Blogger: Rachel Zurakowski
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Readers often do research before they buy a book, and reviews factor into purchases more and more.
The trend in reviews is changing rapidly with the change of technology. Because magazines and newspapers are losing popularity to the Internet, fewer professional reviews are being circulated. To find a professional review for a book, requires an online search more often than not.
For an example of the decline, check out this article about the Washington Post. According to the article, there is only one remaining stand-alone book review section in the country, and that’s the New York Times Book Review.
Blog tour reviews and reader reviews on sites like amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com far growing in popularity. They are more important each day because of the jump in technology. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have smart phone apps that allow a reader to snap a picture of a book cover and search for it. The search will pull up the book on the web, and the app allows instant access to reviews, descriptions, price, etc. You can read about the Amazon app here. The feature that allows you to snap the picture and search is called Amazon Remembers. Here’s a link to the Barnes & Noble app. I doubt it will be too much longer before the only cell phones available are smart phones. Soon just about everyone will have access to these cool tools.
Kindles and Netbooks also provide quick access to these reviews. Plus buying books online is an upward trend; so more readers are given a chance to check out reviews before a book purchase.
When you buy a book, do you read reviews first? As a reader, how often do you write a book review?
Personally, I find myself looking at the online reader reviews more and more before purchasing a book, but I rarely write a review. Knowing that reader reviews are growing in accessibility and importance, I’m going to start reviewing books more frequently. Reliable readers who write trustworthy reviews should step up to the plate!
For those of you who have published books, how does the growing accessibility of the reader reviews make you feel? Have the reviews had a positive or negative affect for your books?
“When you buy a book, do you read reviews first? As a reader, how often do you write a book review?”
If I don’t know the author and don’t have a recommendation for the book from a fellow reader, I will read the most professional looking review I can find. But I’m careful. I’ve had reviews ruin a reading experience by alerting me to elements the reviewer thought were weak that I likely wouldn’t have noticed had they not been highlighted. So whenever possible I avoid reviews.
It’s like the gossip principle. A person becomes in the eyes of others what you say they are, when they aren’t there to defend themselves. You’ve planted a perception in your listeners’ heads and right or wrong, there’s no taking it back. They will probably look for whatever fault you’ve mentioned, next time they see that person. I’ve had books tainted in that way before I ever read them and judged for myself, because I read too many reviews.
If I read a book I think is wonderful, I’ll mention it on my blog (and to every reading friend I have), but I will not write a detailed review and I will not be critical. I don’t want to ruin for another reader a book they might otherwise have innocently fallen in love with.
I only read a review after I’ve read a book. Too many reviewers give away more than I want to know about a novel before I dive into it. I barely read the back cover copy, choosing only a sentence to see if I’m interested.
I review every novel I’m sent for the CFBA Tours and for specific publishing houses which send me lists from which to select books to review. If I agree to read a novel, I write and post a review on my blog and/or on my Examiner page. When I do a “bad” review, and I certainly have done a few “bad” ones, I let folks know why I don’t like a book and suggest that there will be those who’ll no doubt love it.
Reviews of my own novel have been favorable on Amazon but few.
I have mixed feelings about those online reviews. Having been a long time review columnist and still reviewing assignments on Church Libraries mag.,(I’m from the Lin Johnson “Review School!” LOL) I feel sometimes those online reviews aren’t viable and don’t really hit what it is I want to know about that book in order to purchase it.
While it’s valuable to know that someone either loved or hated a book, I take that with a grain of salt. We all have fallen prey to the great review only to be disappointed because it really wasn’t the kind of book we enjoy. My feeling is that a review should be written in such a way that I can make an informed decision about purchasing that book–I decide as I really know what I’m looking for and even popularity of a book doesn’t sway me.
And I really hate the “hate” reviews. They mean nothing to me. Usually they strike on aspects of a book that has nothing to do with the story. I automatically throw out the one-star/two-stars UNLESS it is a well-written evaluation. I have never seen a well-written evaluation of a “hated” book.
No question that consumers are looking at those online reviews, but I wish there was a tutorial on how to do those reviews. I’m sure authors wish that, too. Fun topic, Rachel.
The ACFW has that new link where you can search for certain types of books and read descriptions. I used to be a “go to the store and read a back cover” kind of reader. But tools like this new link are appealing to me.
Reviews are extremely important to librarians. Much as we love to read, we can’t read all the books we order for the library. We select 90% of our materials based on reviews in journals such as Booklist, Library Journal, and PW. We are reading more online reviews, too.
I don’t read reviews, much. But, if a really like a book or really hate a book, I am interested in seeing what others thought of it, so I’ll go onto Amazon.com to read the reviews. As an author, I try not to let bad reviews bother me too much. I’m just fortunate that I haven’t gotten a lot of bad reviews for my books! 🙂
As a reader, I review books all the time on my blog because I’m such an avid reader. I rarely post the reviews on Amazon, unless the author asks me to. I have nothing against posting a review on Amazon, but, it’s just something else to do in my already task-filled day!
I write reviews but I very seldom read them. When I choose a book, I either go with an author I already know I enjoy, or if someone I respect recommends a book, I’ll get it. And I also read for research, to see what a publisher is buying, what an author has done with a story, or how an issue is handled.
I choose books from editorial reviews or from personal recommendations of people I respect. Those reviews on Amazon may have been written by the author’s best friend and have nothing to do with reality.
I review everything I read on my Shelfari page for my own information, although if I didn’t like the book I will probably put the details in the notes section (seen only by me) rather than trash the book publicly. If I have good things to say about it, and it isn’t something that everyone and his cousin has already reviewed, I usually post my review on Amazon, B&N, etc., hoping my readers will do the same for my books. I started including a slip of paper with autographed copies ordered from my website, suggesting ways readers can promote the book, including on-line reviews.