Book Reviews Influence Authors
The best books are the ones that grab the reader, and the best readers are the ones that feel engaged.
When something is precious to us, we want to hang on to it, keep it a secret, defend it with life and limb. Not so with books. Great books need to be shared. They drive us to talk about them, analyze them, and perhaps even reference them.
We readers kick back with a neat mojito and wait for the next installment to be released, trusting the author won’t let us down. After all, sequels are expected, but they’d better live up to the promise of our first foray into that new world.
But what if we had a say in how plots develop, what trials our favorite characters must overcome next, and who should date whom?
In genre fiction, we do have a say. Except, we rarely use our power. With millions of books to choose from, we can be fussy. Writers do their best to be visible, but at best they manage to keep up with the crowd, not stand out from it. Only one factor distinguishes a good author from a successful author.
Readers.
Without us, they’d have a snowball’s chance in the Californian sun of getting their work out there. Sure, reviews are meant to help other readers. But the main beneficiary is the author.
Amazon is throwing obstacle after obstacle at new authors, apparently in the name of providing a better and more transparent service to their readers. You need an insanely large number of independent reviews (and only Amazon decides what constitutes independent) to be featured in their “Other readers who bought this also bought this” list. Sometimes they won’t even allow reviews unless the reader bought the book from them. It’s a great marketing model, but hell on an author’s bottom line.
Other companies, like Barnes & Noble, have taken huge losses because Amazon continues to monopolize the book market. Let’s not even mention independent book stores that aren’t so much waving readers into their shops as they’re drowning. Yet book reviews can drive sales, which is what these places need to get out of the water.
Goodreads, which is incidentally owned by Amazon, is a fantastic place for readers to exchange ideas and to talk openly about the books that gripped them. Here, you can find new fodder for your mind through friends and those you trust, simply by checking out their bookshelves and reading their reviews.
Okay. Authors and book sellers need reviews. I have ’em. What do I do next?
As should be apparent by now, an author can only survive in this wilderness if kind readers leave reviews and use word-of-mouth to spread their enthusiasm.
As readers, we should write informative reviews where we can, but even short reviews can help an author get their books to a greater audience. We stuff a lot of work into reviews, consider each phrase. Except, we do not use our words to line our coffers. In turn, let’s demand to be heard.
How?
We can join authors’ Facebook pages, contact them on their websites or email them directly. But messages can get drowned out or might not make it through their websites’ filters. So why not use our reviews to offer ideas or suggestions? Authors, especially debut authors, will read just about every review they can get their hands on.
I’m not implying we tell them how to write their books, but what’s to stop us from adding that we’d love to see more of one character or one plot element in the sequel?
I’m not just a reader, but also a writer, and if my readers have ideas, hell yeah, I wanna hear them. Once I open up my fictional world to someone, we share that world. But to truly share something, you got to be willing to relinquish a measure of control over it.
What’s the harm in giving the readers what they want, so long as it doesn’t compromise my integrity? You want me to explore my characters’ pasts? I can totally do that. You want to see more of Kirk, my chain-smoking gargoyle? It’s a done deal.
What if I have nothing to suggest?
Even without specifically offering advice, reviews influence authors. They encourage them to write more and faster, and tell sellers like Amazon we want these authors to do well.
The number of stars you leave also does a fair bit of communicating. If a book warrants two stars or less, you wouldn’t even finish a book, let alone write a review. Some do, but I’m not sure what they’re hoping to achieve. Are they trying to warn other readers or are they simply trolls, looking to destroy an author? Above that, three, four and five stars leave a lot of scope for impressing on an author and other readers how you felt about the plot and the characters.
So please, please, please. Next time a book pulls you into its world, write a review and post it on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk (same login details), Amazon.ca, B&N, Waterstone’s, Goodreads, your blog,… You’ll be helping the author, but also helping yourself.
