Hi, so this is a series I'm going to have this August 2020. Dear Readers, Dear Authors, Dear Writers, and Dear Writing Community (Part 1 and 2). Every Saturday.
I'm avid reader, of anything and everything. I fell in love with books and writings at an early age. Maybe six or seven. Pretty much as soon as I learned to read.
Not every reader will leave a review of a book. But we hope they do. I've been on Amazon Kindle since 2016. My first purchase for a paid e-book was April 18, 2016. Have been reading thru the app even before then, but only free stuff. I've read a lot. Hundreds of stories over the years. I've discovered wonderful authors and purchased some really good series of books. Did I leave reviews? No. As a reader, before, I decide on reading a book based on the blurb. The title and the cover gets me to read the blurb. And it's the blurb that ultimately tells me whether to get a book or not. I have never relied on book reviews. Normally, I only check reviews on electronic gadgets. Anyway, so that was my history.
Recently, around two months ago, I have self-published some of my stories and as I went around the online writing community, I learned that reviews matter. Amazon uses it on its algorithm. It helps with ranking and whatnot. Majority of readers rely upon them. Obviously, not all. The figure is around 80%, though.
So... as an author, I understand the need for it. As a reader, I did, too. So, I started leaving reviews.
Mostly, readers who are on BookTube or Bookstagram will be doing book reviews. Others do it out of the goodness of their hearts, or because they like giving feedback, or they have the time, or they have something they want to say. Among other reasons.
So, dear readers... please leave a review of a book you've read. Amazon, or Goodreads, or on your blog with links to the book page or author page, or if the author is on instagram/twitter tag them on your review, short or long, it's fine.
First things first.
Two things: 1) Strict star-rating, and 2) Regular star-rating.
Star rating, or points out of 5, is subjective. It depends on the person’s interpretation on what the number of stars or points meant. And they also have their personal preferences on factors to take into account for adding points or deducting points.
Strict star-rating. They rate the books they like and enjoyed at three stars. Four stars is if they would recommend it to others. Five stars is if they like it so much they’ll definitely re-read it over and over. This was actually the first type of star rating I've come across. Years ago. Because there are really books that go over and beyond simple enjoyment. I have books I kept re-reading, because I enjoyed them immensely and I get reminded of certain scenes some days and it makes me want to open the book again and read. They're that good. To the point you've almost read it over ten, twenty times already. Maybe more. Same with some movies. It never gets old. You love it any day.
But then, those are really outstanding ones...
For myself, I do the regular star-rating. If I liked your book, if I enjoyed reading it, if I had takeaways from your book, if I learned something, if I related to it… I’ll give it five stars. I’m a simple person.
If there are some issues, maybe four stars. If it’s good enough, but not very enjoyable, I’ll give it three. Just like grades in college, why bother with two stars? Okay, it’s bad but not terribly bad, I’ll give you the two stars. It’s terribly bad, one star.
DNF. Normally I don't rate them because I didn't finish them. I've encountered books before where the first parts are terrible but the good stuff were on the latter part of the book, so I can't judge. Right?
Just like how there are books that begin very well, but the ending didn't do justice. Meh. Almost DNFs, but since you've already invested so much time reading it, you pretty much force yourself to finish it. Been there, done that.
Unless the reason is it’s so terrible you had to put it down, outside of personal preferences, then give it a one. Maybe so many grammar mistakes, typos, clearly unedited, unprofessional...
(Don't get me wrong. Professional is not the same as being formal. Some books are written informally, for easier relatability, and it's their style. To me, formal books are more academic. Professional means they followed the basics, the standards... grammar rules, word usage, sentence and paragraph structure, transition, formatting, that kind of thing. Again, this is not the official definition, but how I would define it.)
Why are there people who read something they don't like and then leaving low ratings? I don't get that one. Never will. Haters. If you don't like something, don't read it. Right? Invest your time wisely.
This is one of the reasons why I recently switched to e-books, instead of purchasing paperback. I can download samples to see if the writing style is something I like reading. If not, no thanks. I can't do that with paperbacks. In the bookstores where I'm at, new books normally come with plastic covers. Not sure if customers are allowed to take them off, but I thought not. So, I can't read the inside. I've experienced buying books which I didn't enjoy. The blurb were cool and all, but the story itself didn't live up to my expectations. Physical books are also more expensive than e-books, so there is that. These days, the only time I buy physical books for my mini library is when I liked the book so much I would love to re-read it a hundred times over in my whole lifetime. Tough love.
Side story: Back in college, when I was restricted with a meager allowance, I would go to the mall, the bookstore and read books there. I stood for hours reading a few books. But yes, I buy at least one to take home.
Anyway, writing reviews. Don't be pressured. But we, authors, would love it if you can leave at least twenty words with your star rating. (I think that's the minimum number of words Amazon requires.) I get star ratings, but without the description I wouldn't know how much you liked it, or disliked it. Short sentences are fine. How it made you feel? Did you like it or not? What did you like about it? What did you hate about it? Or simply say if you like it, enjoyed reading it, laughed at times, cried at times...
If you want a list: I like it. It's okay for me. It's good enough. I laughed in places. It made me cry a bit. It made me feel happy. It gave me hope. It taught me this and that. I reminded of this and that. I related with it.
Not too hard, right? It shouldn't be too hard to do.
If you didn't like it, say what you didn't like. Too many typos? Grammar? Presentation? Content itself? Plot? Characters? Inconsistency?
I don't mind getting a low rating for a review, as long as I know why. Feedback. One I can use to improve my writing and future works. Yes? Tell us why. Did you like some pieces of it, but was disappointed in others? Were you hoping for something specific but was disappointed? Did the plot make sense or was it nonsense? Were the characters realistic or were they inconsistent? That kind of thing, tell us. I promise not to bite. Love you.
In a way, a low rating with no explanation by someone anonymous doesn't get to me. Why should I believe you? Something like that. I've read enough critical reviews by people with their names on it. Very constructive. (Not necessarily on my own works. I'm still in the process of getting my books into people's TBR pile and kindly requesting for reviews.)
If you didn’t like a book because of the genre (it’s not what you usually enjoy reading but you wanted to try reading it anyway), or because of a shitty character (which is meant to be that way since he’s the antagonist or villain), or because the plot is predictable… please consider other things.
- What’s the author’s intention in the book? Keep that in mind. If the author achieved that, five stars should be in order, no?
- The plot is not always going to be predictable. Decide whether the twist exceeded your expectations or not. Was it better than what you predicted? No? Okay.
As for other things...
TBR. Maybe be fair on your TBR pile. Be strategic about going through it. I'm not one to talk. I get one that interests me the most from my pile, not necessarily which one got there first. But... there were moments I was like: why didn't I read you much sooner? Such good reads, I kind of feel bad not reading them when I got them.
As a reader, I prefer short books. 250 pages to 300. Unless the story and everything is so good, you convince me to spend more time to finish a thousand pages. I could be convinced. I've read such books before. They are worth it.
Verified Purchase. I'm on Kindle Unlimited, but when a book is offered for free on Kindle I grab it. Simply because when I leave a review, it would appear as "verified purchase" even if I got it for zero currency. Also, despite being on KU, some of my favorite authors aren't on KU, so I have to purchase their books. KU allows you to hold only ten titles at one time, so if I really liked a book and want to keep a copy on my Kindle library for easy re-read later on, I do purchase a copy.
Some books are good enough to be read on KU, but for a reader with budget constraints, purchasing is reserved for the really good stuff.
Oh, right. I saw one review where the person said that he read the book through Kindle Unlimited. If you read a book through KU, it does not show as "verified purchase" so there is that question of whether you actually read a book or not. That statement answers that. But then, the assumption is that you leave a review because you read the book. Oh, well.
Last one I can think of. Don't patronize pirate sites. Kidding. Or maybe not. There's
this article which says authors shouldn't be worried about pirate sites, and it made a number of good points. At the end of the day, my goal is to reach more readers (as against making more sales). I did a poll of this on Twitter and yeah, more authors do wish to reach more readers than make sales. So, in a way, if you can't purchase a book, get them for free. One way or another. But we hope that when the time comes and you're able, please support the authors whose works you enjoyed. Buy their books when you can.
Thank you for reading books. Please leave reviews. Support authors.
That's it for this one. Next Saturday would be "Dear Authors". From the perspective of a reader, a writer, and another author.
Okay, bye. Enjoy reading. Enjoy writing. 💙
Let me know your thoughts in the comments. I'm sure there are other things we can let other readers know. Sending you love.
