As the year 2021 reaches its conclusion, it’s feel like the right time to nudge readers toward reviewing the books they read. The publishing world has become reliant on the numbers game…how many books sold, how many Likes clicked, the number of positive and negative everything. Your simple rating of a book can power an author’s career or sink it for the foreseeable future.

Why do writers always ask readers to write a review? Because our success in the business side of this art and craft called writing is directly tied to these numbers…as in the more reviews a book garners, the higher it rises on the charts that matter, and the higher it rises, the more ‘face time’ it acquires. But your review does more than that. A positive evaluation of a book means more readers will take a chance on an author unknown to them. An honest review will point a reader toward the kind of book they are interested in reading. And a good review will inspire the author to keep writing those kinds of stories.

Not every novel appeals to every reader, so if the book isn’t your taste, be kind or simply don’t review it. However, if you do enjoy a read, please consider leaving at least a 4 or 5-star click. You don’t have to pen a long paragraph or analyze the work itself. A simple ‘Atta Boy/Girl!’ will do.  Several years ago, twenty reviews were recommended to get a novel more publicity. Now that number is up to 100! This is an almost impossible task for writers trying to break into the top tier on Goodreads or Amazon. So, if I could ask for one thing from readers this holiday season, I would humbly ask for a quick, positive review.

Wishing you and yours the best of holidays. May the words of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks OBM inspire you: “For though my faith is not yours, and your faith is not mine, if we are each free to light our own flame, we can banish some of the darkness of the world.”