How do you choose which books to read ? For me, it is a combination of word of mouth and checking out the books reviews.
As a indie author, it is hard to get your voice heard in a world of ‘buy me’ noise. Trying to raise your lone voice above the big publishing houses and their vast budgets is an uphill struggle. Some days it can feel as if all I’ve done is beg people for reviews – How many times can you ask readers to leave a review before you feel as it you’re stalking them? It can be very disheartening!
Some sites won’t even let you advertise your book unless you have a certain number of 4/5 star reviews. Did you know that over 85% of Kindle readers use reviews to ascertain if a book is suitable for them? The importance of reviews can not be overstated. It’s great publicity and helps like minded readers to connect. Ever seen those ads along the bottom of your Amazon screen ‘recommended for you’ or ‘based on your history you may like this’? These are not random choices put there by chance. They are cleverly calculated algorithms, based on reviews. It is all too easy to leave a review for something you didn’t like, I know I’ve done it! But… what about the things you enjoy, the things that exceed your expectations? How many of us leave reviews for the books we’ve enjoyed?
The more reviews a book gets, the higher its visibility and ranking. The higher its visibility and ranking, the more people will read it. The more people who read it, the higher the sales. More sales = more reviews. So you see, it really is not rocket science!
In an effort to redress the balance ever so slightly, I challenge you to do two good things this week. If you have recently read a good book – tell someone else about it. Secondly, leave a review on Amazon. It doesn’t have to be war and peace, just a few lines about why you enjoyed it. You don’t even have to use your name it can be anonymous. Your good deed will be gratefully received by all authors so go on be brave… you can do it! Do something amazing for an author this week.
