Do Freebies deserve a Review?

Any day a review for your book pops up on the screen is a good day! What writer doesn’t know the agonizing wait for a review? Do readers like it? Will they recommend it? Am I a good writer? Questions and fears soon march onto existential territory. In short: a review is like a pat on the back for a job well done. And who doesn’t like that?

The sad thing is, comparatively very few people write reviews. Most readers who buy a book never comment on it (not in writing). And since we are a long way from communicating telepathically, lots and lots of authors out there have no idea what readers think of their books. Sure, it’s a business. Books for money. Both sides get something out of this deal. A review (I’m not talking essay-length, but merely a few words) might be considered a generous benefit…the cherry on top!

But what about freebies? Again the reader walks away with a book in hand (or on their kindle), whereas the author can only hope that their generosity in giving away their hard work for free will reap some benefits after all; that the reader will like the story and feel compelled to write a review. So why do so few readers write a review after ‘buying’ a book for free?

Writing a review takes little time (a star-rating alone gives the author an idea of how readers feel about their book). For all those you feel daunted by the 20-word requirement on Amazon, here is a little help:

“In my opinion, the book ‘enter title here’ written by ‘enter author name here’ is a wonderful/ great/ nice/ story about …. I enjoyed it thoroughly because it made me laugh/ cry/ chew my nails. I’d recommend it to a friend any day.”

Believe me, a simple, short review only takes a minute, but it means the world to the writer who receives it!