The Art of Writing Persuasive Book Reviews

 

Authors will kill to get five-star book reviews on Amazon, GoodReads, and elsewhere. Many customer book reviews are staged by an author’s friend, family member, or someone personally known to the writer. Others are placed online because an author made a big effort to reach out to people to encourage them to post a review. So, what should a strong book review look like? 

Ask readers to write reviews like this:

* Keep it short — no more than a paragraph long, if that.
* Rate the book the maximum five stars.
* Have a catchy header.
* Don’t repeat the same exact words others use.
* Highlight things that not every person will comment on.
* Short sentences with lots of adjectives work best.
* Write in the present tense.
* Don’t acknowledge knowing the author, should you have a connection.
* Be specific in what you like about the book.

Only a tiny percentage of a book’s readership posts a review, even when the author is famous, and the book is a critically-acclaimed, award-winning, best-seller, AND it is actually quite a good book. You must make the most of every review opportunity to get someone to post a very positive review.

Some people don’t feel moved to write a review and don’t want to bother doing so even when they love the book. A lot of people do not look at customer reviews, but a lot do, so play the game as best you can.

According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, about 80 percent of adults check customer ratings or reviews before buying something for the first time, be it a restaurant, hotel, gadget, furniture, book, or anything. Interestingly, the younger you are, the more you rely on reviews.

For those aged 18-29, over 95 percent check the reviews. For 65 and over, little more than 55 percent do.

Keep begging people for reviews and share with them these insights for crafting a great book review. Yes, it is necessary.

 

Need PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.