Review Envy: How Many Amazon Reviews Do You Have?

Densie Webb

All published authors experience some degree of author envy. Any author who says “not me!” is either covering up their real feelings or they’re in serious denial. The topic of author envy has been written about confessionally by any number of authors—even accomplished authors who would seem to have no reason to be envious of others.

But there’s one aspect of author envy that’s seldom openly discussed. And that’s “review envy.” It’s something every author feels, but few of us discuss, even among fellow authors—at least not explicitly, as in “Why does she has 2,000 reviews and I only have 20?” In fact, it’s considered rather poor author etiquette to bemoan that fact. I heard an author once complain that she “only” had 1,000 reviews and ratings on Goodreads. I think I cocked my head like a dog hearing a high-pitched whistle. 

Book sales are grand, of course, but book reviews and ratings on Amazon or Goodreads (and increasingly on BookBub) also determine in large part an author’s ability to grab the attention of readers, of publishers, of agents, and ultimately be able to sell the next book.  The sage advice most often given to authors is “Don’t read your reviews.” You might as well add to that, “Don’t look at your numbers.”

While some authors actually heed that advice—mostly successful authors, who don’t have as much skin in the game at this stage of their careers—some of us obsess over the number of reviews and stars we get, and then inevitably compare our numbers to other authors we know, admire, or aspire to. Needless to say, it’s a bad idea. Even a tad masochistic, depending on how low your number and how disheartening your reviews. 

But I am here to openly confess that I fall into the obsessive category. I’m not going to tell you how many times a day I check to see if I have a new rating or review. I even go so far as to check Amazon in other countries—Canada, UK, Australia, Spain, India. Suffice it to say, if you knew the extent of my obsessive checking, you’d likely suggest that therapy might be in order.

Along with that, I have a hobby of checking reviews of writers I know and love to see how they’re coming along—not to foment envy, but to cheer them on. I’ve heard the rumor, which most authors I know have heard, that getting 50 reviews on Amazon pushes you up the exposure ladder. But I’ve also been told that’s hogwash. Fifty reviews are just 50 reviews.

Before I start throwing out real numbers, I’ll tell you that as of today (it’s been less than an hour since I checked), I have 147 reviews and ratings on Amazon for my women’s fiction novel, WHEN ROBINS APPEAR. To me, that feels like success. But success is relative. Some authors’ numbers are stratospheric. I had to do a double take on the top tier listed below. It’s also worth noting that the majority of the books I’ve included in my list have been or are being made into movies, which speaks to their broad appeal. 

I did a bit of reviews-and-ratings research on Amazon and this is what I found in a random search of popular novels. (Note that the number of reviews and ratings for these books can increase by the hour, so these numbers are unlikely to be valid for long.): 

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens—133,575

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins—85,971

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah—68,791

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn—62,141

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green—56,266

Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James—55,266

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr—47,956

The Martian by Andy Weir—43,764

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt— 38,372

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins—36,703

Outlander (Book 1) by Diana Gabaldon—35,171

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty—34,369

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak—29,413

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown—26,771

The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis—25,142

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline—23,208

Twilight 17,447 (I expected it to be in the top ten, but I figure maybe readers of Twilight, especially young readers, are simply less likely to leave reviews)

While incredibly impressive, all of these Amazon numbers dwarf in comparison with some Goodreads review numbers. For example, Midnight Library by Matt Haig has 379,404 Goodreads reviews and ratings. (That’s not a typo.) That’s equal to the entire population of Fort Collins, Colorado rating his novel. 

To put my own number to that scale, it’s like me making $1,000 a year in royalties and comparing myself to someone making $2.5 million a year in royalties. I can wish I made $2.5 million a year. But it’s not something I feel bad about not achieving. (But then, I do have other sources of income.) Anyone remember the show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? Checking out uber successful authors’ reviews and numbers is kind of like watching that show. You know you’ll never reach that level of success, but it’s fun to live vicariously. 

My advice, which clearly goes against common wisdom, is if you deem yourself thick-skinned enough, read both yours and other authors’ reviews, especially reviews of books you’ve read. Dismiss the mean-spirited one-star reviews. They’ve clearly got issues. But reading other authors’ reviews reveals the fact that even the most celebrated authors have horrible reviews sprinkled among the accolades. Most importantly, reviews can be informative. I look at them as input for my next novel.  You can learn what readers respond to and what they turn away from. So, those reader reviews that you’ve been avoiding up until now? They just might help you write your next novel in a way that moves you up a rung or two on the Amazon-review ladder next time around.

Or you can ignore my advice. After all, what do I know—I’ve only got 147 reviews. ☺

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The fiction bug bit her several years ago and she now has three novels, You’ll Be Thinking of Me, Le Reméde and When and Robins Appear. She also recently had her essay: “Boob Job Regrets: In Appreciation of Your Previously Small Chest,” included in an anthology compiled by Randy Susan Meyers, titled Women Under Scrutiny: An Anthology of Truths, Essays, Poems, Stories & Art. All proceeds from the anthology go to Rosie’s Place in Boston, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women. And her flash fiction piece, The Prank, was in the top ten finalists for Women on Writing’s Summer 2019 Flash Fiction contest.

Website: www.densiewebb.com

Facebook: Densie L. Webb

Twitter: @dlwebb

WHEN ROBINS APPEAR

With a lucrative freelance career and a loving family, Deborah Earle has a life many women would envy. But her daughter, Amanda, is heading to college soon, and Deborah worries about having an empty nest. She thinks another child might be the answer. Her husband, Richard, however, may not be willing to start over so late in life.

Amanda is excited about attending NYU next year, but she meets Graham, a handsome older boy, falls hard, and considers postponing her education to stay close to him. Her mother takes an instant dislike to Graham, but Amanda refuses to let her keep them apart.

As Deborah watches her daughter rush headlong toward heartache on an all-too-familiar path, the secrets lurking in Deborah’s past continue to echo in her present. When tragedy strikes, Deborah faces a future she could never have imagined.

 

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips