Author: Toi Thomas

Author and illustrator of children's books, as well as clean adult fiction and nonfiction. Toi is a geek-girl blogger, vlogger, reviewer, and advocate for a healthy reading lifestyle. She finds comfort in faith, family, and creative expression. Toi believes in the dream of world harmony and hopes all your dreams come true.

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Reviews

How to write a review: Part 4.

*Lastly, posting reviews can also be tricky, but I believe there is a rhyme and reason for that as well. Always try to post your review at the location or site it was purchased or obtained. Sometimes, books are received without knowing the location of purchase, but that’s not a problem. Most books are now available for viewing and reviewing at GoodReads.com.

Lastly, if you have a blog, Facebook page, Stumble Upon, Google+, twitter, or other social media outlet, post your reviews there. As with most sites these days, reviews are just the tip of the iceberg. You can also show your support by rating, ranking, and Liking books and pages where applicable. For example, most Amazon book listings come with a Like button, rate option, and review option. Take a few extra seconds and pursue all three.

I hope you found this to be helpful and wish you all the best in your reading, writing, and reviews. I think I have finalized the details of the Review Challenge that I’m going to host. I think it will be a lot of fun. I will be awarding prizes to the winners. Winners will be based solely on votes. Be sure to come back tomorrow to learn all the details of challenge and the prizes…

In the meantime, I will be posting a whole bunch of reviews I should have done ages ago. They are for traditionally published books as well as Indie published books. It’s time I started putting all my theories into practice and stop being afraid to express myself when writing reviews. (I used to post my reviews at the following blog: http://ecsuniverse.blogspot.com/)

Categories
Reviews

How to write a review: Part 3.

Step 5. Always be honest. A good review doesn’t mean that you have to love the book, but always try to be fair. Readers can tell if you’ve written a review to falsely build up a books rating and they can tell if you are intentionally beating a book down out of spite. Also keep in mind the average person isn’t going to be as thorough in their reviews as other writers and bloggers. This is a good thing. A distinctive credibility is what you want to display when writing a review. It should help set you apart as a writer and a professional. A good review comes with clear explanations of why the book was loved, liked, ignored, or hated; without clear explanations, reviews worthless.

After writing all this, I’ve decided to challenge myself to write more reviews. I also invite you to write more reviews, maybe even one for my new book Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel.

Aside from that, I think I’ve just about figured out what to do with my Review Challenge and am pretty sure it will help some Indie Authors get more reviews. I think it will be a nice gesture just in time for the holiday season, whether you have something to celebrate or not. I know it won’t be a huge thing, but each day I’m more determined to try it. After receiving my first ever customer review, and not knowing when another will come, I just feel like I need to give back to the indie literary community somehow.

Categories
Reviews

How to write a review: Part 2.

Step 3. Summarize the book in one of two ways.

a. The blurb-explain what you feel the book was about providing some plot points in 100 words or less. If you are a master blurb writer, go for 100 to 200 words.

b. The Spoiler- explain exactly what happened in the story, beginning, middle, and end. So as not to lose your audience, try to keep your spoiler around 500 to 800 words. (Always indicate whether your review will contain spoilers as a curtsey to other readers)

Step 4. Then explain why you gave the book its overall rating. If you are not sure how to do that, simply answer the following questions. (There is no preferred word length for this)

a. What was the overall theme of the book and did you like it?

b. How did you feel about the pace of the plot and the plot development?

c. How did you feel about the character development?

d. How did you feel about the finale of the book?

There are many more questions that could be included in your assessment, but these are the basic points I think most people look for in a good review…I’m still working out the details of what I’m now calling, A Review Challenge.