Positive Amazon reviews are very important to authors, and especially to indie authors. However, not all reviews are the same. Amazon recognizes two types of reviews: customer reviews and editorial reviews. Technically, a third type of review exists, that being a review by someone that you have a relationship with, whether it be a family member, friend or peer. Amazon’s terms of service places limits on these types of reviews, and if Amazon recognizes that someone that you have a relationship with wrote a review, they may remove it. Therefore, we’re just going to consider the primary differences between customer reviews and editorial reviews.
Customer Reviews
No matter how great a book is, if it has enough customer reviews, then you will see the complete gamut in the rating from one star to five. The one star reviews may explain all the reasons that book is utter trash. The five stars, however, may detail why that book is one of the best books ever written. Since the book itself remains static, why is there such a discrepancy in the book’s ratings and reviews? You’ve certainly heard the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” right? Similarly, every reader has a different opinion. One reader may be able to overlook a few editing mistakes, while another may be irked by them. One reader might not care that the characters are shallow so long as the story is good, while another may care only about character development and not the arc of the story. To sum it up in four words, customer reviews are subjective.
Does the subjectiveness of customer reviews mean that they have little value? Not at all! On Amazon, it is the customer reviews that affect a book’s all-important star rating. And typically, customer reviews are written in a casual manner that provides readers’ personal opinions about the book. This type of writing is easy to read and can be very influential in attracting (or deterring) potential readers.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon allows authors to include editorial reviews in the editorial reviews section of their book’s page. These reviews do not affect the star rating of a book. If your star rating isn’t affected, why would you want an editorial review? There are a few reasons.
Editorial reviewers are not just casual readers, but are trained analysts that examine an author’s writing style and many technical aspects of a book, such as grammar, structure and consistency. Unlike most customers, editorial reviewers will give a high ranking to a book that they didn’t like but meets professional standards. Similarly, they will not overlook the negative aspects of a book just because they liked the story. Editorial reviews objectively evaluate your book based solely on the quality of its content. Most editorial reviews include quotable lines that are useful in marketing and promotion.
Professional authors understand the value of editorial reviews. Look at the back cover of any new book at your local bookstore or library. You will find that most of them, even the ones by popular authors that already have a solid following, include quotes from editorial reviews. The reason is obvious: readers trust editorial reviews and are influenced by them. There are several editorial reviewers available to you. Some are expensive, while others are not. Some are more prominent and have greater influence than others. With many options available to independent authors, it is important for authors to select a reviewer that fits both their budget and needs. Besides considering Indies Today’s Editorial Reviews, you can also find a thorough list of editorial reviewers that accept independent authors, along with their prices, by searching for the word “editorial” on our list of indie book reviewers.
Conclusion
Having considered the difference between customer reviews and editorial reviews, clearly they both have value but achieve slightly different purposes. Both can influence readers’ decisions on which books to purchase. And most popular books will feature an array of each. Many independent authors will agree that the success of a book depends on the number of quality, positive reviews that it has.
