I was reading Andy Gavin's The Darkening Dream recently. Upon completing the novel, I came across a polite request to re-visit the retailer where I purchased the novel (in eBook format, in this case) in order to leave a review. This tactic is not new. But is it effective? Mr. Gavin's got a lot more reviews than I do (190 ratings/103 reviews on Goodreads), so either it does work or he's just better at selling (probably both).
The only way to find out if this approach will work for me is to try it, so I added this to the end of The Hall of the Wood:
If you enjoyed The Hall of the Wood, please consider taking a few moments to leave a review or rating at the retailer where you purchased it. Your comments help other readers discover great new reads and really do matter.
And something similar to The Five Elements:
If you enjoyed The Five Elements, please consider taking a few moments to leave a review or rating at the retailer where you purchased it. Your comments help other readers discover great new reads and really do matter.
I keep meaning to write up a post on my thoughts regarding why reviews are important. I went on a little about why I've stopped reading them, but not talked about their importance to authors and readers alike. Perhaps every time I sit down to write it up it just seems obvious to me why they're important. In a nutshell, reviews help readers make decisions. Good, bad, meh… they all matter. Though in the same way too many 1 star reviews can raise a red flag, so too can too many 5 star reviews. So much so that some readers are placing a higher importance on middle-of-the-road reviews to avoid the haters on one end and shills on the other.
As far as this new blurb at the end of my novels goes, I figure it can't hurt. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Oh, and if you have read one of my books and haven't left a review, please go do so now. :-)