Amazon and Goodreads: Guidelines for Reader Reviews

by Carla Douglas

@CarlaJDouglas

Image by SalFalko (CC BY-NC 2.0) 

Buying a book is sort of like going to the movies -- Amazon and Goodreads reviews invite us to try our luck, on the chance that we'll find a few hours of entertainment in exchange for a small price. 

A few months ago, my friend, Janice Kirk, had a pretty exciting run on Amazon with a couple of her ebooks. Together with co-author Gina Buonaguro, the pair have written a growing list of romance and genre titles. They published their first book, The Sidewalk Artist, in 2006, and they haven't looked back. Most recently, The Wolves of St. Peter's was published by HarperCollins this past April.

Needless to say, “exciting run on Amazon” means dollars, and it’s been fun to watch this action from the sidelines. When I asked Janice what role reader reviews may have played in their success, she didn’t hesitate.

“When readers don’t like a book,” she said, “they go straight to Amazon and say things like ‘This book is boring and predictable. Don’t waste your time.’ But when readers really like a book, they email us directly, saying things like ‘I loved this story – I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait until your next book is finished.’ So we reply and say, ‘Thank you! Would you mind copying and pasting that message into an Amazon review?’”

I suspect a similar scenario is played out with other authors and their readers. It fits with what we know about human nature – people will go to a fair amount of trouble to complain; not so much to praise.

Are reader reviews the equivalent of the complaints department, then? They can be, depending on the book and the reviewer. Both Amazon and Goodreads invite readers to freely share their opinions, good and bad. And for both sites, the guidelines are pretty straightforward: 

Click to enlarge. To see a full list of review guidelines, go to the General Review Creation Guidelines page on Amazon and the Review Guidelines page on Goodreads.

Both sites provide a review forum in order to help other readers decide what to read next – Amazon is about buying; Goodreads is about reading. Of note, Amazon includes tips for writing a review: be specific and say why you liked or disliked a book. By contrast, Goodreads provides sample sentences you might use in a negative review: “This guy can’t write a lick,” or “This book is absolute trash.” And Amazon’s word count range does make you look twice: between 20 words (about one sentence) and 5000 words (about 20 pages!). Really?  

When all is said and done, reviews on either site may or may not be helpful to readers choosing their next book. The sites do, however, provide a place to talk about books, and this is not a bad thing.

Whether and how traffic on the review forums drives sales is another question. A book – especially many ebooks – is a pretty small investment. In some ways book marketing, promotions and reviews are inviting us to try our luck – take a chance on a book and in exchange maybe experience a few hours’ enjoyment. Sort of like going to the movies. Fair enough.

Related Posts 

Amazon and Goodreads Updated Guidelines for Reader Reviews (September 2013)
Goodreads vs. Amazon Customer Reviews - What's the Difference?
How to Write an Online Review
What Makes a Good Title?