Tips for Writing Reviews from an Amazon Top Reviewer

I love when authors send signed copies!!!!
Here I am with Donald Dempsey's Memoir

I started writing book reviews a few years ago. I would publish them on my blog, Goodreads, Amazon, and Ezine Articles. In the beginning, I was reading because I wanted to improve my writing skills. I figured it was the least I could do for the hard working authors. There’s something wonderful to be said for any book and I wanted to tell the world. All of a sudden, authors were approaching me. They were offering me free copies of their books if I would write an honest review. Then I took my current position with WOW! Women on Writing and as they say, the rest is history!

It’s not really that straight forward. Someone approached me asking “can we send you some of our chocolate covered peanut butter cups to try and review?” and that’s what sparked the rest of my reviews. Now, the UPS truck pulls in the yard every day bearing gifts in exchange for my reviews. My dear friend Michelle recently told me she was having trouble writing reviews. She came to me for advice and I want to share with you not only the story of how I became an Amazon Top Reviewer, but also a few tips for writing your own reviews:

1) Read through the description of the product or the summary of the book first. Make sure you have what you expected you were receiving. If there’s a discrepancy, you’ll want to let the company or the author know right away and you may want to include that in your review.

2) Look at the questions other people are writing. Look at the other reviews. Review the comments on the product/book. If there’s a way for you to include commentary about those concerns, do so in your review. (ie: if a book received a 1 star review from someone stating the author was whining about their life while writing their memoir, you may want to include a sentence about how you felt concerning the author’s storytelling.)

3) Talk about what sets this product/story apart from the others. You may have used many flashlights in your life, but this one may be brighter, the battery may last longer, it may fit in your hand better, etc…or in the case of a book, there may be many memoirs on the market today, but this one may have touched you because _____________________, etc.

4) Speak from your heart. In the case of a book review, you’ll want to talk about how you felt when you finished reading the book. Did you want the book to continue because you couldn’t bear to part with the characters because they were written so well? In the case of a product, how did it make your life easier/better?

As a reviewer, it isn’t your job to “sell” the product or book. You don’t need to include the details that are already provided, unless it makes it special. If you say “this book is about Donald Dempsey’s amazing life” when the book is clearly being marketed as a memoir, you are going to come off looking silly. You may want to say “as Donald Dempsey shares the pivotal moments of his life, I felt my heart breaking for the young man he was while I was cheering on the man he is today. He has overcome incredible obstacles and has become a hero in so many ways.”

Use your writing skills to make your reviews interesting and informational. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and read something you wouldn’t usually chose or try a product you haven’t considered before. Had I said no to those peanut butter cups, I probably wouldn’t be wearing this great free shirt and leggings! Reviewing is a fun way to try new things and it’s the best way to thank an author!

Leave a link in the comments for your favorite book or book review – we would love to hear from you!

Crystal is a church musician, babywearing mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 9, Andre 8, Breccan 2, and Delphine 1), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff at:http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/ and http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/