Before anyone jumps on me, I'm not talking about beta readers or ARC readers. That's a completely different relationship with different expectations.

I'm talking about the reader who spots your cover, reads the blurb, sees a social media post and decides to buy your book. At that point, the transaction is over.

As an indie author, I know how valuable reviews are. Every review helps with visibility and can make a real difference to a book's success. Of course I'd love it if every reader left one. But they don't owe me that.

If they choose to leave a review, they don't owe me a long explanation either.

Five paragraphs? Great.
One sentence? Also great.
Just a star rating? That's fine too.

I think sometimes, as authors, we forget that reader reviews are meant to be subjective. They're a reader's personal experience with a book, not an editorial critique. They aren't trying to write a balanced analysis for other authors. They're simply answering a question:

"How did this book make me feel?"

We write stories because we want readers to feel something. We celebrate the emotional five-star reviews. We can't then turn around and complain when another reader has an emotional reaction that happens to be different.

Would I love more reviews? Absolutely.
Do readers owe me one? No.

...although I will make one exception.
If you pirate my book, the least you can do is leave a review.

posted by Sandra L. Rostirolla on July, 07