Book Reviews Matter

April 12, 2024

Book reviews matter! Why? For a number of reasons. Let's look at those reasons from both the viewpoint of the reader and the viewpoint of the writer.

READERS

1. Book reviews help readers decide whether or not to read a book. Reading a book involves time and money. Both of these commodities represent a portion of our lives. While money can be replaced, time cannot. Since time is the stuff of life, we want to use our time wisely. When we choose to read a book, we are giving to that book a portion of our lives. That is a serious matter.

2. Book reviews provide insights from avid readers who are familiar with the genre and can evaluate the book intelligently.  Book reviewers are usually people who read widely in a particular genre and are familiar with the requirements of that genre. As a result, they are well qualified to evaluate a book because of that knowledge. 

3. Book reviews help readers discover authors they might not discover otherwise. A book review brings to the attention of readers books that a reader might never read without having learned about it in a book review. Discoverability is a key benefit of book reviews.

4. Book reviews offer readers the opportunity to connect and interact with other readers and with authors. Through book reviews, readers offer their valuable insights to both groups in a way they could not do otherwise.  


WRITERS

1. Book reviews provide valuable feedback to writers as to the impact their book is making on readers.  A book review tells the writer that his or her book is having an effect on the lives of readers. If the feedback is positive, the writer knows that she is on the right track. If the feedback is negative, it provides the writer with insight into ways that he can make his next book even better. While book reviews are subjective, they still offer valuable information to the writer. 

2. Book reviews provide social proof that a book is worth reading. This social proof greatly enhances the writer's capacity to reach more people with his book.

3. Book reviews help authors to market their books. Reviews are used as third-party testimonials which, in turn, provide good reasons for readers to purchase the book for their own reading pleasure.

4. Book reviews boost author sales. This follows from the point above. When readers learn about new books through book reviews, they are more inclined to purchase the book for themselves. This, in turn, helps authors by providing compensation for their hard work. Oftentimes, it is this compensation that enables an author to continue writing instead of having to work at a full-time job to earn a living, thereby restricting his writing time.

One of the best services a reader can render to an author is to post a book review after reading the author's book. The best venues for posting reviews are Goodreads, Amazon, and BookBub.

When you post a review, you will be helping not only your fellow readers but also the authors who wrote the books. Both groups will thank you!

Before you leave, be sure to check out my Goodreads Giveaway. I will be giving away 100 e-book copies of my popular, award-winning novel, IN BLACK AND WHITE.

Winner of First Place in Historical Fiction in the 2020 Christian Indie Awards Contest.

A white woman. A black man. And their forbidden love.

Can endurance and faith sustain the love between a white woman and a black man, threatened by rejection, guilt, and racial injustice? Can love alone reconcile their starkly different worlds, lighting the way to a bright future together?

When graduate student, Tori Pendola, a white American woman, and Jebuni Kalitsi, a Ghanaian exchange student and heir to his tribe's chieftaincy, fall deeply in love, they must face not only their own inner demons of rejection and guilt but also the demons of societal hatred bent on destroying their relationship. Will their love survive the cruel and bitter attacks against them? Or will hatred and prejudice gain the upper hand?

In Black and White is a deeply moving story of the power of God's love to restore all that is broken in our lives.


Here is the link to enter the Giveaway:

ENTER GOODREADS GIVEAWAY HERE!

 

My Featured Novel of the Week . . . 

E-BOOK

PRINT

Firstborn by Robin Lee Hatcher

Erika Welby had a secret she thought no one would ever discover. But someone knew ... "Dear Mrs. Welby, I know you were only seventeen when I was born. I've got many questions. I wonder if you have questions to ask me, too." Erika's worst fear is realized when her well-kept secret shows up on her doorstep. As she reaches out to the daughter she gave up for adoption 21 years ago, her husband pulls away, leaving Erika with an impossible choice.

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Copyright 2024 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD. All Rights Reserved.