How To Write A Book Blog Review1) Introduce the Subject, Scope, and Type of Book
- Identify the book by author and title.
- Specify the type of book, such as fiction, nonfiction, biography, or autobiography.
- Mention the book’s theme.
- Sometimes you will need to include background to enable readers to place the book into a specific context. For example, you might want to describe the general problem the book addresses and how it provides solutions.
- For a nonfiction book, provide an overview, including your favorite paraphrases and quotations.
- For a work of fiction, briefly review the story line for readers, being careful not to give away anything that would lessen the suspense for readers.
- Book covers grab your readers’ attention. Show off what the book looks like by including a graphic.
- When it comes to book covers, you can get around copyright issues by grabbing a cover of the book from Amazon.com and inserting your Amazon affiliate identification number with your book review.
- If you don’t want to use Amazon’s cover image or you want a headshot of the author or other graphic to accompany your review, you can contact the author, publisher, or PR rep and request a few graphics.
- Describe the book: Is it interesting, memorable, entertaining, or instructive? Why?
- Explore issues the book raises: What possibilities does the book suggest? Explain.
- Relate the book to larger issues: How did the book affect you? How have your opinions about the topic changed?
- Enrich your book review with links that serve as springboards, allowing readers who are passionate about a certain genre, topic, or author to learn more.
- When you mention the author, be sure to include the link to the author’s website so your readers can go directly there and learn more about the author, why he/she wrote the book, etc.
- Throughout your book review, it’s important to remain honest. This is especially true for blogs because your readers trust what you have to say.
- Don’t lead readers astray by telling them you loved a book when you really couldn’t stand it. Keep in mind that the author and publisher will most likely be reading your review.
- Remember that online reviews are often archived permanently.