Add Your Two Cents

"This book was excellent."
"This book turned out to be as vivid and attention grabbing as the picture on the cover."
"It's hard to put down your Kindle while reading this book."
"You can't help but like Rose and Peter and I eagerly await the next installment to find out what happens to both of them and their family."
"I fell instantly in love with Rose and I found myself being so sad when the book was over."
Those are excerpts from reviews of my ebook "Rose Of Skibbereen", posted on the Amazon Kindle site. I am happy that readers like the story and characters, and I'm glad that some of them are posting reviews.
Online reviews are like manna for an indie author. We don't have the traditional publishers behind us, with their big marketing budgets, and most of us are doing this on a shoestring. We work hard every day to get the word out about our books, and online reviews can give us a big boost.
Think about it. When you buy a book online, do you read the reviews? I do. Some of them are helpful and some aren't, but I always read them. I feel that if other readers have taken the time to write a review, I should find out what they have to say. It also gives the book more credibility when you see that readers have put their opinion of it in writing. A book with no reviews makes you pause before considering whether you'll buy it.
The online booksellers all know the value of reviews. Amazon sends an email within days after you've purchased a book from them, asking if you want to post a review of it. They know that people want to see reviews before they buy a book, so they try to encourage readers to post them.
So, I'm making a plea to anyone who buys "Rose Of Skibbereen": Leave a review. I don't care if you leave a negative review, and I don't care if it's only a one sentence review. Anything you post is appreciated, because it shows that you were engaged with the book, and you took the time to post your opinion about it. That's good for authors, good for readers, and good for the future of digital publishing (especially as it pertains to the small, independent guys like me).
Put your two cents in. Register an opinion. It helps us all.