part0024

'Prolonged, indiscriminate reviewing of books is a quite exceptionally thankless, irritating and exhausting job. It not only involves praising trash but constantly inventing reactions towards books about which one has no spontaneous feeling whatever.' George Orwell

This section gives lots of links and websites that will help you to understand about different reviews and writing. However, as mentioned in a previous chapter, Amazon, may frown upon any regular connections with authors and they do not like ‘paid’ reviews. In theory, even giving a book is a payment .

Top 10 Book Review Blogs For Book Readers and Authors

There are literally hundreds more blogs on the web, and I can't log them all, but do a Google or Bing search on book blogs or book bloggers. Check out the different styles. Some book bloggers only focus on one genre, like children's books or YA (Young Adult), but others could blog about any genre or issues relating to books.

A Blogger may not review a book at all. They may just blog about release dates, or new books by popular authors, but most will review the books as well. A lot of book reviewers have blogs as well, but they also post their reviews to other sites. Their interest in books and helping authors seems to be their driving force, but they soon can have a large following themselves.

Some Facebook Groups to check out. If you want to join a group just click on the join button, but make sure you have read the group rules first. In most groups you have to wait for one of the administrators to accept your application before you can post or interact with other members. Some groups have thousands of members.

Use the Facebook search facility and check the Group bar and type in 'book, reviewer, or free books, promotions, and similar words and you will find lots to keep you busy for hours.

Okay, so, this is me signing off. I hope if you have ever considered reviewing a book and never got round to it, you may now feel more confident. With the templates and grading system that I have demonstrated, you can see how easy it is to start simple and build up a review. There is a demand for reviews on a lot of reviewing web pages and directly from authors. You could start your own Facebook page or blog. Just put the word book in the title and you will start attracting readers and authors straight away. If you join a book group, just offer to review a book. Try to do it within a week and I advise starting off with a genre that you would enjoy. Aim for a hundred words or a hundred and fifty if you think you can manage it. Look at other reviews for help and tips. If you want to charge for a review, then you need to be discreet, as Amazon frowns on it and may remove your review. If you have been given a book for reviewing purposes then make sure you declare that in the first line, if possible.