Guest post by Scott Dinsmore of ReadingForYourSuccess
How do you get someone to find real value in your book review; Let alone read the book? With only 10% of books being read past the first chapter, it’s a tall order indeed.
The simple answer: you must become a ninja. Only a true master of the written word can successfully capture the all-powerful opponent: your audience.
Four years of writing reviews and summaries for ReadingForYourSuccess has taught me all kinds of ninja-like tricks. I almost exclusively cover non-fiction books that can somehow improve one’s life but what I’ve learned can be adapted to most genres. At times they’re counterintuitive at best, so pay attention.
The goals for me when writing reviews are three-fold:
1. Get them to read the review.
2. Give them something that can directly use to improve their life–Get them to take action!
3. Get them to order the book and read it cover to cover.
I've been logging my reading list at GoodReads.com for over a year, and have started writing reviews there. It's hard for me to compile a comprehensive review that provides enough content to convince someone to read the book (or not), while not giving away spoilers.
So I'm sharing this article from WritetoDone, as a resource to improve my own writing skills. Have you found any good resources to improve your own book reviews?






