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5 Quick Tips for Writing Great Book Reviews

Affiliate marketers working with books and other publications often find themselves thrust into the role of book reviewer, as some of the best, most natural content for affiliate sites devoted to books are book reviews. While book reviews may be a natural fit, writing them doesn't always come easy, especially when it comes to writing "good" book reviews. With some of the quick tips below, though, you'll be writing great book reviews in no time.

1) Write about what you know.

It's great advice for writers and equally good advice for anyone looking to polish their book reviewing skills. It's impossible to review every book published each year, so stick to topics and subjects that you know about and are interested in. If you're a huge tennis fan but have never cooked a meal in your life, look to review the new autobiography by Andre Agassi but stay away from reviewing a French cuisine cookbook. Enthusiasm and knowledge are hard to fake, and your book reviews will shine if you stick to topics near and dear to your heart.

2) Do your research.

Good book reviews don't just focus on the text itself, but on the context as well. While it'd be easy enough to say "This is a great book, I liked it a lot and you will too," that really doesn't tell the reader of the review much as far as helping them decide whether or not to buy and read the book. Something like "This book is very well written and does a great job of capturing the atmosphere of the Beat generation in the US" is a bit better, but it still sits in a vacuum. What you want to shoot for are reviews along the lines of "Just like "On the Road" and "The Dharma Bums", this book explores the world of the Beat Generation in the US, weaving a narrative thread through the lives of major figures such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and others." Try to work in details about the author into the review as well, as readers of book reviews tend to like to know quirky details about authors, their body of work, and other similar details.

If you're groaning and thinking that the above requires real work, well, yes indeed, it does. But no one said writing good book reviews was easy, and your book reviews will be much improved if you do the necessary research to put the book into a larger, more familiar context to readers.

3. Don't be shy.

This isn't hard for some people, but the book review format allows you to be open and honest and speak your mind. Sometimes that means you only have raving compliments and great things to say, but it also means that you'll have to be harsh at other times as well. Occasionally being negative is part of the job as a book reviewer, and is actually an important part of being a successful book reviewer. Readers of the review are looking to you for advice, and if you're always positive and rosy they'll quickly pick up on that and realize that you're not being objective and are simply trying to sell them a book, with each and every review.

4. A little plot goes a long way.

Part of your job as a book reviewer is to describe what the book's about, but don't get bogged down in describing every little detail and plot twist. This means more work for you as the reviewer (as it's easier to just flesh out the bulk of the review by describing the action in the book), but readers will appreciate the effort. Quickly describe the topic or plot of the book but then get along to the real meat of the review, which is where you express your opinion about the book and persuade the reader of the review to check out the book themselves or avoid it.

5. State the obvious.

Always be sure to mention the author's name and book title in the first paragraph of your review, and try to include some actual samples or quotes from the book in your review. Also include the main theme of the book in the first paragraph, so that readers are immediately grounded and know exactly who and what the review is about. While quotes and snippets of text from the book aren't necessary, they're a great way to augment your opinions and conclusions in your reviews, as readers are more convinced when they see direct evidence of what you're discussing.

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