According to Amazon, the average reader (and buyer for that matter) will look at between 5-10 reviews for an unfamiliar author or product before deciding to purchase a product or book. This means with books that have less than 10 reviews the reader may not feel there is enough information to make a decision and pass the book over. Even outside of Amazon, many websites that promote books, i.e. Bookbub, will look at the number and quality of reviews before accepting a book for a "Featured Special" or other premium advertisement.
So reviews are for both the author and the other readers. If you find a book that is especially well or poorly written, you should post a review. If you find a book that is middle of the road as far as quality, you should leave a review. Amazon will provide additional visibility for books that have large numbers of good reviews over a book that doesn't have many reviews, even if they are all good reviews.
So you ask, "How do I write a review?" A good review includes 2 main parts the star rating and the comment. The star rating is purely subjective, what I would give 5 stars another reviewer might give only 4 or maybe even 3. It all depends on how good of quality we feel the story is and how well it is told. Even the best written book may fail in the story quality area or vice versa. That is where the comment comes in. A good comment is usually at least two lines and should explain why you gave the number of stars you did. For example, if you gave a book 4 stars you would say why it received that rating. "This book has a great story and is told well but the number of typos detracted from the reading drawing me out of the story." About 2 lines and explains the star rating.
You will hear people saying that a review should be helpful to the author. That is not true, it would be nice, but a review is to provide social proof to another reader why they should spend their hard earned money on this book versus another book. It is a form of word of mouth advertising and tells the reader, "I like/disliked this book and these are the reasons why." That helps the reader make a purchase decision. Comments such as "Good book" or "Terrible Book" although presents your opinion, it doesn't provide any assistance to the reader coming behind you. The things that bothered you about a book might not bother another reader. I know people that will overlook typos and others that it is like nails on a chalkboard.
So remember to review the books you read, provide a short explanation of the reasons why you rated as you did, and please make them helpful to the readers coming behind you.
Happy Reading...
I don't think people understand that reviews aren't book reports and how important they can be to other readers. Don't worry about the length of your post they are always well thought out. Thanks for visiting.
Your thoughts on reviews mirrors mine. They're for the buyer, not the author. The number of reviews can help the author, certainly, but a reader wants to know why they should or shouldn't spend their money (as with any product). And you're spot-on with saying that a review needs to be longer than one word. I think so many people are intimidated at the idea of analyzing a book to review it, but they don't realize YOU DON'T NEED TO. You just need to share whether you liked it or not, and why. It can be as detailed and deep as a Kirkus review or it can be as simple as "I loved the main character because he is hot…