Reader Reviews - Going the Big Ask

[Graeme]

What's the best way to solicit a review from a reader who has just finished one of your books?

As authors, we all know the value of a good review, and getting lot's of star ratings on Amazon is way to get your books noticed by new readers - but how to go about it?

Here's a blog post on the topic, esp section 2.

REF: https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-get-...

What are your thoughts?

Any examples?

[Nik]

Thanks for the link - lots of helpful advice and legit tactics to procure more reviews. Hope to remember to implement some of them in the next project.
GR used to be helpful too with achieving reviews, as in different reviewers' group every once in a while there are readers seeking books to read. Some of them leave reviews afterwards, others don't, but that's also fine

[G.R.]

I have seen it posted here on GoodReads dozens and dozens of times: reviews are for readers, not authors. Sure, as authors we want reviews and they help drive sales and that's what we're after. We want our stories to be read. But I have literally seen hundreds of posts by people announcing their book launch or book promotion. When I click on the post there have been maybe five or six views. I think people on GoodReads just get bombarded by self-published authors looking to find an audience.

When it comes to getting reviews from the GoodReads community, I think it's best to seek out those groups that are specifically looking for books to review. Or, if you have a new book you can directly message readers that have (without any prompting) read your work and independently left a review.

I think you can gently encourage readers to tell their friends and family about your book if they liked it but for the most part we, as self-published authors, need to navigate these waters carefully. I've seen several posts in GR get ugly fast!

[Mike]

G.R. wrote: "I have seen it posted here on GoodReads dozens and dozens of times: reviews are for readers, not authors. Sure, as authors we want reviews and they help drive sales and that's what we're after. We ..."

Yes, I agree with this; we have to be very careful. I've also seen some ugliness, in particular reviewers attacking writers who are, in their view, spamming them.

[Nik]

Luckily, there are readers that announce their interest in reviewing books in groups or on their profile page. Approaching others to this end is probably a bad idea..

[Graeme]

I was looking to focus on this technique.

"When creating the ask, it is best to do the following:

Humanize Yourself: Find ways to remind the reader that you are actually a human with emotions and feelings. Remind them of how hard it was to put this book together. By doing this, they’ll be more likely to leave ‘you’ a review. Extra bonus tip: I sometimes like to post a candid non professional or staged picture of me with my family in this section because it really goes a long way to getting to know me, and feel more personal.

Impress Upon Them the Importance of the Review: Like I mentioned above, readers don’t fully understand the importance of a review. Therefore, remind them how they help you as an author and your book.

Tell Them You’ll Read the Book Review: When readers think that you’ll read and take to heart their review, two things will happen: they’ll feel more obligated to leave one since you’re depending on them, and their review grade will probably improve since they’ll know you, the human, will actually read it. We’ve all been there where we have a bunch of gusto against sometime, but the moment they’re there, we soften our tone. Same thing with reviews. I assure you, most criticism will become more constructive in nature when they know you’ll be there to read it."

I already have an 'ask,' at the end of my books along the lines of. "If you loved this book could you please write a review on Amazon at [link back to book]"

This guy also provides an example which is way above what I've written. Plus what I've written is a very simple ask - as a request/favor on the part of the reader. If I were to follow the 3 points above, I'd write a much longer statement.

Thoughts?

[Lizzie]

As a reader, there are 2 reasons why I don't write reviews. The major one is the ereader itself. I finish a book and the paperwhite and my kindle tablet are equally lousy at connecting to the book on Amazon and allowing me to type on the virtual keyboard. If I don't do a review immediately after I read it, I lose those immediate thoughts on what I would like to say.

The 2nd thing is that I read a lot of books. Taking the time to write a review takes away my reading time.

I understand the need for reviews as the way of the world in today's book publishing industry. But, I resent it. I am only interested in writing a review if something exceptional about a book really makes me want to tell others about it. I used to feel the need to write a review if a book is really bad, but I just give them 1 star now and move on.

[Graeme]

Lizzie wrote: "As a reader, there are 2 reasons why I don't write reviews. The major one is the ereader itself. I finish a book and the paperwhite and my kindle tablet are equally lousy at connecting to the book ..."

Indeed, Lizzie. Reviews are like hen's teeth.

[Lizzie]

Graeme wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "As a reader, there are 2 reasons why I don't write reviews. The major one is the ereader itself. I finish a book and the paperwhite and my kindle tablet are equally lousy at connecti..."

I had to look that one up. Never heard "hen's teeth" before.

[Adrian]

Interesting thread. I don't have a lot of ratings/reviews but just about all of them are pretty good. I take encouragement from that in that it's evidence that I'm on the right track.

I have never solicited reviews and I have (pretty much) never used GR to arouse interest in my work. Obviously, I would like interest in my work, but I strongly believe that GR must be respected as a reader's site. I join the groups that interest me and engage as a reader. I do let people know I'm an author but never talk about my books except in the appropriate forums, and even then I say very little - unless asked.

This approach has not paid off (yet) from an authorial perspective but in the end it will, but only if I'm as good as I think I am.

[Nik]

Adrian wrote: "Interesting thread. I don't have a lot of ratings/reviews but just about all of them are pretty good. I take encouragement from that in that it's evidence that I'm on the right track.

I have never..."

That's certainly a sensitive and readers-friendly approach.
Glad to welcome a colleague and fellow author from Down Under here!

[Graeme]

Okay, here is my new 'ask,' to put at the end of the book.

OLD: "If you loved this book could you please write a review on Amazon at [link back to book]"

NEW: "I would love to read about your experience reading this book. Reviews make a huge difference for authors. Please feel free to share your thoughts with a review on Amazon at [Add link]"

While not sharing my personal history (which just seems too much to me...) I have indicated a strong interest in reading about the reader's experience and the value of a review.

Thoughts?

[Graeme]

A possible improvement to make the value proposition for the reader more pertinent.

"I would love to read about your experience reading this book. Reviews provide a great way for authors to find out what readers enjoy reading and help authors to give you what you want. Please feel free to share your thoughts with a review on Amazon at [Add link]"

Thoughts?

[Adrian]

Works for me Graeme. Will rethink my own ask.

[Graeme]

Thanks Adrian.

[Lizzie]

Graeme,

It isn't any more likely to result in me writing a review. As the saying goes, "you can put lipstick on a pig ...".

1) The paperwhite is not conducive to easily writing a review. So I have to put down my ereader, go to my computer or phone, search for the book and write a review.

2) When I do feel the need to say something about a book, I am ore likely to do so on my goodreads list. However, by the time I feel like going to my computer, there's a good chance that urge has passed or I have forgotten what I had thought about when I had been reading the book.

Sadly, while the paperwhite has resulted in me reading more authors and obtaining ebooks easily, it does not make doing reviews easy.

[Graeme]

Indeed, Lizzie,

For any author, only a % of readers will write any sort of review. It's not uncommon for reviews to run at 1% of sales.

I.e. Sell a hundred books, get 1 review.

If I can get to 1 in 50 - I'd consider that a big win.

[Lizzie]

It's not personal. I would write more of them, at least a few sentences, if the paperwhite made it easy. So while ebooks have allowed for more writers to publish and for me to have more of a variety to read, it makes supporting those writers not easy.

I also have a kindle tablet and found it be completely annoying to use for anything. I bought it because it was cheap. I really miss my Toshiba Thrive, which was a real work tablet, but eventually it couldn't keep up with the android updates.

[Graeme]

Its no drama. :-).

Reviews are a nice to have.

Sales are what's important.

Reaching readers and impacting on them.

[Papaphilly]

This is an important and fair question. I write reviews for every book I read since I joined GoodReads in 2014. I see reviews as both a handy way to see if I may like a book and to see if it is widely read. I read reviews to get a feel of the general thought on the book.

Now having said that, I think you authors are in a tough spot. Of course you want reviews, especially good ones to help sales. Yet, asking is almost verboten. Personally I do not think it is out of order to somehow mention it to the reader. At the back of a book, you can always place a note "If you like this, please add a review" or something along those lines. On the giveaways, I know it is really tough. I am not sure if you are allowed to ask for a review, but mentioning it once again in a note later to the reader I think is fair. Do not pester because that may backfire. I have had a few authors reach out to see how I was doing with the book. I personally was not offended. It was done with tact and they never mentioned about the review, just how I was doing with the book, but I am not stupid either. There is a reason that there are giveaways, I imagine one of the outcomes besides word of mouth is reviews. I have seen more than once an author on a giveaway mention reviews are not required, but very much appreciated. I think that is fair also. I think the line is the ask or hope as compared to the demand.

[Lizzie]

I don't think any author has ever demanded a review in any books or emails. The requests at the end of a book or in the author's forward have always been politely worded.

One of the outcomes of getting free books from general giveaways or as a result of an offer at the end of book is that the reader is signing up or the author's email. What does bug me is how quickly some of those are followed up with emails of did I like the book and the polite review requests, and even offers or more free books, without allowing me time to read the 1st book. Most certainly, I haven't read it in the first few days, or even the 1st week.

Like many, I am not going to pass up a free book that sounds interesting, but I have a long to read list. I don't really want to spend my reading time sifting through emails. This year, I decided it was more effective for me to unsubscribe from the email lists upon the first email from the author and then subscribe to ones I am interested in after I have had time to read that book, if I really liked the book.

[Jennifer]

Just a question: if I want to encourage reviews of a non-fiction and helpful tips style book that is out already, how do I find more people that genuinely like the topic (it's about money/income)? I can't seem to find any groups for it.

[Papaphilly]

Jennifer wrote: "Just a question: if I want to encourage reviews of a non-fiction and helpful tips style book that is out already, how do I find more people that genuinely like the topic (it's about money/income)? ..."

My suggestion is do the leg work. See what type of books your sis and start to search for those types of books and see who did what with reviews. You can always cold contact and offer a book if you want a review. I have had that happen to me more than once. The more you search the more you find. At some point you will see a common thread.