And now, a short note on reviews…

I haven’t done any posts requesting reviews in a while, mainly cause I have been getting a few reviews per month, and given my sales numbers, this is a pretty good ratio of buyers to reviews. Totally works for me, y’all. But today on Goodreads, I got this 5-star review from a Twitter friend who’s been reading my second comedy novel, A Frosty Girl’s Cure, and the thought occurred to me, I need to point to this and say something to readers who are reluctant to post reviews.

Look at how short it is. It doesn’t have to detail the plot, cause you can find the blurb online if you want that. It doesn’t have to give in-depth character analysis. It just has to say, “this is how I felt about the story.” You’re in, you’re out, you’re done. Like a trip to Taco Bell, but without the resulting pains in the butt.

I think a lot of people think of book reviews as book reports, those godawful assignments we all got in school where the teacher asks us for 500 words on a book we didn’t want to read in the first place. It makes a book review feel like schoolwork, and most of us would rather not do any of that once we graduate. (Which is a damning indictment of the current education system when so many people HATE learning because of school, but that’s a topic for a later rant, when I’m in the mood.)

But the thing is, most writers would be happy to get that short review of 3-6 sentences. Even if your review leans more toward “It wasn’t my cup of tea.” It tells us you’re out there, that you read the book and gave us a shot. It does a LOT to motivate me to keep going after reading most reviews, because then I don’t feel so freaking lonely.

There is one exception to this, the negative review that makes it clear the reader didn’t read the book at all, or that they just skimmed it. This makes me extremely sad, but it only happens a few times, and most people who give reviews make the effort to read the whole book before giving their thoughts.

But anywho, when I ask you for a review, I’m not asking for a 500 word essay covering all the major themes of a book. If you’re so inclined, you can just go with a stars rating, or with stars and a two-word review like, “It rocked,” or, “It sucked.” One of my lower reviews on Goodreads is just, “Awful, awful book.” Still counts as a review.

I try not to ask for reviews too much, and again, I haven’t for a while now because I am getting reviews. But I want to appeal to people not just to review my stuff, but all the authors and artists you try out. It helps the artists by spreading the word on their work. It helps other people to decide if they want to try out this artist or not. And it gives other readers examples to see that no, they don’t need to give a book report for a review unless they just wanted to.

A final note: the same reviewer who posted that short Goodreads review turned around and posted this expanded review on Amazon. Both of these are good for me, long or short. And yeah, the longer review makes me smile wider. But I don’t need that from y’all. Just a few words to let me know you’re out there is all I ask for. And if you’ve already done it for one of my books, know that you have my gratitude for all your support.