Authors love reviews. It's cool to look on your
book's page on Amazon or Barnes & Noble and discover that somebody's posted a 5-star review. After you've got a couple of books under your author's belt, you realize that even those not-so-glowing 1- or 2-star reviews have some merit. I've purchased more than a couple of books in my time because of bad reviews.
I've found that often, in books and movies, what critics praise … I don't enjoy. And what others have shot down in flames … I've
loved!
But most of the books in my libraries, both real and virtual, aren't there because of reviews good or bad. As I look at various
titles, I note that a few are bookstore finds whose covers lured me into reading
the blurbs … others are by authors I'd already fallen in love with … and still others – probably the majority – are ones recommended to me by family or friends.
I think this is how a lot of us decide what our next book purchase will be. Not a review stumbled upon by chance, but …
Somebody asking, “Hey, have you read this new book by …?”
What about you? Do you have books that you bought because a friend or family member – somebody who already knows your reading tastes – said, “I think you'll like this one”? Do you share your book finds with other friends and family?
I have. But lately I don't think I've done enough sharing. I plan on sharing more, especially books by a lot of the independent authors I've met through Kindle and Nook. There are some good ones out there … Sam Kates, T. Jackson King, Lisa Williamson, Linell Jeppsen, L.M. Boelz … to name just a handful of the ones I've come to know and appreciate.
Not all of us are comfortable writing reviews of books we've read. It's easier to tell a friend, or a spouse, a brother or sister, a niece or nephew … “Hey, here's a book I think you'd like.”
Word of mouth has been, and is, one of the best ways for an author to become known. If you've read a good book lately …
Share it. Please.
An author will thank you.
book's page on Amazon or Barnes & Noble and discover that somebody's posted a 5-star review. After you've got a couple of books under your author's belt, you realize that even those not-so-glowing 1- or 2-star reviews have some merit. I've purchased more than a couple of books in my time because of bad reviews.
I've found that often, in books and movies, what critics praise … I don't enjoy. And what others have shot down in flames … I've
loved!
But most of the books in my libraries, both real and virtual, aren't there because of reviews good or bad. As I look at various
titles, I note that a few are bookstore finds whose covers lured me into reading
the blurbs … others are by authors I'd already fallen in love with … and still others – probably the majority – are ones recommended to me by family or friends.
I think this is how a lot of us decide what our next book purchase will be. Not a review stumbled upon by chance, but …
Somebody asking, “Hey, have you read this new book by …?”
What about you? Do you have books that you bought because a friend or family member – somebody who already knows your reading tastes – said, “I think you'll like this one”? Do you share your book finds with other friends and family?
I have. But lately I don't think I've done enough sharing. I plan on sharing more, especially books by a lot of the independent authors I've met through Kindle and Nook. There are some good ones out there … Sam Kates, T. Jackson King, Lisa Williamson, Linell Jeppsen, L.M. Boelz … to name just a handful of the ones I've come to know and appreciate.
Not all of us are comfortable writing reviews of books we've read. It's easier to tell a friend, or a spouse, a brother or sister, a niece or nephew … “Hey, here's a book I think you'd like.”
Word of mouth has been, and is, one of the best ways for an author to become known. If you've read a good book lately …
Share it. Please.
An author will thank you.
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