I've received several great reviews recently -I got a Recommended Read from Fallen Angel Reviews and from Dark Diva Reviews for Captured and Rebecca over at Dirty Sexy Books had some very nice things to say about the book. It's also pretty cool that the book is on Amazon and can be uploaded onto a Kindle.
I have to ask the question though, do readers read reviews? I'm genuinely curious. I read reviews, but perhaps that's because my friends are authors and I like to know what's up with their books. I also read reviews to figure out what I might want to purchase for my own TBR pile.
What are your thoughts? Do you purchase books based upon reviews and which review sites do you rely upon? Sometimes it seems to me...okay, I'll be honest...it seems to me that ebooks get the shaft when it comes to many high profile review sites - as if we don't exist, but I do see more and more reviewers discovering the hidden gems in epublishing - our hidden gems! I get ignored a lot, but I send my books off to the big sites anyway.
It means a great deal to me when somebody like Rebecca at Dirty Sexy Books or Susi at The Geeky Bookworm or Larissa at lala's Book Corner or Katiebabs at Babbling About Books or Chris at Stumbling Over Chaos pay attention to ebook authors. Thanks, ladies!
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I personally don't read reviews when deciding to buy a book. I like to formulate my own opinion about the story. I don't want to be swayed by a reviewers thoughts. Just my .02
ReplyDeleteI do read reviews of fellow authors so I can share in their joys! :)
I do read reviews and I take the comments both good and bad with a grain of salt. Like movie reviews-book reviews are highly subjective. I'm sure we've all heard a critic rave about a movie, restaurant etc... we then went to and hated. lol
ReplyDeleteThe real value of a review is hearing what a stranger thinks about a book you may have already read and /or written. You can compare and contrast opinions. Also you can tell by which books get picked to be reviewed what is likely to be doing well in the market at this time. Reviewers are part of the buying market. What they pick to review is a microcosm of the larger market.
XXOO Kat
Kat - it seems that Urban Fiction/Fantasy is very big, but I don't really know what it is. I'd love to read a definition. YA is also huge - maybe because it's easy reading? A lot of big-time authors are getting into it. You make a very good point!
ReplyDeleteWith Urban Fantasy think high-security, enchanted penthouses inside of gothic castles. Leer jets for wealthy warlocks instead of flying dragons and grouchy trolls hiding under dumpsters instead of stone bridges... Same story, same plot, same characters, even the same costumes as a fairy tale. It's just that Wonderland becomes a city high rise. lol
ReplyDeleteXXOO Kat
PS Jim Butcher writes excellent Urban Fantasy and his newest book in the Dresden File series debuts next month.
I look at the cover and the blurb and excerpt. I enjoy reading reviews of my books, but seldom pay much attention to reviews in buying a book. If I like the author, and the book looks an sounds great, I buy regardless of reviews. Great reviews are frosting on the cake.
ReplyDeleteI anxiously await reviews of my own books, and read reviews for my favorite authors, but I don't base my purchases on reviews. Covers and blurbs are important to my buying choices, but excerpts seal the deal for me.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good way to look at it - frosting on the cake. I guess for me covers are the teaser, but the blurb and excerpt sort of seal the deal.
ReplyDeleteI just wish there was more hours in the day to read more. :(
ReplyDeleteI skim reviews, but the blurb and excerpts are what I like to read before buying.
ReplyDeleteAnd the cover usually catches my attention first!