Angela Day's Blog: Jackson's Bridge Series | Author's Log

Before I became an indie author, I hardly ever left a book review. Now I'm on the other side of the reader/writer equation, I am awake to the opportunities I have to help someone out. Leaving reviews is such a small thing to do, is so satisfying personally, and has far-reaching consequences through the ripples of positivity that are sent out into the world.

I have done some soul searching, and I’ve discovered why I never lieft reviews:

1. I didn't know how to do it
2. I didn't want to do it from my eReader
3. Other people had already left reviews
4. I worried I wouldn't be as articulate as others (and I've been a writer for over 20 years!)
5. When I thought I would, I never got around to it
6. I didn't want to leave a negative review
7. I didn't realize my one review would make such a big difference

But this is what I've learned:

1. I can make someone's day with a bunch of thoughtful words!!
2. I can tell my favorite authors what I loved about their story, and they will take notice
3. I look at reviews myself before I purchase a book—so they do matter!
4. I don't have to love every book I read, and I don't have to leave a negative review—no one can make me!
5. I began to see a simple pattern emerge for writing simple, helpful reviews
6. I needed to develop a simple habit and a simple system to make it easier
7. My one review actually does make a difference, because the sum of all reviews is greater than any one review/part—more is better for both authors and readers

I was the lucky recipient of a number of generous reviews when I published my first book, Letting Go, and it opened my eyes to a whole other world I didn't know existed within the book community. I already knew that most indie authors and readers were awesome people, but this was next level.

It's common practice for authors to provide an advanced copy of a book in order to receive an honest review (an Advanced Reader Review). It's common and accepted because it helps the author know if they've hit the mark, and it helps other readers find—and have the confidence to purchase—books they're likely to enjoy.

Think about it, how often do you buy a book without glancing at reviews—even if it is simply the average star rating? When I became conscious of it, I realized it was a key step in my consumer behavior. So that means reviews are important for me as a reader, which means if I place a review, it will be important for other readers, too. In fact, its pretty essential.

Now that I have a book in the marketplace, I scan reader reviews to see what they loved, so I can provide more of that in the next stories. I'm not talking about specific plots—I'm talking about words that speak to the reader's experience, like emotion and tone and style, and whether the story moved them in the ways I hoped it would. Before my reviews, I was so worried my story had overplayed some aspects and underplayed others. The reviews have given me the courage to keep writing as I am, and to know there is a market for my particular style.

I had almost no idea what keywords to put as metadata for the book, so the algorithms and search engines could help me get my book to the right readers, but the reviews readers left clearly told me—thank goodness!

Quantity matters too—for authors as much as readers. Retailers are full of incredible algorithms that mine the data from your purchasing and reviewing activity to give you more of what you love. They also utilize your reviews to give other readers more of what they love—it's a win-win. Your one reader review can start a landslide, tip the scale, get the ball rolling, light the fuse or spark a revolution. The sum IS greater than the parts—think snowball effect.

It's feels exciting, doesn't it? The reader is SO important for an author, and has the power to make or break a book launch, influence the long tail sales effect, and make bestsellers out of the books they love.

Which brings me to the actual doing of the thing: actually leaving a review.

I always thought I had to be eloquent or poetic or have some unique perspective on the story I'd read in order to leave a review. Wrong. Of course you can, but it's not essential. I've looked around and found this common format which gives me some structure, and makes the words come more easily:

* [star rating]
* [Brief comment on what you thought about the book that reflects the star rating.]
* [Brief overview of the story—pick a character arc or a plot line, whatever. Use the back cover blurb or other reviews to spark inspiration. Think keywords, universal fantasies, tropes, and settings. This is to prove that you actually read the book, especially if you were provided a free advanced copy to help you to review—the bots need evidence that you're not a bot too!]
* [How it made you feel or words that others might use to search]
* [Final comment designed to spur people who would like this book to read the book, too]

Whatever you put will be fine—but perhaps leave out the spoilers!

This is not about selling, it's about authenticating. Authors and readers are a community, and this practice is symbiotic—it helps everyone.

Some people leave reviews as a standard practice, as if it is their life mission, and while I didn't understand this before, I'm quickly becoming a convert! Which leads me to 'how to make it a habit' and 'how to organize myself to do it'.

There will be many, many ways of doing this, but I was inspired by finding out that some regular reviewers and ARC reviewers keep records. Yes, they do!

This is what I do now that I've decided to make leaving reviews a practice for myself:

1. I have scheduled an hour a week to reviews, and in that hour I—
2. I load my current reading and To Be Read books into GoodReads so I have an anchor of sorts. That means the books are already there, ready when I'm ready to place a review
3. I add past reads and a short review—and I add recent reads and a review
4. Then I copy and paste that review to my place of purchase, like Amazon or Kobo or Google or—
5. You could go a step further and email your review directly to the author, which is an incredible thing for an author to wake up to in the morning!
6. And go even further still by sharing your review on your social media. You can do this by sharing your GoodReads review page.

That's it!

This practice has the bonus of creating a record of my reading, which I find incredibly satisfying, and you can go a little further to set yourself a reading challenge for the year to track your progress. The process above makes this really easy, so that's a win.

You could also keep a spreadsheet with everything in it if that's your pleasure.

And if I still haven't brought you across the line on taking a moment to leave a review, consider this: with just a few words and clicking a few stars, you are leveling up your part in the bookish community, and putting a little more positivity out into the world, which is something really special.

And another cool thing is that they all add up—one a week quickly becomes 52 in a year, and that's a lot of good vibes!

And in case you missed it, there's no rule that says you need to leave a negative review. Pick the star level you're comfortable with, and set that as your personal benchmark for the reviews you're willing to leave.

So what are you waiting for? Go book an recurring hour in your weekly schedule to start placing book reviews!

Join me on a personal journey as I share the inspirations that sparked the creation of the Jackson’s Bridge Series. From everyday moments to profound experiences, discover the genesis of these engaging stories, where resilient people overcome contemporary issues on a daily basis within a charming small community located in Colorado.

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Jackson's Bridge seems as real to me as Virgin River does to anyone who loves Robyn Carr's stories and Netflix show, and it's difficult to know exactly how it started evolving in my thoughts. But I am sure that growing up within the agricultural engine room of New Zealand's Canterbury Plains has a lot to do with writing about a small town set in Colorado. You can read more about my thoughts on that at https://www.angeladaybooks.com/about

The romantic idea of wooden cabins nestled on lakefronts, deep and slow-moving rivers that wind their way through the land and communities, huge mountains that provide a dramatic backdrop to the lives of the people who live beneath them, and distinct seasons that mark the year—all of these things are not only inspirational, they feel like home to me. (I currently live in the subtropics of New Zealand's Far North, with rolling hills full of dormant volcanoes and beaches that look like they should be on postcards—so things couldn't be more different!). And although Colorado and Canterbury have their similarities, Colorado is on a much larger scale and that is awe inspiring!

I have lived my life in and around small communities and understand that they are networks of people who juggle multiple roles and responsibilities, alongside their individual wounds, dreams and desires. Real life is not so far from fiction! Through writing about the characters who have come to life for me, it's my way of saying that I understand and appreciate how each of us are different. That's okay. And by writing about a community that acts—on the whole—for the community, trying to right the wrongs and return things to an equilibrium, that's my way of saying I know we are all in this together, no matter how things feel or may look from our different perspectives.

The stories I write are emotional, cathartic and explorative of being human and I think that this is why I write. All of these aspects—the scenery, the people and their connections, the vast landscapes—result in building a bigger picture, giving us a slower pace, the feeling that we have time to think, connect, heal and build. It's such a positive place to put yourself in, so why wouldn't we?

I hope you'll join me in Jackson's Bridge with the series of inspirational and resilient characters, and spectacular settings. The endings are always satisfying, and either happy ever after or at least happy for now.

For a free short read, visit https://www.angeladaybooks.com to download "One Night in Jackson's Bridge", where you become the main point-of-view character within the community that I hope you'll love just as much as I do.

Letting Go: Book One in the Jackson's Bridge Series