Why your book isn't getting reviews - WeGrowMedia

Many writers I speak with are surprised at how difficult it can be to get reviews for their books — even from friends, family, or colleagues. Today I want to talk about some reasons why that might be, and I’ll share advice on how you can get more reviews. Let’s dig in…

Why Reviews Matter

For the sake of simplicity, let’s limit the conversation here to you getting reviews for your book on Amazon.com, since it is a huge online marketplace for books. You can certainly apply the lessons discussed below elsewhere.

Why do book reviews from readers matter? Because they offer social proof. Imagine seeing two books online. One has 56 reviews, and the other has 2. Even just with the numbers that may tell you something about the impact this book has had with readers. It’s not hard to jump to the conclusion that the one with 56 reviews may be the one to check out first. Does that mean it is “better?” Nope. Does that mean it is the right choice for your taste or needs? Nope. But it can be a factor in how someone discovers a book or considers purchasing it.

Reviews also give you more context and information about the book. What did readers like about it? Not like about it? What phrases come up again and again that tell you about the experience of reading the book? When considering a purchase, social proof is a huge factor that can help someone make a decision.

This isn’t always about the cost of the book either. Books can be incredibly inexpensive for the value they bring to someone’s life. Often what someone may be factoring in is not just how to spend their money, but their time and attention. When I buy a book, I’m deciding how to spend hours of my time. I’m considering if it will hold my attention, or help lead me to an experience I want to have. That is why reading book reviews can matter so much, potential readers are buying an experience. Social proof extends beyond the point-of-sale, of course, into social media and word-of-mouth marketing.

The 10-Step Process to Post a Book Review

So if reviews are so important, why is it so difficult to get readers to share them? Let’s analyze the entire process of posting a book review on Amazon. Why? Because too often we seem to pretend posting a book review is like the simple click of a button. It’s not. It is a multi-step process, and sometimes a much deeper dive into identity, taste, and being seen. Below are the steps of the process, which I feel fall into three distinct phases:

The Pre-Review Phase

You need to have a copy of the book.
You need to have started reading the book. How many books have you purchased, you are excited about, you see others talking about it and want to be part of that conversation, you want to support the book and the author, but… you just haven’t had the time to start reading?
You need to have spent 5-8 hours reading the book. We don’t talk about this enough, how much time and focus it takes to actually read a book.
You need to feel you have an informed opinion enough to post a review of the book. We assume everyone just has clear opinions about everything on the tips of our tongues. But sometimes people don’t. Reading can be a very personal experience. Sometimes it can impact us, but we don’t have a clear way to talk about the book to others that expresses that.
You have to feel comfortable with the very concept of posting your opinion online for others to see.

The Finding Phase

To begin posting the review, you have to go to amazon.com.
You need to log in if you aren’t logged in already. Here we are already assuming you have an account, but if someone didn’t, that is a long list of additional steps to take. Amazon can seem so pervasive at times. But does everyone have an account? Even if they do, do they like using it?
You need to find the book. Someone may use the search box to do this. Or they may click on their “Returns and Orders” tab, then scroll to find the book purchase.
When you find the book, you have to click on the title or look for an area to review it.Then you have to identify the specific area to post a review. It’s not easy to find, you have to scroll to the book review section, then look to the left where it says “Review this product.” Some people may convince themselves that the place to find this is in their order history, and get frustrated when the option to review the book isn’t listed there. Years ago I did usability testing for websites. I can’t even express to you how common it is for you to think you are asking people to do something so obvious, and for them to take actions that are unexpected, and them feeling frustrated in the process.
Yay! You are now on the “Create a Review” page. That only took like… 5-10 steps.

The Ideation and Writing Phase

Amazon asks you several ways for you to share your opinion of the book. The first is to rate the book on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. I can see how this can trip someone up, asking them to consider what their own rating scale would be for a book in general. What is a 5 star book? What is a 3 star book? Then, is the book I’m reviewing one of the best books I’ve ever read, thereby rating it 5 stars? Of course, I’ve spoken to many writers who hope that if a reader liked a book in general, that they simply post a 5 star review. But the question can be more complicated to the reader than we may initially imagine. The rating scale can come to represent their own taste and identity as a reader.
Then you are asked to write a headline for your review. As someone who has posted blogs and sent newsletters for more than 15 years, I can tell you that writing a headline or subject line can be the most difficult part. To know how to summarize your thoughts succinctly, but also make it feel a little clever so that someone is curious enough to read the full post.
You are then given the option to post a photo or video with your review. From what I can tell, most people just ignore this, but it could be another stumbling block for a reviewer. Maybe 5% of people get to this point and assume a photo is required, so the abandon the review. I don’t know, I’m just trying to consider all of the ways this form raise unexpected questions for a potential reviewer.
Here we are, finally at the place to write your review. It’s just a big empty field. What’s wonderful about this is that it gives you an opportunity to write about the book in your own words, and choosing the length you want. But I’ve written long enough to know how that can cause someone to freeze. Perhaps some people want prompts to help them out, or maybe they begin writing, then feel unsure, then want more time to write. I can see a lot of people potentially bailing on this page here, promising to come back once they have spent more time thinking about the best review to write.
At this point, I imagine you would read through your review at least one time and go through a round of light editing.
Then you have that button to submit your review. This is a huge action for someone to take. To commit to sharing their thoughts publicly, and not knowing if they can later edit or remove them.

Some of these steps are debatable, so to be safe, let’s just call it a 10-step process overall. Let’s think about that for a moment. When I ask someone: “Hey, can you just post a review for my book online?” I’m making quite a few assumptions here:

That they read the book (5-10 hours of their time.)
That they can successfully navigate a 10-step process all on their own.
That they can move through the social anxiety to write a short book report that they are comfortable posting publicly.

Let’s talk more about the social anxiety aspect…

The Social Anxiety of Posting a Book Review

What are we really asking someone to do when we ask them to post a book review? To illustrate their taste. To summarize a book in a paragraph. To recommend it to others. To be seen online.

Do you remember back in grade school when you were asked to write a book report? I do. It was kinda terrifying. I can’t remember too many friends liking the process. Now here we are asking adults to do that, but we are making it even harder. Why? Because this isn’t just a book review that will be seen by one teacher, it will be one posted to the world. I’ve sent out a weekly email newsletter (and blog) for more than 15 years. I’ve posted 30,000 updates to Twitter. I’ve shared hundreds of photos of myself online, as well as hundreds of videos. Yet even I sometimes pause at the process of posting a review online.

Most people haven’t shared as often as I have online. So I can easily imagine they have hesitation to publishing their thoughts on Amazon for others to see, and for it to remain for years there. This act of posting a review can feel inherently social, which is part of why it is so valuable to the writer and other readers. But that can come with its own anxiety. I mean, do you want bump into someone at your local cafe, and have they ask, “Hey, can you do me a favor? Can you give a toast in my honor in the meeting I’m about to walk into?” Being asked to write a review can sometimes trigger the same kind of anxiety you feel when asked to give an impromptu speech.

Asking to post a review is asking someone to consider so many questions about their own taste, their own identity, their own judgement:

What rating scale do I use?!
How to create a headline?!
How long does it have to be?!
What do I say?!?
How will others react to what I say?!?
Did I miss anything?!?

There may even be concerns that people have which aren’t answered on that Amazon page to post your review, such as whether your full legal name will appear next to your review. Then there is always the chance that after someone does post a review, that Amazon’s algorithm will choose not to post the review to their site. That happens.

How to Encourage More Book Reviews

It is entirely possible that I am overthinking all of this. Regardless, if anything above resonates, here are some ways that you can encourage people to post reviews for your books that may make it easier for them:

Have a plan for encouraging people to post a review for your book. Don’t just assume it happens magically on it’s own. Sure, sometimes it does. But consider who you would ask. When you would ask them. How you can provide information to them that helps make the process easier.
Ask people to post reviews. I put this as separate step because I think every single time someone asks, it can be difficult. Asking people to do this doesn’t just help you, it helps other readers learn about this book and how it may impact their lives in a positive way.
Create a script that you can use to ask. This way it is easier for you to ask this without feeling self-conscious.
Have a link to where to post the review, and maybe even brief step-by-step instructions.
Prepare people ahead of time so they aren’t stunned at the review screen. This could be vague suggestions (“It can just be a sentence!”), or encouraging them to respond to a prompt in their review (“Just write about the one thing you loved most about the book.”) Of course, you may feel you don’t want to influence their review at all, so you can say “Just be honest.”
Provide examples of reviews, just so they can see what makes a useful review, or even to lower expectations. Not every book review needs to be a thesis paper.

Of course, your experiences here may be different. I simply wanted to take an empathetic view at what we are asking readers to do when we ask them to post a review, and consider how that help make the process easier for people.

Thanks.

-Dan