Views......

Reviews - good or bad?

I was asked my opinion on reviews.  Not any particular review but, in general, are they useful to the author and fellow readers.  My answer was quite short - Of course they are!

I'm both an author and reader, I doubt I could do my job well if I wasn't.  So from an author point of view, what do I think of reviews.....

I've been lucky so far (fingers and toes still crossed) to have received mostly positive reviews for all my novels.  I am, however, realistic.  I know not everyone will like what I have written and for many different reasons.  I accept all opinions and that day will come when someone posts a negative review and I'll deal with it.  Reviews are really important to an author.  They help us improve our storyline and writing and they help the book get a wider audience.  For every review you guys leave, our book gets noticed more on Amazon.  Sales of course help with it's ranking but often, readers will check out what you thought before deciding whether to purchase themselves.

This leads me nicely onto why reviews are important as a reader.  We are often recommended a book, whether that be we saw it advertised, our favourite blogger reviewed it or our friends talked about it.  If you are anything like me, I'll then take a look at the reviews on Amazon before I decide if I want to make that purchase or not.  I have to say though, I don't base my decision entirely on reviews because I appreciate we all have our own opinions.  However, I'm unlikely to buy if I see far more negative reviews that positive.  What I might do is download a sample or use the 'look inside' feature and make a judgement based on what I've read.

And opinions are a strange thing.  I recently read a book that I liked, I didn't love it, it was okay.  Of the 50 odd reviews, there were only two 3*, one of which was mine.  The rest were 4 and 5 stars.  People are raving about this book.  Just goes to show, we can't all like the same thing and that's a great thing.  It means there will always be diversity when it comes to the genre that we enjoy.

Happy reading and don't forget, the best thank you is a review :)