personal taste and style.
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You’ve written a pretty accurate description of the state we’re in. I have no good ideas about how to get them. I’d be happy with more readers overall. I suppose we could write a short review at the end of our own novels, then invite readers to copy and paste it. (Joking) I always write one after reading, then I copy and paste it into Amazon, Goodreads, and BookBub.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if someone actually tried that review idea.
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I write reviews regularly, but as for getting reviews for my own books, I’ve kinda given up. Except to remind someone who liked the book to post a thumbs-up on Amazon. Don’t believe these companies that say they can get you thousands of reviews – it’s all smoke and mirrors.
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I think the companies use bots, which can get you in trouble. One report and goodbye everything.
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I like to console myself I dont get any reviews because all my published books are centered around poetry, and like someone wrote above in the comments, people make it a huge business and are engaged in ways I personally don’t feel comfortable with. It feels to me, while on the other side and observing authors promoting, that there is a gigantic increase in writers marketing themselves more so than the book, like Oh buy my book because I share every segment of my daily life, because I am a nice person, because I don’t support animal cruelty, because my favourite colour too is blue and similar. I would dream of more of the reviews being about the books themselves and the writing, not how online is the author living.
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I’ve seen that too. It’s the artist being sold instead of the art. Not sure if that makes things easier or harder. Definitely not a good thing for my pessimism and general life situation.
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For me, definitely harder. I do try and see how I can personally comfortably fit into the trend, but even the few digital marketing specialists or promoters I checked out creeped me out honestly. Where I would think I’d happily pay to create promo items from the books, what I see more and more is you paying for a promotion and these marketers directing your tik tok video which you have to record yourself and be the main star in. That is terrifying to me. I feel like we just have to keep experimenting with self-marketing in ways we find comfortable and effective, even if the results are not overnight and grandiose. I think whether we do or don’t, the pessimism will stay anyways.
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That does sound scary. I don’t have the time or funds to even try these days. Makes me feel semi-retired.
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