The Importance of Book Reviews
Monday, April 30th, 2012During the last three years people have been buying substantially less literature. With the world having less expendable income in their pockets and the invention of kindles improving internet sales, the reading market isn’t what it was. Your round the corner shop is struggling while kindle readers are everywhere. This makes one wonder whether there’s been a change in the function of book reviews in current markets.
There are various different kinds of reviews and, according to the more discerning reader, they are far from equal. The reader of high literature respects the opinions of university publications while damning the relevance of every other media. This opinion is questionable since most people read at a lower level and are influenced primarily by appraisals published on the web. Purely through numbers, this latter group proves internet publications more effective in selling literature.
Discerning readers view appraisals written for web as substandard and while both this group of readers and readers of more popular fiction agree that opinions in print media are respectable, larger numbers are consulting the internet. What’s important is the quantity of novels leaving the shelves, what’s making them move and not the academic importance of the review.
Journalists’ and writers’ opinions aside, what is it exactly that causes people to choose one book above another? In the old days the usual habit of a reader was to take a trip to their brick and mortar store and ask for the shop assistant’s opinion, who probably had a good idea of the tastes of his clients. Sales were done face to face.
Opinions garnered from friends were as important. Novelists were reliant on personal communication to sell their work. Things have changed now and readers prefer to make their choices in front of their computers, with the use of a few clicks. Opinions about books published on the internet have become increasingly influential.
However, authors don’t seem to mind whether they receive a negative or a positive appraisal, as long as they receive a write up. It seems that a good review might push a novel’s popularity through the roof, a negative one won’t make too much of a difference. All advertising is good advertising.
While internet book reviews have risen in importance with the advent of kindles, these write ups will benefit the sales of a novel whether they’re good or bad. It’s crucial to the market that readers are able to shop from their living rooms and what the internet says about books is an important part of this process.
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