Early Reader Tips and Review Notes

When and Where to Post Your Review

Where to post:

Amazon – reviews open on release day
Goodreads – reviews can be posted prior to release day
Other places to post: Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, NetGalley, Bookbub, Libby, LibraryThing, Your Social Media, Your Blog, Your Podcast

When to post:

If your review is less than three stars, please consider waiting to post your review until the book has been out for at least thirty days, as anything less than three stars in that crucial release window can be severely damaging to an indie author’s online presence.

The most helpful time to post a positive review is the first thirty days the book launches. That said, even reviews posted days, weeks, or months later are very helpful. I can’t stress this enough, your participation is incredibly important and valued by myself and the author. As reviews accumulate it provides other readers more perspective and social proof that a book is worth their time.

What Should I Write in my Review?

Your review can be super short with just one or two lines and a star rating, or it can be longer. Your review can be duplicated across all sites (just write one review and post it everywhere).

Reviews should help other readers understand what the book is about and what it’s like. Imagine you are trying to decide if you want to buy a book. What would you want to know?

If you want to write a longer review, here are some ideas: I like to focus my reviews around a summary that helps other readers. I avoid spoilers of course. And at the end, I write a one or two-line commentary about my personal opinion of the book. I usually write my entire review first, then I go back and write the headline last. I do this because the headline should really “sum up” the entire review, but sometimes I don’t know what that summing up is until after I’ve written the review. Here are a few examples of reviews that I’ve written for books:

Of course, you are welcome to write your reviews in any format you want, this is just one example of how to go about it. Go on Amazon or Goodreads and read other reviews, you will see there are various styles and methodologies for what to include.

What Not to Write

Here are a few things you should not include:

Any reference to a personal relationship or connection to the author. Focus on the book, not the author.
Your review may not be posted if bots that scan your review before it is posted see certain words. I’ve anecdotally heard to avoid writing phrases such as “in exchange for,” “advanced review copy,” or “free copy”
Avoid profanity.
Check your spelling! Especially for the book title and the author’s name.

What Star Rating Should I Give?

The short answer is that in our (subjective) opinion, anything less than three and a half stars is damaging to the author’s online presence. If you feel strongly that a book is a one, two, or three star, choosing to skip posting a review is the kindest option for fledgling authors. The long answer is that there are various rubrics for book star ratings and no one seems to use the exact same scale. In one eye-opening article about star ratings, the author explores thoughts about what we think star ratings mean versus how Amazon interprets them. Some ARC groups may provide a rubric for you to use. One review site has guidance to post a review for 4 and 5 star ratings only, otherwise to provide the author direct feedback instead. Ultimately it is up to you to choose what star rating you post (or not). If you are a frequent reader, you might search this topic on the internet and create your own rubric that you use consistently. One thing is indisputable: the ratings that help authors most are 4 and 5 star ratings.

Why is My Amazon Review Blocked?

Here is a shortlist of what “might” block reviews.

If you have ever personally shipped something on Amazon to or from the author’s address.
If your account is new and you have not purchased at least $50 on Amazon in the past
If you use certain words such as “in exchange for” or “for free,” and possibly even “advanced review copy.”

How to Read your ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) on Your Kindle or Phone

Did you know you can send PDF files and .epub files to your kindle? Once sent, it will show on all devices where you have the Kindle app (for example, your phone or your paperwhite).

Steps to get your ARC PDF file or ARC .epub file onto your Kindle and phone:

Find out your unique kindle email address where you will send the document TO. Here’s how to find your unique “Send to kindle” email address.
Figure out what approved email address you can send FROM (hint, mine is my regular email that I log into Amazon with).
Attach and send the file from your approved email to your unique “send to kindle” email address.
Wait about five minutes. Your file should show up in your library on your kindle. If you want the book to appear on your phone, download the Kindle app

Tip: You can also delete files from your kindle-just click the three dots and select delete.

Why Write a Review?

The authors featured on Egret Lakes Books website are serious about taking their careers forward with multiple books. Most of them have sequels in the works and are working to grow their following.

Reviews are the number one way you can help us get their books out to a wider audience when we release it, and grow our audiences over time. I’m a micro-publisher who relies on word-of-mouth and reviews. Each and every review helps the author and myself and I am SO grateful to you!

Thank You

Thank you for reading your ARC copy from us. I’m grateful for your time and I truly hope you enjoy these unique, independently produced books.

Egret Lake Books Advanced Reader Program

Egret Lake Books has a program for readers to receive free books before they come out. If you aren’t on my list yet – you can join here. Also please spread the word to a few friends who like to read and write reviews!

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