{"id":2201,"date":"2016-03-10T18:24:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T18:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/?p=2201"},"modified":"2016-03-10T18:24:18","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T18:24:18","slug":"about-those-book-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/10\/about-those-book-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"About Those Book Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

More of What Readers Need to Know<\/h3>\n
\"Reader\"
via Flickr Laury Rouz\u00e9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I posted about this before<\/a>, but today I read an article in the ACFW<\/a> newsletter that I think might \u00a0best help explain to readers why posting book reviews is critical to authors. I’m reposting here with permission. If you, too, think it’s helpful, please share.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Reader\u2019s review provides at least 4 key benefits for a book and its author via @acfw & @cynthiaruchti “]<\/p>\n

ACFW Tidbits<\/h3>\n

by\u00a0Cynthia Ruchti\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Do you write book reviews? Some say a reader\u2019s review provides at least four key benefits for a book and its author:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Credibility<\/strong>. When publishers, retailers, libraries, and prospective readers see a large number of reviews for a book, they know the book has drawn a measure of attention.<\/div>\n

\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Visibility<\/strong>. Algorithms of online retailers like\u00a0cbd.com<\/a>,\u00a0bn.com<\/a>, and\u00a0amazon.com<\/a>\u00a0dictate that books with large numbers of positive reviews will obtain a more prominent visual presence on their sites.<\/div>\n
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Quote resource<\/strong>. Many authors share snippets of a positive review to help others get a feel for the book\u2019s tone, theme, or impact.<\/div>\n
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Persuasiveness.\u00a0<\/strong>Reviews can entice prospective readers, retailers, and libraries to purchase books they might have bypassed without the review.<\/div>\n
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\"via
via Flickr GotCredit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re a published author, you\u2019ve no doubt seen both beneficial and what might be construed as harmful reviews. You may have asked others to post a review for your book. Have you also\u00a0provided a guideline<\/strong>\u00a0for the kind of review that would be most helpful? Consider using these tips when writing reviews or when inviting others to review a book for you:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For a blog or online retail review, if the teaser for the book or the book\u2019s back cover copy is already part of the blog or book information visible to those who will read your review, there\u2019s no need to repeat that information. An online review is not a book report. It\u2019s a reaction to the story and its impact.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Resist the temptation to reveal any element about the plot or characters that will spoil the book for other readers. Few things make an author cringe more than having a reviewer give away an important plot point that took two-thirds of the book to set up.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keep it as short as you can and still communicate what you need to or are compelled to say.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t change your review in response to what others have said about the book. Be genuine. But do skim other posted reviews to ensure you\u2019re not merely repeating what has already been said. Your review will be most meaningful if it adds another dimension to the reviews\u2019 \u201cdiscussion\u201d about the book\u2019s merits.<\/div>\n
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\"photo
photo by denise carbonell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Limit your comments about the story to the story. If your book was damaged in shipping, or you never have liked that genre (and still don\u2019t), or if page 211 was missing in your copy, or the margins on the Kindle version were messed up, that\u2019s not a review of the book. Those comments need to be directed elsewhere.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Watch carefully for what the stars mean. Don\u2019t inadvertently give a book a one-star rating because you think that means it\u2019s a top-notch book, first place on your bookshelf. Take time to make sure you\u2019re communicating accurately.<\/div>\n
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\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget to include a review on\u00a0Goodreads.com<\/a>and\u00a0FictionFinder.com<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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Thanks to\u00a0Cynthia Ruchti\u00a0acfwrelations@acfw.com<\/a>\u00a0for allowing me to reprint this.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More of What Readers Need to Know I posted about this before, but today I read an article in the ACFW newsletter that I think might \u00a0best help explain to readers why posting book reviews is critical to authors. I’m reposting here with permission. If you, too, think it’s helpful, please share. [bctt tweet=”Reader\u2019s review…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155,103,57,119],"tags":[156],"class_list":["post-2201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acfw","category-authors","category-books","category-goodreads","tag-book-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}