For those who review books, how do you rate them?

Do you go by the chart below?  Well, you do… if you review books on Goodreads.

Perhaps you put your reviews on Amazon, in which case you might (or might not) see this…

But you will definitely see this one…

There are probably several others out there… if you can write a review, you normally have to rate the book (item). The problem, though, is that there is such a difference in the rating charts.

On Goodreads, I might choose 2 stars — to show that I thought the book was ok. (For my author friends out there, don’t worry… I don’t have any 1 or 2-star reviews there). But if I choose 2 stars on Amazon, it doesn’t show that I think the book is “ok” — it tells everyone that I don’t like it!

And authors/writers watch these stars! They really do!

The cumulative ratings of all their reviews for an individual book means a lot to authors. If an author sees your review on Amazon (before they see it on Goodreads) they may get a completely different idea of how much you like their book.

Personally, in the future, I plan to be more aware of what the ratings mean, when I’m posting a review. On Amazon, I will be adding a star to signify when I love the book — and hopefully the authors out there will appreciate my reviews — and that it reflects how much I really enjoy their books.

Have a great day!

Naomi

Blog © 2016 Naomi Miller