Why Book Reviews Matter: 10 Reasons Every Reader Should Leave a Review

From Edie: Tammy Karasek reminds us why book reviews matter and how leaving a simple review can support authors, guide other readers, and help great books reach a wider audience.

Why Book Reviews Matter: 10 Reasons Every Reader Should Leave a Review

by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam

Writers often talk about book reviews and how to get them. Today, I’m taking a step back and offering up some of the reasons why we all need to leave those book reviews. There are many reasons, but below are a few to help you see why your review of a book for an author is necessary. They’re not in any particular order of importance—they’re all important!

Top 10 Reasons Everyone Should Leave Book Reviews

• 1. A review helps prospective readers get a feel for how well the book was received. 

• 2. Reviews help an author know that their heart and soul that went into the book was enjoyed or helped someone—depending on fiction or nonfiction. But either could guide someone for a closer relationship with God, if that’s part of the book. 

• 3. If an author is traditionally published, it lets their publisher know readers liked their book and would want more by this author. This could mean more contracts for the author.

• 4. If they are independently published, it gives the indie author a boost to keep going. 

• 5. A simple, couple-sentence review doesn’t take a lot of your time, but adds a lot of value to the book and the author as well.

• 6. It doesn’t cost you any money to leave a review on any of the book retailer sites. 

• 7. Many sites allow you to copy and paste your review from another site, which saves you time, and enables you to share the review to other spots quickly. However, I do recommend you take a few seconds and change the “title” of your review, tweak the wording or add something else you thought of. 

• 8. With the number of books published each year, more and more people are reading through reviews before they decide to click the “Add to Cart” button and purchase.

• 9. The short review, telling a reader what you liked about the book is helpful and quick to do. Writing three or more long paragraphs are not often read and will discourage you for the time it takes. 

• 10. As a launch team manager, my recommendation for your review is this: 1) write an honest review, 2) say what you liked about the book, 3) share a takeaway, how you were impacted or favorite one-liner, and 4) tell the reader if you recommend the book. That’s it.

The list above is a few of the reasons you should make it a habit to leave a book review for any book you read, whether you participate on a launch team or not. Those reviews are valuable to authors, yes, but also to readers looking for a new-to-them book or even author. 

What would you add to the list above? Do you regularly read books, then leave a review shortly after you’ve read it so you don’t forget to write that review?

Let’s talk about book reviews!

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Why Book Reviews Matter: 10 Reasons Every Reader Should Leave a Review from @TickledPinkTam on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and show them The Reason to smile. From down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life, she believes there’s always a giggle ready to release! 

Tammy writes romance—with a splash of sass. Her book, Launch That Book, re-released December, 2025. She’s also published in several compilations: Sustaining Life’s Victories, The PAC Method for Writers, and Cool-inary Moments. She’s also a regular writing team member for The Write Conversation, Blue Ridge Writer’s Conference Blog, The Write Editing, New Mercies Café, and The Word on Wednesday. Contact: HTTPS://WWW.TAMMYKARASEK.COM.