So, you’ve read a book, and you loved it.  What should you do now?  Well, that’s easy!  After a long exhale with a smile on your face, you should let the author know that you enjoyed his/her writing.  After all, a novel is a work of art that took countless hours to write, and in the end, almost all authors question themselves.  Sure, we know we have an amazing story to tell.  We wouldn’t put it out to the public if we didn’t believe in it.  But, we are also human, and deep within every one of us, there are times of doubt and confusion.  On a great day, we are excited about what we do.  On a bad day, we question our sanity and wonder why in the world we do what we do.  This is especially true for the more unknown authors, which is the majority of the market.

So, how do you speak to an author?  That’s simple.  Leave a review!  Leaving a positive review on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. is the best gift you can give to an author.  Those reviews are more important than you may know.  On Amazon, reviews push the author up in ranking, as well as help potential readers decide on whether to purchase the novel.  As for Goodreads, it’s all about potential readers deciding which book to read next.  They may have thousands of books on their ‘to read’ shelf, but in the end, most of them look at reviews to decide which one to actually read.

What I’ve learned so far, is that most readers don’t leave a review.  Yes, they may love the novel, follow the author on social media, tell all their friends to read the book, and even be kin to the author, but in the end, they don’t leave a review.

I’ve even heard a story about an author that gave out 500 advanced copies of her novel so that she could get reviews in before the book was published, yet not even half of the readers wrote a review.  Ouch!

I don’t blame the readers.  I, myself, never left a review until becoming an author.  I never knew how important they were until now.  Our society has just recently become dependent on reviews.  I mean, there’s not many purchases I make without looking at the reviews.  I even have a scan code on my phone to help me while at a store.

So, if you love a book, leave a review.  All the authors I know read their reviews.  They will get your message.  If you want to get even more personal, you can also see if the author is on social media.  Although some authors have other careers and don’t do much online, the majority of the authors I know are online, and they listen and respond to their readers.  You can find me on almost all the social platforms, but I am most active on Facebook.

Oh, while leaving a review on Goodreads, you can also become a fan of your favorite author.  Same goes for Amazon.  It only takes a second to click on the button.  It’s just another way to show your support to a writer you enjoy.