How to Write a Book Critique

Complaining is easy to do, but giving constructive reviews to help an author is another. Treat a book critique the way you'd hope someone would treat your book critique if you wrote a book.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Website or publication to post review
• Book to review

1. Read the entire book. Do not rate a book unless you can read it in its entirety. It's not fair to the author, and your review will be slanted because you have not given the book a 100 percent chance.

2. Find a reputable website or publication to create your review in, such as Amazon.com or BN.com. Rating a book on a website that no one has ever heard of will not do the author any good. Pick a website where the book is sold, not a random blog or your own website. Although it may bring some attention to your site, the review will have less traffic.

3. Write pros and cons in your review. A review with only compliments is suspicious to other readers and will probably make them think you are a relative of the author, but too many cons may make readers think you're a high school rival.

4. Make your review clear. "This book rules," or "This book sucks" does not tell a reader why you liked or didn't like the book. If the book sucked, explain what you didn't like in the book and where you became lost. If you enjoyed the book, point out what the author did to keep you reading or what was the ultimate reason to make you want to continue reading the book.

5. Do not give the entire summary of the book. Doing this is like someone telling a person how a movie ended, and it takes all the fun out of a potential reader checking out the book. Common sense will play into this. Anything that you feel was a surprise to you will probably be a surprise to the next reader, so either don't mention it, or be very careful with your words. For example, say, "After Montie threw the wedding cake at her laptop, I knew what Brian would do next. It was so exciting that I had to reread that chapter.").

[Shamontiel]

on 10/14/2008 Najo, that decision is up to you. The only person who can tell you who can write your story is you, but I'd suggest you find an author who is as interested in your story as you are instead of someone who'd just do it for pay.

[najo]

on 10/8/2008 I have so much to say about todays events as a middle-aged woman of color. I'd love to put in print my life's extraordinary experiences with knowledgable and sometime inciteful, but informative reading. Please help me find someone who will aid me in getting my story out there.