Guest bloggers visit my website twice a month on Tuesday and Thursday. If you would like to be part of this, feel free to check out the Be A Guest Blogger page.
This week’s guest post is brought to you by Rosie Amber, which she discussed book reviewing. Thanks, Rosie!
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for inviting me to your blog today for a chat about book reviewing.
I’m Rosie Amber and I run a book reviewing blog at https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/
You can also find me on Twitter @rosieamber1.
Why as a reader I think reviews are important
In today’s world the book market is reaching saturation point. Self-publishing and e-book opportunities have opened the doors to publishing which were once held closed by publishing houses. So how can authors connect to their readers? More and more people are buying books online where they look at the book cover, the book description and they check out other reader’s reviews.
I love reading and want to share the books I love with others, so what better way than by writing a review and posting it on various online platforms and book buying sites.
As a reviewer, I post reviews about nearly all the books I read as long as I can rate them 3* or above.
How can reviews help other readers?
I write short reviews. I’ll explain the book genre up front, then if it’s not one a reader likes, they can move on. I’ll usually talk quickly about the main characters and where or when the book is set. I’ll then go on to give a bit of information about the storyline, so that readers can decide themselves if the book sounds enticing. I’ll finish with a summary of what I liked about the book and if necessary what didn’t work for me. If the book needed another run through editing I will mention that and it will reflect in my rating. It’s so important in this competitive market for writers to put out their VERY best piece of work and not rush to publish.
Helping authors by sharing what I love about books
Almost two years ago I filled my blog with all my own reviews, but my request list was getting long and I was being asked to review genres which I didn’t enjoy. So I created a book review team. Members join on a voluntary basis and review books around their own lives. There is no minimum or maximum number of books to read as long as they read and review a book in a month. We post reviews on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Goodreads, reviewer’s blogs and I get a copy of each review which goes out on my own blog.
It is set up so that authors provide several copies of their work and we give them multiple reviews of the book all from one place.
In 2015 we even ran our first ever book awards around the books we had read to help share our news of fabulous books.
We have a strong social media base and if authors interact with us and our readers it really does spread news of their work in the right places. I add new features to the blog to keep it fresh and enjoy searching for new ideas and ways to reach more of the reading public.
Do drop in, say hello, pull up a chair and get comfy with people who LIKE books.
You can visit Rosie on her social media:
Thank you Rachel, I shall get sharing.
No, thank you! 🙂
Nice article, ladies, and I am proud to be a member of Rosie’s Review Team!
Thank you!
Thank you Terry.
This is awesome! I must admit I’ve never heard of a review team. That’s an awesome deal. Great post!
They’re awesome. 🙂
Many thanks Skye, it was an idea, we tested and works well. We love finding new gems of books and everyone always has a different take on a book. Of course not every book out there is a golden nugget but we try to help promote the books. Many of the authors who approach us are Indies and we are a great first step for them.
I can’t write book reviews, but I love reading them.
A review can be any length, I’m sure you could write 3-4 lines if you mentioned the book genre, it’s setting, the names of the main characters, what they were like and if you enjoyed the storyline. Once you start they get so much easier.
One tip is to makes notes as you read, just a scrap of paper will do, it jogs your memory when you need to write the review.
Thank you. This is very helpful.
I had to do research when I started my book reviews because I didn’t know “how” to do them. But it’s pretty easy and simple. 🙂
Mhm I feel like the review changes depending on the reviewer and the book.
It’s all a matter of opinion.
Yeah everyone has different tastes.