Writing Book Reviews Is Easier than You Think

So go write one or five or ten

We all know reviews help authors. (And if you didn’t know this, congratulations on staying off social media, where people post about this quite often.) Lists of how to help authors without spending a dime always include writing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. And allegedly 50 reviews is the magic number that takes an author from relative obscurity to being promoted in a search. In theory, we’re all reading a lot of books. Therefore we should all be writing a lot of reviews!

If you just needed the reminder and don’t need tips for writing a review, skip this blog post and use the two minutes it would’ve taken you to read it to go write a review, instead. Promise, I won’t be offended.

However, if you do need a little help, read on.

How do we get into the habit of writing a review for every book we enjoy?

First, let’s dispel a few myths:

• REVIEWS DON’T HAVE TO BE LONG. They can be one line! “I loved this book!” is a great review. Would being more specific help other readers decide whether to buy the book? Sure. But our goal here isn’t necessarily to help other readers. It’s to help the *author* reach that 50-review threshold. And if writing one line is easier for you than writing ten, then one line is good enough. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good!

• You don’t have to say a different thing in each review. No one is going to read all of your reviews—or even two of them. They’ll only read the review posted about the book they’re looking at (and they probably won’t even read that one—see also the next bullet) so don’t worry if you write the same one line about every book. Writing the same thing multiple times is way better than writing nothing at all. (See also the last line of the previous bullet.)

• Your review doesn’t have to be amazing—or even thoughtful. We think we have to write something that will persuade a potential buyer to click “add to cart”. Nope. Again, our job is to increase the number of reviews by 1 to push the book toward greater visibility. “This was the best book I read this week.” will do that just as effectively as a novel-length glowing review. How often do you actually read reviews before buying a book? versus how often do you see that a book has a certain number of reviews (everyone has a threshold) and an average star rating of 4.5 or higher and decide to buy because if *that* many people left a positive review, it *must* be good? Or maybe we want the author to excerpt our review when they’re promoting their book—just me?—anyway, they can’t excerpt what isn’t posted! So get over that desire for review fame and just post something already!

Now go write reviews for the last ten picture books/one or two novels you just read and enjoyed!

But if you’d truly rather not leave a review at all than leave a generic one, here are a few questions to guide you to write a more specific one:

• What did this book do well?

• If you were recommending this book to a friend, what would you say to sell it to them?

• If you would read this book again, why would you?

• If you would give this book to a teacher, why would you?

• If you could talk to the author, what’s one positive thing you would tell them about their book?

You can also steal from the Amazon pitch copy to help guide you.

I have to admit, I sometimes get hung up on the title for a review that Amazon requires. I’m fine writing generic one-line reviews, but I want to come up with a unique, glowing title that will draw the eye of another reader. And I have to remind myself, that’s not the point. “Great book!” is just as good of a title as the best pun. And if you’re truly paralyzed, steal another reviewer’s! I promise, they won’t know. And if they do somehow see it, they either won’t assume you stole theirs or they’ll be flattered you did.

Even knowing how beneficial reviews are for authors and even knowing how easy and fast it is to leave them, it’s hard to make leaving reviews a habit. What’s the best way to create a new habit? Bundle it with something you already do. To that end, I’m trying something new: when I compile my collections for PB First Lines, I’m taking an extra few minutes to leave a review for each book in a given month’s collection. When do you read picture books? Is that a convenient time to also leave reviews? If not, think about other times that would work:

• When you’re shopping on Amazon, take a minute to leave a review for a book you read that day/week.

• When you’re scrolling Instagram and see the cover of a book you’ve read, switch over to your Amazon app and leave a review.

• Let simply scrolling on social media be your prompt. Most of us spend more time than we realize (or like) scrolling. The next time you open an app, take two minutes to switch over to your Amazon app to leave a review. Then return to your (un)planned scrolling.

• When you’re researching comp titles for your latest WIP, take a minute to leave a review for the titles that fit. (For our one-line reviews, synopses of books that sound amazing give us more than enough fodder.)

• When you’re picking up your latest stack of picture books from the library, take five minutes to read one before you check out and leave a review.

• Waiting in line/in the supermarket parking lot for curbside pickup/anywhere else that doesn’t allow for substantial work to be done? Leave a review!

Alright, to finish up, let me share the last ten reviews I posted:

1. AWE-SAMOSAS!
   words by Marzieh Abbas, art by Bhagya Madanasinghe
   Title: Great Book for Kid Foodies
   Review: The title is a creative play on words, and the story is a creative blend of a kid wanting to make something unique for her friends and make a beloved family recipe. And any book that has a recipe in the back is a winner for me!

2. The Ramadan Drummer
   words by Sahtinay Abaza, art by Dinara Mirtalipova
   Title: Delightful Story about a Wonderful Legend
   Review: This is a wonderful story whether you observe Ramadan or not. I loved learning about the legend of the Ramadan Drummer set against the backdrop of a modern family practicing Ramadan.

3. Love Is My Favorite Color
   by Nina Laden and Melissa Castrillon
   Title: Beautiful Poem about Values to Strive For
   Review: The art is gorgeous, and I love the message of aspiring to be everything that makes the world a beautiful place. [I borrowed from the Amazon pitch for that one]

4. When the Rain Came Down
   words by Leslie Helakoski, art by Keisha Morris
   Title: Beautiful Lyrical Story about Tragedy
   Review: This poignant story is full of wonderful, lyrical language. It gives a voice to all those affected by flood and offers hope in the aftermath, showing how communities rally together to help those in need. [another one where I borrowed from Amazon pitch copy.]

5. Ellie Mae Dreams Big!
   words by Kristina McMorris, art by Amanda Yoshida
   Title: Adorable Take on a Very Real Childhood Struggle!
   Review: As a parent of a third grader who has a list of approximately eleventy billion career choices, this story rang so true for me! It's a very fun take on the classic elementary school assignment of sharing about what you want to be when you grow up. I think any kid can relate to Ellie Mae's struggle to pick just one career!

6. Partly Cloudy
   by Deborah Freedman
   Title: Unique Take on the Universal Activity of Cloud Watching
   Review: Got a cloud-watcher in your life? They'll love this book. Got a science nerd in your life? They'll love this book. Got a "Well, *actually*" kid in your love? They'll love this book!

7. Like So
   Words by Ruth Forman, art by Raissa Figueroa
   Title: Gorgeous Book
   Review: This sparse-word book is a beautifully succinct exploration of the bond between a child and their family. Good for infinite readings.

8. The Little Tiger
   by Nicola Killen
   Title: Gorgeous and Magical and Gently Interactive
   Review: This beautiful story brings the reader along for a wondrously magical ride.

9. Don’t Ask Cat!
   by Maryann Coco-Leffler
   Title: Gentle Approach to a Hard Topic
   Review: This story is a great tool for teaching kids about kindness vs telling the absolute truth and that it's not always appropriate to say everything that's on their mind.

10. Grandpa’s Window
    Words by Laura Gehl, art by Udayana Lugo
    Title: Beautifully Poignant Story
    Review: This book is for every child who has a grandparent. It's beautifully surprising and handles grief with sensitivity and grace.

Actually, one last point. I am of the firm belief that unless a book is actually offensive, it deserves 5 stars. Even if I didn’t love it, I’ll still give it 5 stars and a one-line review. Because reading is subjective. *Someone* will love that book, and if my review helps get it into the hands of that reader. all the better. So even with books that weren’t your cup of tea, find *something* positive to say. Of course, if you can’t summon even one complimentary line about the book, don’t post anything. No reason to bring down the author just because you didn’t like the book. Nothing they can do about it now!

And since you can’t top a good Schitt’s Creek GIF, now I’m really finished.