For writers, especially during lock down when bookshop signings and talks at the local library are impossible, getting on-line reviews are one of the few ways to promote their new book. If you are lucky enough to receive 50 positive reviews, Amazon will then feature them in periodic promotional posts - for free.
Yet how many of us write them? I must confess to producing a mere handful myself, though I am striving to do better.
People think they will be required to produce an erudite outline of the plot, character analysis, plus quote examples of good (or bad) prose. All the while avoiding those dreaded spoilers. No wonder it seems daunting.
Yet Amazon and Goodreads make the process relatively easy. By clicking on the reviews section of a book, you are given an option to make one. You decide whether the novel you have just finished is any good and give it a star rating, out of five. You could stop there, if you wanted, and do nothing further. But a sentence or two about how you viewed it would help others who are trying to decide whether to buy, and would delight the author. Something like the following (which I was delighted to read about my own book) would be perfect:
****A page-turner. Thoroughly recommended.
***I enjoyed reading about a different time and place. Perfect for lovers of historical fiction.
****It had me on the edge of my seat.
*****Loved it!
Obviously, if you absolutely loathed the book and thought it badly written, the author would prefer you to quietly refrain from comment - but most serious authors accept that not everyone will admire their work and will accept constructive criticism. That is the way we learn to write better in future.
If you love nothing better than devouring a novel, why not support those who feed your addiction? It costs nothing but a few moments of your time and will make an author purr...
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