That universal existential struggle for book reviews has a culture within that I aspire to change. Not by activism or even force – I grew out of shouting about things in my twenties but it appears most authors shine their light forwards into the murk without realising what they could carry on their backs to aid that journey.

I’ve blogged recently about ‘Changing the Culture’ and that Culture simply put is fostered by an indirect unawareness many authors have when it comes to giving out reviews. While many get too caught up trying to get reviews there aren’t enough authors that realise giving them will eventually provide reward to their own efforts. To be successful in any industry you have to give and contribute towards it so the next time you feel that struggle for reviews, ask yourself when was the last time I contributed? Me – I base my whole presence as an author on supporting others and specifically reviewing their work is an effective way to show that.

I’m pretty sure if every indie author reviewed 5 or so books a year, that universal existential struggle would be filled in part. It’s commonly known by authors that many readers just don’t think to leave a review of a book and it can be so frustrating. These regular folk are never ever going to know how important reviews are to us creators, especially indies. So my thinking is maybe the creators need to do something about it. You can sing from the hills for readers to leave a review but they just won’t hear, so that song needs to be concentrated towards the writing community – people who know and supposedly love books should be putting in way more energy to supporting them and not just their own. As I said this isn’t an attempt at activism or even my version of being controversial, it just baffles me seeing authors complain when they haven’t reviewed someone else’s work and then wonder why nobody is reviewing theirs.

My up coming self help book is going to carry that message – leaving reviews for other authors works is the best way you can grow your presence online and come across as genuine to the point where it will market you and marketing yourself is way more important than marketing just one book. That whole change the culture thing is just one of the many themes I look to carry with this guide book while more importantly helping those in the arena. You’ll hear much more about it soon. This blog and my authoring career took a huge turn when I started reviewing books regularly back in 2018 and I haven’t looked back since. Views, follows, book sales and of course reviews have all increased since then.

So writers, many books have you reviewed recently?