Indie Book Club discussion

I write reviews for my personal blog. Can't claim to be great at it, but I strive to cover what the book includes (spoiler-free if it's fiction), ease of reading, level of immersion (for fiction) or information (for non-fiction), and, above all, how much I enjoyed it.

I try and be fair, and write so that potential readers will get a good idea of what the book's like and what its pros and cons are. At the same time, try and picture meeting the author after they've read your review and being able to defend all the good and bad you've written.

And a non-writing tip: include a picture of the cover and name it whatever the title and author names are. This may help you get more traffic. [I got a ridiculous number of hits for a Skyrim post because it had an early Khajiit/Orc picture].

I write reviews for my blog. I have been told repeatedly that I write exceptional reviews.

Since I don't write bad review (i.e. less than three stars) because I refuse to finish a bad book (i.e. I'm not wasting my time on that trash), for me, writing a review is about 1) telling a reader the elements that are characteristic of the book and 2) enticing them in to read. I tend to be vague. I also try to cover the negatives of a book as well (e.g. a few things were missed in the editing process, formatting issues, didn't have as much character background as I would like, and et cetera).

You can check out my blog for some examples to get you ideas:

http://theeternalscribe.weebly.com/1/...

Notice in my reviews, I have author bios, social media for the author, and locations to buy the books. I also include how I got the book, what file format it was and what I used to read it. I was told that you should always indicate if the book was gifted to you by the author.

I also have a review blog and have been told I write very good reviews, even by people I didn't give raves to.

To me, being honest but tactful is important. Say what you think, but you can be considerate about it. I always say something good, even on a negative review; even if its as much as acknowledging that the book wasn't for me, but might be good to someone else.

I always tackle big things. I will note editing or formatting issues, but don't grade on that. I think focusing on plot, pacing, characters and reading flow are key. Did I connect to the story and characters? Did things make sense? What was my reaction to the story?

That's how I do it, at least.

Http://boombabyreviews.miadarien.com