Come December 2014 it will be two years since I began writing. All in all, I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts and stories, but one thing I’m still struggling with is getting book reviews on Amazon.

It puzzles me because my books get a decent amount of sells. In addition, even with giving away free copies I still only manage to get between five to ten reviews. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the ones that take a moment of their time to leave one. Yet, I remain amazed when I see other self-published authors such as myself getting huge numbers of reviews and it really peaks my interest in learning what their secret is in achieving such a productive response?

I do know that Goodreads is a good source and they have groups that offer read for reads or book swaps in return for an honest review; unfortunately, with my busy schedule that option just won’t work for me.

Honestly, I don’t think readers realize just how valuable their input is for authors. Their response helps a lot because it reaffirm if an authors book have gone in the right direction or not. In reading up on this topic I came across a few great tips that readers should know:

• Don’t be afraid of being honest. Do, however, remember to be helpful (and not mean). Don’t just say “it sucks” but tell everyone why it sucked.
• Don’t give away the ending of the book. You can allude to it very vaguely (“the ending surprised me”) but don’t say specific plot details.
• You’re not being graded. Write a review as long or short as you want. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece of art—think of it more as a conversation or what you might tell people you know about this book.
• Make sure that you read the book before you review. This seems like it should be obvious but… it’s not.

I can only speak from my standpoint but if you’ve experienced the same or can shed some light on the question I would love to hear from you.

R. Lynn