What's the first thing you do when you're online debating about purchasing a new product or visiting a restaurant? Check the reviews. 5 - Stars? Awesome! It should be good. 1 star? Forget it. I'm not wasting my money.
And that's totally understandable. You work hard for your money. So, of course, you do your research to make sure you're getting the most bang for your buck. Vandasta.com reports more than 88% of consumers incorporate reviews into their purchasing decision. But did you know it's estimated that only 1-3% of readers leave reviews?
(Okay, side note: If you don't want to read anything else on this page, please at least skip to the part about the stars.)
Now you need to know I am over the moon if you choose to spend your money on one of my books. And you are under no obligation to leave me a review. But I can't tell you how much it makes my little author heart soar when you do. So much in our community is based on them. Approximately 600,000 - 1 million books are published every year. And today, many agents and publishers won't even look at your work until there is some kind of buzz about it. That's where you come in.
Authors can talk about their books until they're blue in the face. We love them. They're our babies. But at the end of the day, would you put more stock in hearing how awesome my book is from me, the person that spent months writing it and has everything on the line, or a person that has nothing at stake and is completely unbiased? Exactly.
People ask me all the time, "How do I leave a review?" Somewhere, in the back of their minds, they intimidate themselves into thinking the review needs to sound like it came from Hemingway. But you need to know, no one expects that from you. I always tell them to be honest and maybe mention the characters or something specific about the book so Amazon knows it's a legit review. It's that simple.
STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Now I want to talk to you about stars. This is a big one because it's one of the first things people see when they go to Amazon or GoodReads. As a writer, I'm trying to put out the best book I possibly can so I'm always striving for 5-stars. Of course, that doesn't always happen.
I'll admit. I'm a perfectionist (I know, I'm in the wrong business for that). One of the most frustrating things and something you just have to get used to when you're an author is wondering why someone will leave you an absolutely amazing review, but still only give you 4 stars. While I am beyond appreciative of the review and hope others will take the time to read it, my mind torments me. Was it my writing? My characters? Typos?
It's not like when you're in school and the teacher hands you back your paper with little notes saying why you got the grade you did. Author etiquette says I can't ask. So I'm left wondering what I did wrong. And it sucks because all I want to do is find out so I can fix it and deliver a better story next time. I try to keep in mind everyone has different taste. Some people love Stephen King. Some people hate him. Some people love sweet historical romance while others prefer dark contemporary ones.
There's no telling what someone's criteria may be for reviewing a book. I can only tell you what I take into account:
1) Does it look professional? Is the cover nice? Is everything formatted properly? (Although I tend to give a little leeway on e-reader formatting because sometimes, it doesn't seem to matter what you do, e-readers still show extra spaces even if they're not in your manuscript. Grrrr)
2) Were there a ton of grammatical errors and typos? (Keep in mind even well-edited books may contain errors. A book is still considered perfect if it has one error or less every 10k words)
3) Were there plot holes and was the story consistent? Does the author talk about the main character driving a red Ford F150 on page 100 and then on page 105 that truck is now blue with no explanation as to why?;
4) Did it hold my interest? Was it a real page turner or did I struggle to finish it?;
5) Were the characters and their emotions believable? Even if it's not the way I would have acted in a situation, given the character's background, could I see them behaving that way?
6) Would I recommend it to a friend?
While we all strive for it, most authors are not going to write a To Kill a Mockingbird. In my opinion, those books are rarities that even those authors tend to achieve only once-in-a-lifetime and should receive some special 6-star rating. But just because someone doesn't write an "instant classic" doesn't mean they aren't a fantastic writer or won't become one and write that legendary book someday.
Reviews are subjective. There are people that give 5 stars to everything and other people that only give 5 stars to specific genres or are waiting for the next Gone with the Wind or The Tell Tale Heart, and refuse to give 5 stars to anything less. And while that might be fine for best-selling authors that have thousands of reviews, let me tell you how that can actually hurt an Indie author.
Being an Indie author, I can tell you firsthand we're always trying to build a following, get our name out there, and get noticed by agents and publishers. Even a lot of bloggers will check previous reviews before they'll consider reviewing a new author. And that's understandable. They get flooded with queries and requests and want to focus their attention on something that could go somewhere and make them a profit. Again, this is why reviews are so important.
Here is where things get complicated. I have seen and heard someone rave about a book and give it 1 star because it had the f-word or c-word in it. Other books give warnings to the reader in advance about graphic content or triggers at the beginning of a book, yet a reader will still give it 1 or 2 stars because it had sex or violence in it. And then there are the revenge reviews. Those are the ones that someone writes with the sole purpose of tanking an author's rating. Yep, I'm sorry to say, but that really happens. You never know what is going to make someone give a bad review.
While those reviews may sting for someone like J.K. Rowling or Sylvia Day, because they have a plethora of fans and receive thousands of reviews, their rating probably won't be affected. But for an Indie author that struggles to get every review they can, a rating like that can be devastating, taking their 5-star rating to 3 stars in a flash.
That's why I, personally, rate Indie authors a little different. It's not about going easy on them; it's about considering their numbers. I tend to think of it this way. If I told all the fans of the best star high school quarterback to go out and buy his jersey, and then told all of Tom Brady's fans to go out and by Tom's jersey, who would sell more jerseys? Tom, obviously. Does that mean the high school kid is no good and won't become the next Tom Brady someday? No. It just means he's fresh out the gate and doesn't have the fan base to compete with Tom's numbers yet. But that's me. I like an underdog and tend to root for them and want to give them encouragement, hoping someday they get that fan base and can compete with the Tom Bradys of the world. If I'm honest, it's because it will make for a better game for me as a spectator.
But some people do the exact opposite and are harder on Indie authors, using the mindset they're preparing the writer to compete with the literary greats. The big dogs. And that's their right.
And while I don't go throwing around 5-star ratings like Willy Wonka throws around candy, I do try to be thoughtful in my reviews and remind myself that Indie authors don't have the backing of multi-million dollar publishers with the best editors and advertising teams in the business. That's not to say their books shouldn't still be edited and look professional. But I may cut them a little more slack than one error every 10k words. But again, that's just me. And if I have reservations about awarding higher star counts, I ask myself why? Is it because it's not my normal genre? If I think that's a factor, I try to consider what readers in that genre would want in a story and determine if those needs were met.
But some people do the exact opposite and are harder on Indie authors, using the mindset they're preparing the writer to compete with the literary greats. The big dogs. And that's their right.
And while I don't go throwing around 5-star ratings like Willy Wonka throws around candy, I do try to be thoughtful in my reviews and remind myself that Indie authors don't have the backing of multi-million dollar publishers with the best editors and advertising teams in the business. That's not to say their books shouldn't still be edited and look professional. But I may cut them a little more slack than one error every 10k words. But again, that's just me. And if I have reservations about awarding higher star counts, I ask myself why? Is it because it's not my normal genre? If I think that's a factor, I try to consider what readers in that genre would want in a story and determine if those needs were met.
Do I wish I could give half stars and award it 4.5, but that's not an option? Then I ask myself if I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to someone else. If the answer is yes, I may level up instead of down.
Some people aren't a fan of particular plotlines. For illustrative purposes, let's say I'm not a fan of cheating. Instead of basing my star rating solely on the fact that I don't like books that contain cheating, I try to keep in mind that others may. So instead of giving it a low star rating, I take into account the story, character development, and whether it was done well, and then maybe mention in the review that if you aren't a fan of cheating, you may not like this book. But I try not to let it affect the overall star rating. Personally, I tend to refrain from giving 1- star ratings. If I see one, I assume the book was poorly edited, the plot had holes, and the characters were unlikable or didn't seem realistic.
In the end, it doesn't matter what I take into account when I write my reviews. You have the right to write any kind of review you choose. Authors are notoriously insecure about their work and always questioning their talent, but no author wants stars they didn't earn. I speak from experience when I say, every review I receive propels me to write and deliver the best book I can. And I will continue to do that no matter how many stars you give me. You are helping me live my dream. And for that, I give you 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
