by USA Today Bestselling Author Kristin Holt
Sending a heartfelt THANK YOU
to all who read (at least one story) and reviewed our annual boxed set: Sweet Christmas Kisses 4.
Have you
seen the reviews?
As of this
morning, the bundle has 121 customer
reviews on Amazon, with an average of 4.8 stars
(out of 5)! The bundle has 85 ratings
and 60 reviews on Goodreads, with
a 4.65 average (out of 5)!
Add
to that 18 reviews on Barnes and Noble
(4.4 star average), 7 reviews on Kobo
(4.3 star average), 10 reviews on Google
Play (4.6 star average), and 3 five-star reviews on iBooks.
Outstanding!!
Thank
you, thank you to each and every one of you who took the time and effort to
leave a review.
Why Are Reviews A Big
Deal?
In
late September, MonaRisk posted a random sampling of reviews already posted for Sweet Christmas Kisses 4. These brief,
heartfelt reviews provide an important element book buyers look for: Social
Proof. In a nutshell, Social Proof = "many other readers have
purchased, and enjoyed, this book". In addition, reviews that verify what
the book claims to be (sweet, clean, wholesome romance) helps new-to-us readers
trust, and give the book a try.
Do
you recall Donna Fasano's Sweet Romance Reads post in January of last year? In
her article How To Write a Book Review, she wrote, "Reviews give books visibility.
Your review helps a book find readers, but the reverse is also true; your
review will help readers find a book. It only takes a few minutes, and authors
and readers alike will appreciate your effort."
I
wrote a blog post, similar to Donna's, about the simplicity of writing book reviews. I hope you'll take a peek, because I share my honest
opinion--reviews should be honest, and that often means fewer than 5 stars.
All
reviews, no matter the length, no matter the star-count, make a positive contribution.
- To readers.
- To authors.
- To commerce (did you know authors can't buy advertisements until the title has a minimum number of reviews?).
- To visibility ("...there's evidence that Amazon might boost the visibility of books that have more reviews." ~Cassie Hayes).
Thank
you, thank you, thank you. I'm not one of the fourteen contributing authors of
this year's Sweet Christmas Kisses bundle, but that doesn't decrease my
gratitude to each and every reviewer. I hope my distance from this project
serves only to encourage you to continue writing reviews.
Not
one who reviewed this bundle? This little P.S. is just for you:
1. Did you know you can
review just ONE title within the bundle? Read your favorite author's novella
within, and make note of it in your review.
2. Take the plunge! Short
and sweet works very well. Your review needn't be long. Include what you'd like to know
if you stumbled across the offering on your favorite eBook retailer site.
3. Be honest. (If you
didn't like something about one or more of the books in any bundle, explain
why. Other readers will thank you!)
4. There are no right and
no wrong 'answers'.
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Copyright
© 2017 Kristin Holt LC
