Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Power of a Review

Carol Barrowman reviewed my book this weekend. To a lot of authors, this is a big deal to begin with. The review was a rave, and I really appreciated it.

But what I couldn't have foreseen was the impact it would have on my sales. Witness to Death had been doing decent sales before the review came out. I was happy with how my foray into the ebook world had gone.

But then the review came out.

And sales exploded. In 4 days, I've sold close to 400 books.

GalleyCat picked up the story.

So, long story short, this was HUGE for me.

Before this weekend, I didn't know how important reviews are. From now on, they are VERY important to me. Good or bad.

And they're not just there to feed (or damage) my ego.

So, readers, how important are reviews to you?

Thank you so much, Carol Barrowman. I really, truly appreciate it.

6 comments:

Gerald So said...

Reviews are important to me insofar as they address what interests me about a particular book. For instance, how did Jeffery Deaver's CARTE BLANCHE go about bringing James Bond into the present day? What did reviewers think of that?

Given the reviews I've read and what I like about Bond, I'm not sure I would like the changes Deaver made. It hasn't been enough to put me off buying the book entirely, but I have passed up CARTE BLANCHE a couple of times now in favor of books I knew I'd get into right away.

Reviews have a definite impact on sales, but an author has no control over whether he gets good or bad reviews. An author has the most control over how much effort goes into writing the book.

Congrats on the review, Dave. Keep writing.

Dana King said...

Great news, Dave. Keep the roll going.

Thomas Pluck said...

Congrats, Dave. Who says newspapers, and criticism are dead? They still have a huge impact.

Chris Rhatigan said...

Congrats, Dave. Glad your excellent book is getting the attention it deserves.

There are certain folks whose opinion I trust and I go to them for reviews. If Nigel Bird says he digs something, chances are that I will too.

Diana said...

Congratulations, Dave!

To be honest, I don't usually read book reviews. I haven't had a whole lot of success finding books that I personally enjoy reading. But I'm weird like that.

Mike Dennis said...

Great news, Dave. And a great review. Keep it up.