At
last month’s New Jersey Romance Writers
meeting, we were privileged to attend a workshop given by author and marketing
guru Carol Van Den Hende. One of the highlights of her talk was the
introduction of two of her friends who are readers, not authors. These were women who read across genres, who
read whatever strikes their fancy or whatever friends recommend.
We
enjoyed some interesting insights from listening to them describe how they
choose what to read next, and yes, the covers count! They said they would take a book off the
shelf for further perusal if the cover grabbed their interest.
These
women are serious readers to the extent that they discuss what they’re reading
with friends and family, and often will read the same book as someone else so
that they can review it together after they’re done. They’re too busy for an organized book club but
their reading habits more or less make an informal book club of sorts.
The
most interesting thing to me was that even though they had very strong opinions
about the books they read, and shared those opinions with friends and family,
they had never written reviews. In fact,
they weren’t even aware that writing a review was an option, even though they’d
read reviews on Amazon and other venues.
While
those of us in the romance community are accustomed to readers and authors
interacting, and prone to reviewing the books we read, this talk awakened us to
the idea that not all readers share this experience.
We
at New Jersey Romance Writers concluded that we need to spread the word…Help an
Author! Write a Review!
It
doesn’t need to be long or fancy, but it’s a tremendous help to your favorite
author if the review is simply there! On
Amazon or Goodreads or BookBub or whatever site you like. So please be kind to an author, flex your fingers,
and share your thoughts with the world!
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It's always nice to get a lovely review. It's helps authors have the motivation to keep writing.
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting discussion. Yes, let's spread the word--Review. An author will thank you.
ReplyDeleteI bet that discussion was a lot of fun. And I've found a slogan I'm going to use -- "Help an author...write a review!"
ReplyDeleteVery good to know. Many people think the review needs to read like a book report. Or they lack confidence in their opinion. A simple I enjoyed this is all that is needed.
ReplyDeleteBefore I was an author, I don't think I fully appreciated how important reviews are. Now, I realize they're like gold! Not only because they help get the book noticed or could convince a potential reader to give us a try, but as an author it's so nice to hear back from readers.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. Another thing that teaches an author LOTS is working in a bookstore...used or new.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post, Hannah. Thank you for sharing this with us. I think we need to do something about this to encourage readers to leave reviews. Let's all brainstorm some ideas about this and see what we can come up with. I'll post this on our RG private FB page.
ReplyDelete