Book Reviews & WHY They Matter

Posted on March 9, 2017 by

89 Comments

As an avid reader, I have spent the last few years reviewing books on my blog and on other websites that help to promote Indy Authors. It has been an honor to read and review over one hundred and forty books in the last couple of years.

There are several reasons why I engaged in the review process:

  1. Writing a review has been my way of saying thank you to the author. Writing a book is a long and detailed process, and as an author, I know how much work I put into my own writing. I can think of no better way to let an author know that I appreciated all the hard work they put into writing a novel other than helping to spread the word of their success.
  2. My reviews contributed to spreading the word to other readers about authors and books that I enjoyed. I have always felt that I was performing a public service to other readers by sharing my thoughts in our blogging community.
  3. I have written reviews in such a way as to not damage the reputation of the author. Even if I did not like the book, I found ways to express my opinion in a nice way. In fact, there have not been many books that I haven’t enjoyed. This just goes to show the quality of authors and material in the Indy community.
  4. Reviews help the author, and those positive rankings play into the Amazon algorithm. More reviews = More sales, which lead to a higher ranking in the Amazon community. The end result is exposure to more people interested in buying books.
  5. I have solicited and received free manuscripts and copies of most of the books I reviewed. If you love to read, this is the best incentive yet, to start reviewing books.

Image Credit: ElizabethNoyesWrites.com

Image credit: DeborahJayAuthor.com

Check out these links for more information on writing reviews:

Tips for Writing Amazon Reviews

Amazon Community Review Guidelines

So, the next time you are reading a novel, think about leaving a review. Indy authors everywhere will thank you.

I am always looking for reviews of The Heart Stone Chronicles: The Swamp Fairy. If you’re interested, leave me a reply in the comments section.

ATTENTION AUTHORS & BOOK REVIEWERS

In fact, if you are an author looking for a review, leave a comment with a link to your book. That will enable readers with a way to contact you. HAPPY REVIEWING! ❤

Gotta DASH! Time to write some more reviews!

Category: Authors Supporting Authors, Book ReviewsTags: , , , ,

89 Comments on “Book Reviews & WHY They Matter”

  4. I love reading and sharing books with other readers. Since I started writing and blogging, Blogging has taken over and I spend less time reading. Sigh. Reviews ARE valuable as I used to search them out when choosing a book to read. Maybe some day I’ll get to read more and then happily review. ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Excellent post, Colleen. Reviews are so important to authors. I’d love to find reviewers for my novel set in Afghanistan, No More Mulberries: https://www.amazon.com/No-More-Mulberries-Mary-Smith-ebook/dp/B005RRDZ12/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1489077638&sr=1-1&keywords=no+more+mulberries
    And/or my memoir Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni: Real Stories of Afghan Women which is about my work in Afghanistan and soem of the amazing women I met: https://www.amazon.com/Drunk-Chickens-Burnt-Macaroni-Smith-ebook/dp/B009XIL5FY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1489077762&sr=1-1&keywords=drunk+chickens+and+burnt+macaroni

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  16. Lovely blog Colleen, I actually love reading book reviews and write them myself too via goodreads.com
    Will have a look out for your books too seeing you are an author too.
    Kind regards, Agnes

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Thank you for the delightful post. I’d love to have you review my novella “It Was Her Eyes” and I will be happy to email the KDP formatted text or text in word to you. I appreciate your kind offer.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Hello, Russ. I have about 35 books to review right now. My plea was for reviews of my own novel and for anyone else who was looking for reviews. All we can do is support each other as authors. Do you do book reviews?

      Like

      Reply

      • No worries, Colleen. I understand. I often review books for authors and have a similar reading backlog so am not requesting additional titles at this time.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • Great. You review also. I would like to have a page of reviewers on my blog that folks could contact for reviews. I will think about that and compile something soon. ❤ Thanks.

          Like

          Reply

  19. Pingback: Amazon Prime – Is it Worth My Time? – Colleen Chesebro ~ Fairy Whisperer

  24. Colleen, you and a few other bloggers/authors got me started on featuring a book review once a month on my blog! I thoroughly enjoy sharing fellow writers’ works to get more eyes on their hard work!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  25. Great post Colleen. Without reviewers like you, so many might miss some great opportunities to read some great books. Many people are swayed to book by reviews. ❤

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  26. i am so behind with my book reading at the moment, but I understand the importance of reviewing books that I have read and do review them once I have reead them 🙂

    Like

    Reply

    • Hi, Jody. My best advice is to be truthful. I tend to discuss the plot with detail, but not enough to give away the climax. The reader should discover that your themselves. Reading is emotional for me so I like to talk about the emotions the book evoked in me. Go to my menu and click on the book reviews tab. I like the format I use because I give links to the author’s amazon author page, the amazon book page, Goodreads, etc. I have a book I would love to have reviewed. Are you interested? If so, email me at colleenchesebro3@gmail.com. ❤

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  28. This is outstanding. Followed.
    This strikes a chord with me as I’ve just published my first novel and am now looking at the long uphill slog involved in getting someone (anyone!!!) to notice. If you’re interested at all, you can find details at the following link:
    https://joshuagayou.wordpress.com/commune-book-1/
    I’m also ready and willing for some turn about. If you like, I can go track down your work and get cracking or we can see about trading manuscripts via e-mail. I’m up for however you’d like to handle it. Additionally, my wife is a voracious YA reader who loves a good fantasy setting; I’m fairly sure I can rope her in as well 🙂
    You can also get me at joshgayou@gmail.com.
    Best Regards!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks, Josh. Nice to meet you. This is one of the ways I am drawing attention to my book, The Heart Stone Chronicles: The Swamp Fairy. The more you write the more folks will want to check out your book. Thanks for stopping by. ❤

      Like

      Reply

  29. Your post is very true. I just began reviewing books but on my blog. It’s actually great to share your feelings about the book too. I wrote a book and it’s on amazon now. Thanks for sharing this with us!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  30. Pingback: Amazon Prime – Is it Worth My Time? – SBJ

  31. Pingback: Book Reviews | Flesh and Bone

    • True, although I promote predominantly Indie (Indy) books. Most traditionally published books have advertising and the power of the publisher behind them. The Indies need us most. ❤

      Like

      Reply

  35. Hello Colleen. I am an indie author, and I am asking reviews for my book. I am writing short stories, genre drama, and romance, based on real events.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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Colleen M. Chesebro: Prose-Metrist, Novelist, & Word Witch
Colleen M. Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro is an American Poet who loves crafting paranormal fantasy and magical realism, cross-genre flash fiction, syllabic poetry, and creative nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called Tanka Tuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com where participants learn how to write traditional and current forms of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, tanka prose, renga, solo-renga, haibun, cinquain, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry. Colleen's syllabic poetry has appeared in the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, and in “Hedgerow, a journal of small poems.” She’s won numerous awards from participating in the Carrot Ranch Rodeo, a yearly flash fiction contest sponsored by carrotranch.com. In 2020, she won first place in the Carrot Ranch Folk Tale or Fable category, with her story called “Why Wolf Howls at the Moon.” Colleen is a Sister of the Fey, where she pursues a pagan path through her writing. When she is not writing, she is reading. She also loves gardening and crocheting old-fashioned doilies into works of art.

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