Review at your Pleasure…

We’ve all done it. Bought something online and then the dreaded email arrives asking us to ‘review your product’.

We hate them. We quickly delete and forget about them…Until a week goes by and there is a ‘reminder to review your product’!

GO AWAY!

I do not want to ‘review’ the dog’s tablets, which, frankly, I cannot answer because it is for THE DOG!!! Also don’t want to review the dress I bought or the glue I had to order because no local shop had it in stock. Likewise the paint, the small screw or the dog’s dry food which I had to order online because local shops had nothing on their shelves, forcing me to go against everything I try to be – support local!

However, there are some items I always review because I know how much it is needed. I also know how much other people dread reviewing as they see it as a huge chore, thinking they have to provide a three page critique!

Books. If I’ve taken the time to read it – I review it. The author took the time to create it for my pleasure, why would I not reciprocate the favour?

Thing is, readers really do believe they have to write an essay, and so they ‘put off’ the review, ‘do it later’ and later never comes; life is hectic, life is full of other, more interesting things. So, here’s a breakdown of what is required when reviewing books. It will come as some surprise to many…

If you have:

30 seconds

Choose how many stars you wish to give the book from 1-5 (This is actually all that is required to help the book gain attention)

1 minute

Choose the amount of stars 1-5 stars and one word to describe the book in the comments which could be any of the following: Fabulous. Unputdownable. Amazing. Hooked. Okay. Boring. Crap.

2-3 minutes

Choose the amount of stars 1-5, followed by a sentence in the comments which could be any of the following:

Absolutely incredible read!

I couldn’t put the book down once I started!

Wow, this author can write!

It was okay, kept me entertained.

I found it hard work at times, but it wasn’t too bad.

OMG! So boring I couldn’t finish it!

This book is not for me. Didn’t enjoy it.

3-5 minutes

Choose the amount of stars 1-5 followed by a short paragraph which could be any variations of the following:

Wow, this book was absolutely amazing from start to finish. I couldn’t put it down and am ordering another book from this author.

The story was very well written, the characters were 3D and well rounded, and I cared about them and hated finishing the book. I have ordered another book from this author and am excited to read it on its arrival.

Not my cup of tea. Well written and ok in places, but overall, not my genre.

This book was utterly shite and not very well written. I will not be reading anything else from this author.

If you have more than five minutes, then please, by all means, write an essay and enjoy the process, but really, 30 seconds of your time is all that is required to let that author know you enjoyed their work and cared enough to take the time to review their books.

As for reviewing other products…I’ll leave that up to you!

Enjoy your products!

P.J. Roscoe

Award-winning author of paranormal, historical novels & faerie books for children.

www.pjroscoe.co.uk