Your Ultimate Guide for Writing a Review on Amazon, Good Reads or Storygraph

 

I review every book I read and post my review on these three platforms. I actually sometimes write slightly different ones for each as they do different things.

Amazon is a clinical assessment but shouldn’t give spoilers.

I use Good Reads for recommending almost like word of mouth special books to my friends.

Story Graph gives you a little more scope: you can have fractions of stars, you can analyse character, pace and plot and you can post warnings.

Review on these platforms should be short and helpful to anyone who is reading the review in order to decide whether or not to read the book.

Here’s a formula I use:

• Always make it clear why you’ve given the star rating you’ve given.
• Start with the positives.  What do you most like about the book?
• Then what did you least like? Is that what made you give fewer than five stats?
• You might comments on:
• Plot
• Setting
• Characters
• Language
• End with a concluding remark that summarises how you feel about the book.  If you’re very pleased with it you might consider following the author and saying in the review that you’re doing this, or perhaps say something about looking forward to the next book.

Enjoy reviewing.

Here’s a challenge: review every book you read

        

This it totally different from accepting books for review.  Once you’ve read a book that you’ve chosen to read because it’s the type of book you’re likely to enjoy you’re actually probably going to write a four star or five star review. If it’s really a little disappointing it’s still likely going to be three stars. You’re unlikely to have to give one or two stars. But you have to be scrupulously honest.

Why do I make this challenge?

We all as writers want people to review our books.  Although one star and two star reviews can be upsetting, they still draw attention to the book and on Amazon poke the algorithms. And all the bestselling authors get them too. So, if we want other to review our books, we should do our fair share of reviewing.

You don’t have time? Reviews don’t have to be lengthy. They can be short and to the point. A couple of sentences suffice but they must be really useful sentences.  Why have you given five stars? What works about this book? If you’ve given four stars what has prevented you giving that final star?

After a while you’ll pick up a reputation as a reviewer.  Make sure you’re reputation is that of being a reliable reviewer.  Will people seek out your reviews, because they give useful information?

So there you are. That’s my challenge.

Please don’t ask me to review you book. If your book appeals to me I’ll buy a copy and read and review it when I get round to it. At least I’ve bought the book so in a sense I’ve cut to the chase. If I give fewer than five stars what I say will be helpful. Even if I give five starts I’ll be saying what I believe you’ve done well.

So, my challenge to you: leave a review of everything you read.          

News 5 September 2021

 

 Current writing

I’m now on the third draft of my fifth Peace Child novel. Former protagonist Kaleem has now become a minor character. A minor character, his now adopted daughter, Petri, has stepped up.  And it now has a title. The Glastonbury Specification. That was yesterday’s epiphany.   

I’ve almost finished the first draft of my latest non-fiction work as well.

I’m delighted to have had another story accepted by Reedsy:  Postcards and Lemon Shortbread

Also Rozia’s U-log, a novella that connects Peace Child 2 (Babel) to Peace Child 3 is available via Chanillo. Find it here.      

The Young Person’s Library

I’ve now added any books this month so far but I am reading a rather good one at the moment which should make it to September’s list.   

 

Current reading recommendation

The Short Stuff by Jim Bates

Okay, so this was published by Chapeltown but I was only involved in the design of the book. Other people decided whether it was worth publishing. Another editor and proof reader worked on the text.

Jim certainly gets a lot of story into a small space. He retains his distinctive story-teller voice for this.  

There is a lot to make you think in this collection.  

This is one of the little square books of flash fiction and Jim’s work is a very welcome addition to the series.

Get your copy here.        

 

 

Giveaway

Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs.  

This month I’m giving away 140 x 140.   

So, flash fiction seems to be the order of the day. This was inspired by Twitter – the old order where we were limited to 140 characters. I wrote one 140 pieces of just 140 words each. I used as a prompt the first picture I saw each day on my Twitter feed.  

I enjoyed working with prompts. The discipline was good as well – having to make every story exactly 140 words long. Is this one of those cases where creativity abounds because of the restrictions we’ve imposed?

Find out and grab your copy and lots of other freebies here.

And please, please, please leave a review when you’ve finished.    

I’ve also finished a similar book – 280 x 70, working on the new Twitter regime. This time I’m allowed 280 words per story.  I’m hoping to publish this book soon.  

 

Note: Normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99.  Most on Kindle are about £2.99 and the average price for paperback is £7.00. Writers have to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.

 

The Schellberg Project

The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust.  They may also be interesting for other readers of historical fiction.

Sometimes I also write about what might be of interest to other writers.

I have been quite busy again this month.

I’ve reflected on war being about young men sorting out old men’s quarrels in Young Men Fighting Old Men’s Wars.  I’ve revisited the Enabling Act, the act that allowed Hitler to take more power than he really did. Many people, myself included, see parallels with what’s happening now. However, thankfully, we are not yet greeting each other in the name of Boris Johnson nor do we have pictures of him in classrooms.  Is there hope for us? I’ve reviewed another book about the German Resistance: All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days by Rebecca Donner . I’ve written about Survivor Guilt and Loss of Citizenship. These topics are also covered in We Share the Same Sky by Rachael Cerrotti, another account of a Holocaust survivor.

 

Some notes about my newsletters and blogs

They do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.

 

Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.

 

The Bridgetown  Café Bookshop where you can buy my book and books published by Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone.  Visit us here.     

 

Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.

 

The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   

 

Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.   

 

Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  

 

Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.

 

A Publisher’s Perspective Here I and some other editors blog as a publisher. Access this here.   

 

The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   

 

CaféLit Stories Find these here

 

Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.

 

Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.    

 

Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.

 

The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.

 

Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.     

 

Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 

 

The Young Person’s Library The children’s book catalogue. Access it here.

 

Fair Submissions  Find it here.   

Opportunities for writers are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  

Happy reading and writing.

 

More about reviews

 

Why I’ve decided to review every book I read

It’s really very simple.  I want everybody who reads my books to review them.  I want as many reviews as it takes to tickle the Amazon algorithm enough that it will start making my work more visible. If I don’t review other people’s books, why should I expect people to review mine? I’m also trying to establish myself as a reliable and effective reviewer.  

 

Some pitfalls

What do you do if you read a book a friend has written and it’s awful?  I think if I knew the person well I’d tell them what I thought but not actually post the review.  Fortunately, since I’ve been doing this, I’ve never had to give less than three stars and for all the writers I know personally I’ve been able to give four or five stars. This is in part because I am extremely picky about what I choose to read. But I won’t hesitate to give one or two stars if that’s what the book deserves and I don’t know the author personally. 

 

It needn’t be onerous

It’s possible to give a review in two or three sentences that explains the strengths and weaknesses of the book and why you’ve give it the star rating you have. This takes between five and ten minutes. Why wouldn’t you spend that amount of time giving a little feed-back to the writer who has spent hours and hours writing that text? And you’ve also spent several hours reading it. Surely another five or ten minutes isn’t too much to ask?

 

Where to review and what the star-ratings mean

I post my short reviews on Amazon, Good Reads and Story Graph.  I tend to put the same review on each one though I may vary the star ratings across the sites.  On Amazon and Story Graph I’m giving an objective assessment of the book as a work in literature. On Good Reads I’m recommending the book to people who follow me as either a reader or a writer. I may give a lower rating here if I think it is not a book my followers will enjoy. Story Graph, incidentally, allows you to add some more detail. You’re asked to supply key words, assign it some emotionally descriptive words and tick boxes about character, plot development and pace. This may be a really good place to find books you’d like to read. 

 

My longer reviews

I review for Armadillo magazine, a site about children’s books. I review in the Young Adult section. These reviews tend to be about 200 words long and we’re encouraged to be as positive as we can.  Generally this is possible as we’re supplied with good books to start with.

 

I also have a site The Young Person’s Library that gives neutral information about books: which ages they’re suitable for, what they’re about, how easy they are to read, physical information about the book, and information about any “value-added” materials such as quiz sheets or maps. All of this information is useful for the adult who may be trying to buy books for the young people in their care.

 

I add books about World War II, the 1940s and the Holocaust to my site  The House on Schellberg Street  Here I am defining the usefulness of the texts. What can they say to the sort of people who visit my site?

 

Once a month I recommend the book I’ve enjoyed the most that month. I mention it on Gill’s Recommended Reads   and in my monthly newsletter.

 

A suggestion

If you really find it hard to find those ten minutes to review a book or indeed the words to describe it, might you not consider  reviewing just those that you feel you can give four or five stars to and that have not as yet fifty reviews?

 

My New Reviewing Policy

 

I have a lot of books to read.  There are three waiting on my bookshelf and about 600 on my Kindle. So, I’ve stopped accepting review copies. This may seem at odds with my requests for people to review my book and books I publish for other people.

On the other hand I have resolved to review every single book I read. And so far so good. I know how important reviews are for writers. Reviews don’t have to be long. Two or three sentences are enough. I post them on Amazon, Goodreads, Storygraph and Discovery.  Amazon, Storygrpah and Discovery are technical reads so I’m giving a type of intellectual analysis of them. On Goodreads I’m recommending to reading and writing friends. The latter is more about personal taste than me recognising the merits of some writing - or not. The words in the reviews may be the same or similar but sometimes I give a different star rating on Goodreads.

What if I read a book written by a friend and it’s terrible? So far, so good. That hasn’t happened.  In fact, overall I’ve not had to give lower than three stars but this is in part because I’m only buying the sort of books I’m likely to like. So, I often don’t even mention to a friend that I’ve bought their book because it may take me a while to get round to reading it. And actually, I’ve bought the book. So she has the cash anyway.

I am honest in my reviews. I will give a one star or two star if I have to. By writing a lot of reviews I’m building my reputation as a reviewer. Hopefully people are seeing me as reliable. 

I am fortunate.  I can buy as many books as I like. This is partly to do with being comfortably off. But it’s also to do with having very few wants or needs. Other people are less fortunate so I’m happy to give them books in exchange for an honest review. Of course, it’s great when people buy books and review them. 

I also review for Armadillo Magazine and IBBY. These are longer reviews and I am given a free book for these – sometimes an e-book sometimes a hard copy.

I have also created my own catalogue of books for young people – The Young Person’s Library. The reviews here are very neutral. They provide information for teachers, school librarians, scholars, parents and other adults who like reading children’s books.

Finally there is my recommended reads blog where I post each month the book that has impressed me the most.

This is all another addition to how I spend my time in a very enjoyable way.    

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay    

How I choose books - and what that might mean for my own marketing

 

Or if you want to sell your books to me.

I buy lots of books. I have 117 pages of unread books on my Kindle. These include classics, literary texts, holiday reads, books by people I know, non-fiction mainly to do with areas I’m researching, books on creativity, books like the ones I’m trying to write, and books on the craft of writing. I’ve probably missed out come categories. Some texts are in French, German or Spanish.

Here I analysed how I’ve come to buy these books and I put these influencers in order.  Then I look at what that might imply for the way I should market my own books.

Reading what I know

If I come across a book by an author I’ve read before, and if I’ve enjoyed their work, I’ll generally buy – or borrow from the library – their new book once I’m aware of it. Here’s an interesting example:

I bought a really tatty copy of Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy from a second-hand bookshop. I enjoyed it so much that I went to read all of her books, sometimes buying them as hardbacks as soon as they came out.

I’ll also often buy books written by people I know, sometimes even if they’re not quite the sort of thing I’d normally enjoy reading.  It’s called friendship.

 

Book events

I really enjoy these events though I do only tend to go to the ones where the sort of book I’m likely to like is being presented. Listening to the author read, finding out the story behind the book and seeing it there is its 3D reality normally persuades me to buy it.

 

Lists in my mailbox

I’m on a couple of email lists and bookshops like Amazon and The Hive and publishers such as Simon Shuster or Penguin Random often email me as well. I sometimes find something I like the look of there. The Hive is particularly good at knowing what I would like.

 

Social media

I’m actually glad that people post about their book releases on Twitter and Facebook. I’m not obliged to buy the ones that don’t interest me. I’m glad to be alerted to the ones that might interest me.

 

 

Book reviews in magazines

I often pick up reading ideas in magazine I read. These include, Mslexia, Writing Magazine, The Tome Higher Education Supplement and the Sunday Times.

 

Bookshops

I can’t resist them.  Many a time I’ve gone shopping for clothes and come back with a book.  

So, now you know what to do if you want me to buy your book.  And if I want to find people like me as readers of my work I must:

·         Tell all my friends and acquaintances about my work. This is actually the hardest to do but it is the most effective marketing tool:  WORD OF MOUTH.

·         Arrange a snazzy book event. Okay, it might be a loss leader but I may pick up some of those readers who will buy my work again and again.

·         Build up my email list and use it effectively.

·         Put my work on social media.

·         Get reviews in quality publications. This is tricky. However, both Mslexia and  Writing Magazine offer feature type ads that you pay for.  The prices are reasonable  

·         Approach local bookshops about stocking my book

In that order.

There you have it! Happy reading and marketing!    

Image by InstagramFOTOGRAFIN from Pixabay