Support an Author, Review Their Book

Do you want to know what the number one most helpful way to support an author is (aside from purchasing their book)? The answer might surprise you.

The number one way to help an author is to leave a review on your favorite retailer’s websites. Even those who borrow the book or read it as part of a subscription can participate. On this page, I’m going to answer three questions: Why? How? and Where?

Why Write a Review

Did you know that publishers will look not only at the number of sales, but the number of reviews to determine whether or not to sign an author on for future book contracts? Amazon even has “magic review numbers” that if authors reach, it will push their books into more visibility for other readers to find them.

While publishers may be looking at the numbers, the reality is, reviews are really for other readers. Many people will examine the reviews of a book–especially of new-to-them authors–to determine if they are willing to take a risk on purchasing the book.

When you write a review for a book you have read, you are letting other readers know this is a book they should check out (or not check out). Word of mouth is one of the best ways to sell a book, and readers can use their voice through reviews to help get the word out on that book.

Did you know, many readers won’t even consider a book with less than 25 ratings? 50 is better. 100 or more is worth more than gold to an author. They don’t even have to be reviews of new releases. While those numbers do matter to publishers, the reality is readers choose books from all kinds of release dates. When you finish a book, no matter when it was published, you can really help an author by leaving a short review on your favorite retailer’s website, Bookbub, and on Goodreads.

How to Write a Review

Writing a review on a retail site doesn’t have to be pages long. In fact, you are just writing a quick review for other readers to help them determine if it is a book they should read. I use these general questions to guide me as I write a review:

  1. What did I like about the book? (Engaging characters? Witty banter? Believable plot? Lots of action? Tearjerker? Uplifting? Funny?)
  2. Is the book part of a series? Does it need to be read in order? Does it stand alone?
  3. Are there potential triggers? I only include these if I think it will be a make-it-or-break-it point for someone, especially if it serves as a spoiler.
  4. Who would I recommend this book to? Even if I don’t like a book, I try to think of who might like to read it. (Fans of a marriage of convenience, Michelle Griep, sweet romances, etc.)
  5. If the book was provided to you by the publisher or author, you are required by law to say that the book was provided to you by the publisher/author for free but you were not required to leave a review nor has it affected your rating/review.

 

That’s really it. A few sentences and then I’m done. If you want to write pages, feel free to do so. I find that for most of the books I read, following this format is all I need and really have time for.

Where & How to Post a Review

For directions on how to leave a review at each, click the corresponding dropdown menu. For the direct links on where to leave a review for Counterfeit Love, click the retailer below where you want to leave a review.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Bookbub | Books-A-Million | Christianbook | Goodreads

Amazon

  1. Log into your account or sign up to get an Amazon account (Email address, create a password)
  2. Put the author’s name of the name of their book in the search bar
  3. Scroll down to the middle, under the customer review bars there will be a grey bar which will say, “write a customer review.”
  4. Click on that bar and it will open a new page where you can rate by the number of stars you think it deserves if you’d like you can add a photo of the book(optional), (no spoilers please, let your friends be surprised at how the book unfolds), headline and write your review.
  5. Please click “submit” once you are finished
  6. In about three days, Amazon will email you to let you know your review has been accepted.

Barnes & Noble

  1. You can log in with your Facebook or Google accounts or create a unique sign-in just for Barnes and Noble
  2. You will need to search again by the author’s name or book title
  3. Scroll down until you see the “Customer Review” section.
  4. Once you click on the green bar to review it will open a new page.
  5. You can give the book the number of stars you think it deserves and create a review.
  6. Once you hit “submit review” it will take up to 5 days for them to alert you that your review has been approved and is now on their website.

Bookbub

  1. You will need to create a log-in for this website (Email and password)
  2. Please search for author’s book in the search bar.
  3. Click on the “Review” button on the right, it will take you to the review page.
  4. From there, you can give it your star rating, box to click if you recommend it, prompts to highlight, and write your review.
  5. Click “Share.”

Books-A-Million

  1. You will need to create a log-in for this website (Email and password)
  2. Please search for author’s book in the search bar
  3. Click on the “write a review” link next to the stars, it will take you to the review page.
  4. From there, you can give it your star rating, headline, and write your review (they label their comments).
  5. It will take closer to a week for them to approve and put your review online.
  6. They will notify you, usually when it is online.

Christianbook.com

  1. You will need to create a log-in for this website (Email and password)
  2. Please search for author’s book in the search bar
  3. Click on the “write a review” link next to the stars, it will take you to the review page.
  4. From there, you can give it your star rating, headline, and write your review.
  5. It will take several for them to approve and put your review online.
  6. They will notify you, usually when it is online.

Goodreads

  1. You will need to log-in or create an account (it can be linked to your Facebook or Google log-in).
  2. Search for the title of the book.
  3. Once the page loads, click the “Read” button underneath the photo of the book.
  4. That will take you to the review page.
  5. You can choose the number of stars and underneath you’ll see “Bookshelves/tags” Please create a “shelf” for the author’s book to put it on. Ex. Contemporary Romance or you can add a new category and name it what you’d like.
  6. Once you write your review, you can click the “Save” button and it will immediately publish.
  7. You can also click to “Add to your update feed” and it will post to Facebook for you.

 

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each and every reader who leaves a review for my books. It’s because of your effort that more books will come. God willing. THANK YOU!

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