The Reviews are In, by Lori Roberts Herbst

When I published my first book, SUITABLE FOR FRAMING, I understood very little about the need to accumulate reviews and ratings. When reviews began appearing on Amazon, it was simply a pleasant experience to see the kind words and stars. I figured they came from supportive family and friends offering encouragement to a novice author they knew and loved.

 

A few weeks later, the book hit two hundred ratings, and I experienced a surge of surprise. I mean, my family isn’t big, and I don’t have that many friends… Then came five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred. As of this writing, 945 wonderful readers have rated SUITABLE FOR FRAMING on Amazon. I am stunned by the number—and oh, so grateful.

 

Not all of them are raving reviews, mind you. I appreciate the ones offering constructive criticism, and I take those to heart. But then there are the outliers I am trying to train myself to ignore or laugh off. For example, one person left a one-star rating along with a review obviously meant for someone else’s book, as it discussed characters and events that didn’t appear in mine. Another person left a two-star review and talked about how much she enjoyed the story until it got to… well, here I’ll leave out the discriminatory and hurtful words aimed at one couple in the book.

 

(Side note: An author I follow on Facebook posted a critical reader review of her book saying something along the lines of, “It’s like she made the whole thing up.” Hmmm….)

 

And, of course, there are always one or two reviews containing spoilers (nearly impossible to get Amazon to remove, so I just have to hope those spoilers don’t…well…spoil the plot for new readers.)

 

Still, I can’t overstate how uplifting it is when readers say a book brought them joy, that they fell in love with a character (whether it’s a two-legged or four-legged one), or that they can’t wait until the next book. Here’s an example of one of my favorite reviews of Callie Cassidy Mystery series (on Amazon):

 

 “Started book 1 with skepticism. Finished book 6 about 3 days later. Terrific characters, great mysteries and not all the bad guys are the guilty. So it takes time to actually figure it out. Awesome! Great characters, believable humans, no perfection royalty among them. Loved every minute spent, salivating for more.”

 

 

From a marketing perspective, I get that numbers matter in terms of algorithms and promotion (though I admit I’ll never totally understand the behind-the-scenes technological workings). But lately I’ve been wondering: how useful are reviews to a potential reader?

 

Personally, I might look at the number of stars a book gets, but I tend not to read actual reviews prior to purchasing a book. Instead, I’m most likely to choose my reading material based on 1) authors whose other works I’ve known and enjoyed, 2) word of mouth, and 3) the back-cover blurb that gives me a peek into the plot. When I do read reviews, it’s only after I’ve finished a book, and then mostly to see how my evaluation compares to others. Bottom line: the content of a book’s reviews doesn’t really matter to me.

 

But I may be atypical…after all, I’ve been labeled as such before. So, I’m curious about how the rest of you experience reviews.

 

As a reader, do you use reviews to determine whether you will buy a book?

As a writer, do you read your book’s reviews?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

 

GRAVEN IMAGES, book 6 in the Callie Cassidy Mystery series, released April 23 and is available on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback.

 

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Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com