And yes, reviews are helpful in that a larger number of reviews can boost your visibility on Amazon (more likely to be included in the "other readers also enjoyed" recommendations, etc.)
I am considering putting a request on the last page of a book for customers to review.
Has anyone else done this themselves? or have any links to information about experiences with doing this?
Just as a reader, when the plea really specifies that you should review (only) if you liked the book, I find that a bit grating.
Thanks for the replies so far, food for thought. I found this:
http://www.magnoliamedianetwork.com/reviews-on-amazon/
If you press ctrl+f then paste"include a letter in the back of her book asking for reviews" into the search box then press Return you'll go straight to the relevant part.
The other reason to love reviews is that the more reviews on Amazon the more visible your book becomes. This is largely due to the Amazon algorithm which is based on a few things, one of which is the number of reviews you get to your page.
What's worse is when all the author's friends go and attack the reviewer on the review site, as well as thumbing down the review. Not because they didn't find it helpful, but solely because it made the author feel bad.Same for me. I don't think readers owe me a review, and though I am always thankful when reader tells she loved my book, I don't expect her to post a review and don't blame her if she doesn't (my readers are mostly female but obviously that goes for men too!) Right this moment I am waiting for the first reviews of my latest book and I am quite convinced everyone will say they hate it so you can imagine how nice it will be to hear otherwise! I truly loathe those FB memes that try to guilt readers into writing good reviews so as to "support authors". Readers don't owe us support. It's up to us to write great books and if that is the case word will spread and we'll be able to make a living from writing -- fantastic. But our readers don't owe us a living.
I also roll my eyes when a book gets bad reviews and all the author's friends gather round to console her and stroke her ego by saying "they were just jealous, your book is fantastic". As if readers owe you a good review.
My "Letter to the reader" is never needy, and I am not needy. It's just a suggestion. I'm sorry if readers interpret it as needy; I'll mention this to the publisher next time and word it more subtly.
Just as a reader, when the plea really specifies that you should review (only) if you liked the book, I find that a bit grating. I prefer a book to just end, rather than bombard me with samples from other books, review requests and other calls to action.
It's the same with those ultra-pathetic Facebook posts by pages, of memes begging "Please like and share to enable us to continue to deliver quality content" - I didn't know likes and shares "enabled" the page to post anything. Oh wait, the time and money, if any, that goes into maintaining a page, is the same whether people like your content or not....Tbh, if I read a letter that needy at the end of a book, I'd be disinclined to pick up any of the author's other works.
I trashed an eBook once for something similar. It was a handful pages of writing advice, then a crapload of pages of the author promoting her other works in which her advice given in this book, is elaborated on. Turns out I bought a book that was little more than a trailer for other books, even its actual content nothing but teasers. That is not ethical.Agreed. It always puts me on guard when an author only wants good reviews - why can't they accept an honest assessment of my reaction? Why do they have to live in Happy Bubble Land? You're sharing your book with the public, not with just your select circle of friends. If you can't handle public reaction, maybe you shouldn't be mass-distributing your work...
As for the extra matter, I've read several eBooks that take it way too far... and it can affect the rating if too much of what I paid for is just advertising and clutter to pad the page count, so it looks like I'm paying for a full-length novel when I'm not. (Though the personal "worst" I read was a paid-for, not-in-any-way-discounted eBook that hit me in the face halfway through with an ad for the "enhanced edition," which included a soundtrack. The heck? So you're telling me I paid full price for a stripped-down ad vehicle, or you think I'm so in love with the tale that I'll pay for the same story twice just for a little reading music? Wasn't my only problem with the book, but definitely a sizeable fly in the soup.)
On the overall thread issue of authors asking for reviews, I don't have a problem if it's a simple, polite request and not a needy or selective ("Only good reviews!") one. Though I don't often write reviews on Amazon anymore - I don't like how they've changed the review form, so I only bother when I have something to say that I don't feel other reviews have mentioned... if then.