Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

It's possible for anyone to review a book without rating it on Goodreads, and they've had that feature from the beginning.

Shomeret wrote: "It's possible for anyone to review a book without rating it on Goodreads, and they've had that feature from the beginning."

How?
Why?

If I review I want to tell my rating too. Although it should be clear from the review.

Maybe this is the other way around? It is possible to rate a book on GR without posting a review. I've seen a few of these, where the rating is two or three stars, but the reviewer doesn't add any supporting text. The result is that the author has no opportunity to understand why they were rated poorly and to learn from that. I don't think GR should allow anyone just to rate a book without a written review, even if it is only brief.

Well said, David. I agree with you, we as authors cannot provide a better product if we do not get constructive criticism.

For whatever reason, the vast majority of avid readers choose to never post a rating or review. Those that do are merely expressing their personal, and therefore subjective, opinion. One reader's Best book ever! may very well be another reader's Worst book ever! which is why astute readers seldom base their purchasing choice upon reviews.

Readers post reviews to share their opinion with other readers, not the author. Novice authors would be better served by striving to continuously improve upon their basic writing, promotion, and marketing skill set rather than obsessing over reviews.

All legitimate literary books and periodicals often stress the fact that, contrary to what some believe, sales drive reviews, not the other way around.

Very few novice authors ever achieve commercial success within this extremely competitive field. That said; some have. There is no reason why you might not eventually become one of them. I wish you success.

D.R. wrote: "Well said, David. I agree with you, we as authors cannot provide a better product if we do not get constructive criticism."

That is what editors are for. Maybe even a beta reader.