A review is the best thing you can do. Here’s why:
Reviews are a writer’s calling card. While early reviews by beta readers often provide feedback for the final draft of a book, reviews after the book is published are far more important for many reasons.
Books ARE judged by their cover.
It’s universal – If someone has never seen a particular book, but are intrugued by it’s cover, they may pick it up. If someone has been referred to a book by someone else, odds are better that they will pick it up. In eother case, they will almost certainly flip it over and read the short reviews & comments on the back of the book to determine if others think the book is worthy.
Why YOUR review is so important.
Odds are you are not the book critic at the New York Times, so what makes your review so valuable to an author? Well, when the New York Times, or any other respected purveyor of iterary critque approaches a book, they do exactly what you did when you considered reading that book. They flip it over and read what’s been said so far about the book. If they don’t have the book in hand they will do that same research online – just to see what others are saying before they invest their valuable reviewing time.
Now here’s the important bit – YOU are one of those ‘others’. (Or could be)!
Everyone VIEWS a story from a different angle.
When you read a book, your impression of the story is informed through your own life experiences. So whatever you write in a review will be your unique take on it. Even if you didn’t like a story, explaining why you didn’t like it in a review will inform others who may be of similar mind, as to why they might not want to read it. Positive or negative, your review may help others decide.
It’s IMPORTANT that your review happens.
Be it a single sentence exclamation or a multi-page analysis, your thoughts on a particular story, once put into a review, can help columnists select a title for consideration, assist distributors in promoting a book for inclusion in their lineup, or be the final vote cast when choosing a direction by the books’ marketing and publicity teams.
Remember, an independant author may value your reviews even more than that, since your review may mean more sales for them.
So, are your views important? You bet.
And… I would very much appreciate it if you would share them in a quick review. Since Doc Christmas is not available on Amazon, the best place you can review Doc Christmas is on Goodreads.
Doc Christmas on GoodReads.com: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27812462-doc-christmas
If you are worried about actually writing the review, check out Adam Dreece’s article ‘1 minute to knowing how to write a review’. Reprinted Here
Thanks for your time – and your words!
-Neil Enock