Does it matter if readers leave a review? Yes. A book with even one review moves up in the sales ranking on Amazon. With enough reviews, an author can join programs that offer the book to more readers. It’s easy to leave a review. If you’ve never written a review before, this will guide you.
What should a review say?
If you received a book free then Amazon requires the following text (you can copy and paste):
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
For the rest of the review, the wording is up to you. When you leave a review, you should tell others what you liked about the book, or how you felt the author did at getting across the story. It can say that you recommend it to other readers. A review should not give away the ending of a story or spoil surprises for other readers. A review can be short and sweet.
What should a review not say?
Remember that a book review is for a product for sale, so keep the topic to the actual product. It should not have negative or unkind words. If should be about a book you’ve read. If you didn’t read it, it’s not fair to leave a review. It should not be about delivery issues. For example, if the book arrived late in the mail, that has nothing to do with the book itself.
Where can you leave a review?
If you have a blog, Facebook page, or an account on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or other sites, you can post a review there. Here is a brief how-to that will guide you to getting to the right place to leave a review. In the examples below, I’ve used the book title “A Romance for Christmas” but you can substitute that for any title you wish.
To leave a review on Amazon
Go to www.amazon.com and log in.
To be considered a verified reviewer on Amazon, you need to have purchased at least one item from Amazon in the past.
In the search bar, put A Romance for Christmas.
Once you find the book, scroll down to “Customer Reviews” and click on “Write a customer review.”
To leave a review on Goodreads
Go to www.goodreads.com and login or create a new account: https://www.goodreads.com/user/create.
In the search bar, put A Romance for Christmas.
Once you find the book, click on it.
Rate the book with a star number underneath the book cover. The box above the stars will now mark the book as “Read.”
Hover over the box saying “Read” and you will see a small pop up balloon. Inside the balloon, click “Write a Review.”
Write a review in the box on this page or copy and paste your review from Amazon.
Sample Reviews
Here are three actual reviews for my book A Romance for Christmas.
- Even when you think there’s no one else for you, surprises happens & another chance presents itself. Take a shot and see what happens.
- Merry Christmas to me. Absolutely loved this romantic story. Just beautiful.
- It was a very touching story! Dara and Scott were perfect for each other because they had a lot in common. It was a nice light romance and fun!
As you can see, a review doesn’t have to be long or have a lot of detail. Of course, if you think a book deserves a longer review, by all means leave one.
Do you have any tips for reviews? Please share them in the comments. If you left a review because you read this post, please share the link. It doesn’t have to be one of my books. Also, feel free to share this post with friends.