Why Reader Reviews Matter in the Digital Age

An author's insight with William B. Taylor

Writer's Insights

Q: William, why do reader reviews matter to you as an author?

William B. Taylor: I read every review I receive—not just the number of stars, but what the reader actually says.

If someone has purchased and read one of my books, I feel it is my obligation to understand what they liked, what they didn't like, and, perhaps most importantly, why.

A review gives me something that I can't get by simply looking at sales numbers. It gives me a glimpse into one reader's mind. That's a fantastic opportunity to learn and improve my work.

It doesn't matter whether the review is one star or five stars. If the reader takes the time to explain their thoughts, there is something there for me to learn.

Q: Do you look beyond the individual review?

William B. Taylor: I do. I often look at the reviewer as well.

On Amazon, anyone reading a review can look at that reviewer's previous reviews. I use that information not only as an author, but when I'm considering purchasing things myself.

For example, if someone simply gives everything five stars but never explains why, that review doesn't carry as much weight for me as someone who takes the time to explain their reasoning.

The same is true in the other direction. If someone consistently gives everything one star, I want to understand that pattern too.

I once had a one-star review from someone who didn't like one of my books because it contained a ghost. That is a perfectly valid opinion. If someone doesn't like ghost stories, they're probably not going to enjoy one of my books.

But when I looked at some of that reviewer's other reviews, I found a pattern. They had given a talking-bear movie one star because, in their words, toy bears don't talk. They had also given a non-stick frying pan one star because it was smaller than they expected.

The problem wasn't necessarily that the products were bad. Their expectations didn't match what they were buying.

That's why I say:

Don't just read the review. Read the reviewer.

A reviewer's history doesn't determine whether a review is valid. It helps me understand how much weight to give that particular opinion.

Q: Does the number of stars determine how valuable a review is?

William B. Taylor: Not at all.

A five-star review that says, “Everything is terrific! Wonderful! Amazing!” is nice to receive, but it doesn't tell me very much.

On the other hand, a three-star review that explains exactly why the reader gave my book three stars instead of five can be extremely valuable.

The same thing applies to negative reviews.

I once received a one-star review that essentially said, “The artwork on the cover doesn't match the story.” That tells me something, but it doesn't tell me much about the actual reading experience. It doesn't tell me whether the reader liked the characters, the plot, the writing, the pacing, or anything else about the story.

Compare that with a reader who tells me that they wanted a particular character to behave differently, didn't understand why a character made a particular decision, loved a particular scene, or felt the pacing slowed down somewhere.

Those details are useful.

A reviewer who tells me what they would have liked to see, what they didn't like about a character or part of the story, or what they particularly enjoyed gives me information I can actually use when writing my next book.

Maybe someday that same reader will review another book of mine and say:

“Now he's got everything right!”

That's the kind of feedback I want.

Q: Should an author respond publicly to reviews?

William B. Taylor: I learned very early that the answer is generally no.

Whether the review is good or bad, I don't think an author should get into a public conversation with the reviewer.

Even a positive review can create an unexpected problem.

I once thanked a five-star reviewer, and she apparently interpreted my response as an invitation to develop a personal relationship with me. Before long, she was sending multiple emails every day to my author email address. Eventually, I had to block her.

That taught me another lesson:

Never use your personal email address for author interactions.

Keep your personal life and your author life separate.

Negative reviews can create an even bigger problem. Engaging with someone who has left a nasty review can turn a simple negative review into an ongoing online confrontation. You don't know where that conversation is going to end.

So my philosophy is simple: read the reviews, learn from them, appreciate them—and don't fight them.

Q: How did reviews affect you emotionally when you first started receiving them?

William B. Taylor: Early on, good reviews helped answer that little voice in the back of my mind asking, “Am I good enough?”

Bad reviews could have the opposite effect. They could be unnecessarily devastating.

Over time, however, I read enough about the experiences of seasoned authors to realize that reviews are data points.

Good reviews are data points.

Bad reviews are data points.

They can help me understand my readers and improve my work.

Sometimes, of course, there is nothing you can do. Not every story is going to appeal to every reader.

No author writes something that everyone is going to love. That's simply part of being an author.

If the people who make up your core audience are enjoying your books, then you've accomplished what you set out to do.

Q: How do you decide whether a negative review contains something you should actually change?

William B. Taylor: In most cases, when someone leaves a review because the story wasn't intended for them, it is pretty obvious. They will usually explain why they didn't like it.

Sometimes it's because of an unanticipated plot twist. Other times, they simply didn't read the summary that appears on the back cover and is intended to give the reader a general idea of what the story is about.

Someone who doesn't like supernatural stories probably isn't going to like my stories. At least so far, every one of my books contains some amount of supernatural occurrence.

It would be like someone who only wants to read romance purchasing Stephen King's IT. They've chosen the wrong book for them.

That doesn't mean IT is a bad story. It means it isn't the right story for that reader.

That's all.

And an author shouldn't be upset because somebody doesn't like the kind of story they've chosen to write.

Q: Have reviews actually changed the way you write?

William B. Taylor: Absolutely.

The first thing I changed was my expectations.

I now fully expect to receive both good and bad reviews, and I understand that each can be valid.

That's a fact of life whether you're an author, an actor, a chef—whatever you do. Nobody does everything to everyone's liking all the time.

That's life.

The second thing I changed was paying much closer attention to editing. I still make mistakes, but now I try much harder to weed out as many spelling, grammar and plot problems as possible.

There will always be issues and comments about these things. Even choosing whether to write in English or American English can cause or eliminate certain spelling issues. Centre and center, for example, are both correct depending on which form of English you're using.

After my first novel, I also paid more attention to the things readers told me they liked about my stories.

I realized that readers responded to my characters, so I spent more time developing them and giving readers greater insight into what makes those characters tick.

That's something reviews have genuinely helped me understand.

The one thing I haven't figured out—and wouldn't necessarily want to figure out—is how to make my stories seem to last longer.

If readers are finishing my books quickly because they don't want to stop reading, I'm not sure that's a problem I want to solve.

I certainly wouldn't want to make a story longer if doing so made readers want to stop reading.

Q: What about readers who aren't really the author's intended audience?

William B. Taylor: I think that's something readers and authors both need to understand.

A book can be the wrong book for a reader without being a bad book.

That's important.

If you don't like supernatural stories and buy a supernatural novel, you're probably going to have a problem with the book. But that doesn't necessarily tell the author anything about the quality of the writing.

It may simply tell the author that you aren't their reader.

And that's okay.

Q: Should authors expect everyone who buys their book to leave a review?

William B. Taylor: No.

Reviews are a by-product of your work, good or bad.

You cannot force people to review something you've written. And if you try to force a review, you're going to push readers away.

Think about everyday life. People rarely run around telling everyone how happy they were that something was exactly what they wanted.

The food was good.

The service was good.

They were happy to spend their money.

They bought a new book and enjoyed the story.

Most people don't feel compelled to tell the world about those things.

But people are very happy to tell anyone and everyone how unhappy they were with a meal at a restaurant, the service they received from a car dealership, the price of gas or groceries—or almost anything else.

Complaints travel faster than computers can send emails.

Satisfaction is slower, more grounded, and less likely to share itself with the world.

So if someone reads my book, enjoys it and never leaves a review, I don't consider that a failure.

They read my book.

Hopefully, they enjoyed it.

That's already valuable.

Q: What would you say to a new author who receives their first one-star review and is devastated?

William B. Taylor: I can't tell anyone how to feel. That first bad review is going to sting.

But you need to anticipate it.

You will get some bad reviews.

Unless every single review is saying the same negative thing about your writing, read the review, learn from it if you can, and improve your writing as you go along.

If the review is actually constructive, read the criticism and be honest with yourself.

Is the reviewer right?

Can you overcome their concern and make your story a better story because of it?

If the answer is yes, then do it.

You can even republish the same story with corrections and updates. It's called a second edition, and it happens frequently.

If making those changes greatly improves your story, then that bad review has made you a better writer.

That's a pretty good outcome from a one-star review.

Q: What about the reader? Why should readers care about reviews when deciding whether to buy a book?

William B. Taylor: Reviews can certainly help a new reader decide whether to give a new book—or a new author—a chance.

When I'm looking at reviews, I want to find a common denominator. Are people consistently saying something that encourages me to try the book? Or are they consistently pointing out something that would make me decide not to spend my money?

I also look carefully at both sides of the reviews.

I want to determine for myself whether these appear to be real people leaving valid reviews, or whether something looks more like an effort to steer people away from one product in favor of another, or to artificially pump up a particular product or brand.

Neither of those is what I would call a real and trustworthy review.

But reviews aren't the only way a reader can evaluate a book.

Almost every book is now available in ebook format. They're usually inexpensive, and most offer a good-sized sample that you can read for free.

If you're still unsure, see whether your membership allows you to download the ebook for free, or check your local library.

And don't forget that your library may have a paperback or hardcover copy too.

If you like the story but really want to own a physical copy, then go out and buy it.

Books aren't cheap in hardcover or paperback anymore, so the ability to sample, borrow or test-drive a book before buying it can be a very useful option.

Q: So, after everything you've learned from receiving reviews, why do you think reader reviews matter?

William B. Taylor: Reviews matter for different reasons to different readers and authors.

For me, there are really three pillars:

Validation

Someone took the time to read your work and tell you what they thought about it. That matters.

Constructive Criticism

A thoughtful review can identify something that didn't work and give an author an opportunity to improve.

Understanding What Works

Reviews can tell an author what readers enjoyed about the story, the characters, the scenes, the writing or whatever connected with them.

Those are really my personal three pillars of why a review matters—to me as an author and to readers as well.

And maybe that's ultimately what a review is supposed to do.

It isn't supposed to tell an author that they're brilliant.

It isn't supposed to tell an author that they're terrible.

It isn't supposed to guarantee a reader that a book will be perfect for them.

It's another person's experience.

Read it. Consider it. Learn from it. And then make your own decision.

That's what makes a reader review valuable in the digital age.