To Review or Not to Review

Writers love hearing from readers and the best or at least most common way we have to hear from readers is the written review on Amazon. This is where we can connect with readers to tell if they liked our story, where we might need to improve the next time, or just to gain a sense that yes, we are not alone in this world and someone else did hear what we were saying.

Unfortunately, not every reader leaves a review.

Some just aren’t reviewers. They don’t know what to say or how to say it or are just too shy to put their thoughts on public display. That’s okay. They’ll move on to another story (maybe one of ours) and that’s really what keeps writers going. Knowing that readers are picking and choosing and bringing our worlds to life.

Some didn’t like the book but realize others will and don’t want to leave a negative review. Different genres, different readers. Ask me to review a romance and I’m going to give it a pass. Not saying I hate romance, but I don’t generally read them. I have a few (very few!) romance authors I’ll read, but most romance stories are so shallow I get nauseous by the end of the first chapter. It doesn’t mean the story is bad, just that it’s not my cup of tea. A writer should never judge his work based on a review by someone who doesn’t like or understand the genre. Nor should we be discouraged just because someone doesn’t like our work. Pepsi versus Dr. Pepper. I’m a DP fan, not a fan of Pepsi. Doesn’t mean Pepsi isn’t equally as good as Dr. Pepper, but it’s not for me. Really, the only person we need to please with our writing is ourselves. If it measures up to our standards and what we like, that’s sufficient. If it captures the attention of a reader—that’s icing on the cake.

Not everyone knows how to leave a review and even if we do, reviewing standards are widely diverse.  I’ve read a lot of reviews and most never answer some of the questions I need to know before buying the book. I don’t need a rehash of the plot –that should have been covered in the book blurb, although it seems more and more people fill that space with praise quotes rather than tell the reader what the story is about. (I usually skip reading those books). I do want to know if the reader liked the story and why. What was it that appealed? What caught his attention and kept him reading to the end? Sometimes even if the story isn’t written all that well, an intriguing plot or character will keep me reading. Story always trumps form for me. It’s why some of most highly acclaimed stories turn me off—the story just isn’t that appealing even if the writing is top notch. There are some other things I’d like to know in a review which usually don’t get covered, like how much profanity, violence, or sex fills the pages. I don’t want to waste my time (or money) on a book that feels the need to include those, so if you let me know ahead of time I won’t waste my time or yours. Some days I feel books should have a rating like movies, even though those ratings have been so watered down as to be useless.

There are readers who just don’t want to leave a review unless the book is really, really good. I’m one of those readers. A book has to grab me to even want to leave a review. In the past year, I’ve read tons of books I’ve liked, but very few leave me desiring to write a review. If I like the author, I buy the next book.  If the story was okay, but not world changing for me, I’ll move on to another author. I may come back to the first author down the road, but I probably won’t be actively searching for his books. The one exception is a book that has few reviews. If it was a good story, I’ll leave a review.

(Just a side note here: I read both male and female authors. My use of the pronoun “he” is gender inclusive, not exclusive. Most of the world understands that the “he” pronoun includes both sexes, while the “she” only refers to females.)

Reading is a solitary pastime and believe it or not, most readers are a bit shy in expressing their opinions in public (unless they are among a group of readers they feel comfortable with). So expecting a reader to always write a review isn’t realistic. Yes, writers need reviews. It’s how we gauge our effectiveness and popularity. It shouldn’t be how we gauge the quality or value of our work