Just how important are book reviews?
When my first book became available I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for the first book review to appear. For a long time after that I checked the reviews for my book almost everyday. But just how important are book reviews to the people purchasing books? Does the number of stars a book has really make that much of a difference when it comes to whether or not a person will buy a book?
For me as a reader anyway they are not all that important. That's not to say I don't read them sometime before I buy a book, especially if it is by an author I am not familiar with, but the number of five star reviews is not what ultimately makes me purchase a book or pass it on by. Before I sat down to write this, I went onto Amazon and looked for Romance Novels for Kindle and picked two randomly by author I have never read. One had an average star rating of 3 Stars the other 4 Stars. One has been on the NY times best seller list, the other has not. Which one do you think I actually thought about buying? The one with the average 3 Star rating that has never even come close to the NY list. Why? Simple because the blurb from the one with the 4 Stars didn't sound like something I would enjoy.
When I start looking for a new book by an author I don't know, I first look at the Covers and Titles that appear. If one catches my eye, I then check out the blurb. If the book sounds like something I normally enjoy, I then check out the price. Maybe it is just me but I will not pay $12 for an ebook. If after these steps I am still interested in a book I may or may not browse through the reviews depending on how much time I have. After that I will either purchase it right away or add it to my wish list for later. As you can see the actual reviews don't play much of a role for me. Does that mean as an author I can easily brush off 1 and 2 star reviews? No, unfortunately I can not do that which is why I stopped checking my reviews daily. Instead I check every few weeks. But as a reader I believe that reviews are not everything.
What about for you as a reader? How important are reviews to you?
Well I do leave reviews .. at first i never did but i do now.. I will not pay over 5.00 dollars for an ebook myself because half the time the book sucks . I found myself buying 99 cents books and being really good .. Me i go for the cover before i read what it is about ...
ReplyDeleteMost of my reading is romance books and I usually select the book based on how sexy the guy is on the cover.
ReplyDeleteReviews does not matter to me when puechasing a book. My taste in a good read may not be the same as others. I mostly go off the summary and cover of the book whwn making my choice. I put reviews on most books I read that I find extremely GREAT. I try getting better to support authors who ask on specific websites but I do mine on Goodreads.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mayas:) I've tried to read 'Award Winning' books and couldn't finish them. And ones I've loved have gotten bad reviews. It's so subjective, you just have to choose for yourself. But it's WONDERFUL to get awesome reviews of your own work:) Pumps up the ego and lets you know someone read and loved your work.
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