Yesterday, we talked about how to survive negative or not-so-flattering reviews. Yes, a snarky review can be crushing. Now, while it is important to learn from valid reviews and critique, it is equally important to put reviews in perspective and to realize that a review is simply an opinion. What is an opinion, anyway? It is someone\u2019s impression\u2014how an individual is impacted by your book\u2014what their reaction to it is.<\/p>\n
And one\u2019s reaction or impression is often based on their belief system, their life experiences and their taste.<\/p>\n
As you know, I\u2019ve had five-star reviews for my new mysteries and I\u2019ve had one-star reviews. So which reviews are valid? Who\u2019s right, the readers who said the books are delightful, fun, easy-to-read and well-written, or are the reviewers who said the books are disappointing, hard to follow and disturbing?<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s right? I guess both readers\/reviewers are right, because these are simply opinions.<\/p>\n
Are you swayed by reviews? Will you choose to read or not to read a book based on the reviews you see on the book\u2019s page at Amazon? I believe that a negative review can be as tantalizing to someone who follows reviews as a positive one. Readers wonder, \u201cWhy did two out of 25 reviewers give this book low marks?\u201d Curiosity sometimes inspires sales.<\/p>\n
I think that the number of reviews a book gets tend to sway some people to either purchase your book or move on to another one. A book that has 80 reviews is apt to capture their attention over one with only 5 reviews.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re trying to decide how to market your book and whether or not to solicit reviews, consider how reviews affect you when it comes to choosing a book to read or study. And be sure to think like your readers\u2014what attracts them? What\u2019s the best way to get their attention? Do reviews impress them or not? Where are they most apt to purchase books like yours? How do they learn about books like yours?<\/p>\n
In the meantime, read Catnapped<\/i> and Cat-Eye Witness<\/i> (from my Klepto Cat Mystery series) and determine for yourself whether these books are \u201cgood stories,\u201d \u201camazing,\u201d \u201cenjoyable\u201d or \u201cannoying\u201d and \u201cdisappointing.\u201d The books are on Kindle at http:\/\/www.amazon.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, we talked about how to survive negative or not-so-flattering reviews. Yes, a snarky review can be crushing. Now, while it is important to learn from valid reviews and critique, it is equally important to put reviews in perspective and to realize that a review is simply an opinion. What is an opinion, anyway? It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t