First 5* Review of my New Release
I guess getting your first review of a new release is always going to be a little nerve-wracking. Will it be okay, or has a reviewer read it and not enjoyed the story at all? Has he/she praised the writer’s ability to spin a yarn, or suggested they need much more honing of those skills needed to produce a good book?
After just a few days of requesting a review from someone listed on a Goodreads page, I received my first 5* review of “Return to Riversleigh” and am over the moon. Discovering the reviewer was a kiwi gave me an extra thrill, she would have picked up any “local” irregularities an overseas reader might not be aware of. But it sounds like I managed to catch all those little mistakes before publication.
Like many writers, I despair the reviewing process. Good reviews are so important to sales of our books, and yet so difficult to get. How does one encourage readers to comment on a book if they have enjoyed it? (I’m not so bothered about getting reviews from readers who haven’t enjoyed my stories.) Requesting reviews appears to work in about 0.01% of the time.
Giveaways through Goodreads has been touted as a good plan to gather reviews, but sadly, I’ve not found that to be so advantageous either. While Goodreads readers often allocate 5* reviews, they rarely write anything specific about the story.
I guess requesting reviews on Facebook and Twitter etc plus personal requests to anyone I know, remains the only way to tout more 5* reviews for my new release. If you’re one of my readers, please consider posting a review to Amazon, Goodreads and any other review sites you might know of.