You’ve probably read it here on my site, or at the end of my books: Please, if you enjoyed the story, leave a review!
It can feel like we’re constantly being asked to share an opinion, or feedback. How do you rate the service agent who just helped you?; Would you recommend this product to a friend?; Did this organic fat-free yoghurt surprise and delight you? The last time I went through airport security, they had a little set of smiley face buttons to review the experience!
It’s exhausting. But yes, I’m still going to ask you to consider leaving a review for my stories 😂
It doesn’t have to be five stars, or fifteen paragraphs of commentary. Some people like every story; sometimes, the plot or the characters just don’t resonate. And that’s fine: the point of the review is to make sure the right story gets to the right reader.
Building buzz about new releases is incredibly difficult. Social media – like X, or Bluesky – translates to very few clicks. I love my newsletter readers, and I don’t want to annoy them by constantly bombarding their inbox. Putting up a free story on sites like Nifty or GayDemon can work (and I still feel really strongly about having a mix of free and paid writing available, since I know not everyone can buy ebooks) but only a small percentage of those readers go on to look at anything else.
Honestly, the best way of telling potential readers that they’re going to get a good story experience is a review on Amazon (or Goodreads, or Smashwords, or any other ebook site). I know I rely on reviews when I’m browsing myself, and more stars or positive feedback can definitely sway my decision to buy. Conversely, products with no reviews or ratings at all can seem suspect, or not worth taking a chance on.
(Incidentally, some retailers – including Amazon – allow most customers to leave a review on products even if they didn’t originally buy them through that store.)
I’m really lucky: readers take the time to email me and tell me what they thought of each book. And you know I love getting those emails! I wish I could just forward them to Amazon and have them automatically added as reviews 😂 Knowing what people enjoyed helps me as I decide what to write next, and it’s good motivation to write faster, too!
There are lots of great writers out there, and I’m always grateful when people choose to spend their reading time with me. Whether you have time to leave a review or not, or to send me a message, please know that I appreciate you.
-Alex